Jim Beam Devil’s Cut

People sometimes ask me why I drink whiskey that I don’t have the biggest like for. Or the best feeling.

And I usually tell them to stop being make believe and shit. Because no one asks me that, except /u/texacer every so often.

I do it because someone, probably in a movie, once said you can’t have the sweet without the sour.

No, that’s not it at all. I do it because you can’t discount things because of the brand.

Sure, most of the time you can. If you don’t like Jura’s Scotch, then you probably won’t like it over and over. However you may not mind their peated. Or you may end up trying the Boutique barrels and thinking “hey, this is pretty good”.

Or take Macallan. Please. Far away from me. And then I try the Macallan Cask Strength and it’s great.

So I don’t discount based on brand.

So today we’re reviewing Jim Beam Devil’s Cut. This is made by taking their standard 6 year old whiskey and adding the squeezed out remnant from the barrel.

Okay, I may have been hasty on this. That… doesn’t sound appealing. It actually sounds like some casks couldn’t be sold and were rung dry.

None the less, this has been on the market for awhile, and the people at Jim Beam wouldn’t release poison on the market…. that isn’t apple flavoured, at least.

Let’s see how this tastes, shall we?

Price: $29.95

Region: Kentucky

Abv: 45%

Colour: 10YR 4/8

Nose: Maple, oak, coffee, peppermint, caramel, corn

Starts out quite sweet. If I was doing this blind, I’d probably guess a bottom shelf Canadian.

Take that as you will…

Not bad nose. It’s quite woody, and there’s some raw aspects to it (see: corn).

Taste: Watery, oak, ginger, nutmeg, lemon, cola

Yeah, even at 45%, this is initially quite watery. Haven’t had a light mouthfeel like this since I sucked my own dick.

More spicy and woody this time. Not much flavour complexity. Or flavour, in general. It’s smooth, in all the negative connotations that I can muster from that meaning.

Finish: Under-ripe green melon, corn, black pepper, caramel, ginger

Raw off notes, none of the nice spice that I had in the black label, and heat.

Conclusion: So this didn’t turn out as nice as I hoped.

I commend them for trying something new. And interesting. And supremely marketable. Do I enjoy it? Not really. It tastes raw and rough as heck, it’s watery, and I genuinely miss aspects of Jim Beam Black from this.

I’d skip.

62/100

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