Fred Booker Noe took seven long years to graduate from college; when you're a descendant of Jim Beam, you get invited to a lot of parties.
Fast forward 30 years and the master distiller of the famed Kentucky distillery still has plenty of stamina when it comes to drinking bourbon and talking Beam.
He kicked off his recent New Zealand tour with a special edition of Expression Sessions, a monthly get-together for Auckland bartenders to experiment with cocktails, impress their hospo friends with their concoctions, and find out what's going on around the city's bars.
While it's organised by Beam, Cam Timmins of Ponsonby's Golden Dawn says: “It's not just one brand, giving us the hard sell. We get to try anything we want.”
Expressionists had just one brand to play with when big Fred came to town, but he put on a show for them, talking horses, football, family and, of course, his favourite drink.
Noe suggests here are a lot of misconceptions surrounding bourbon.
“The biggest one,” he says, “is that people think bourbon has to made in Kentucky. They think they know a lot but they don't know shit; 98 per cent is made in Kentucky but the real smart whiskey drinkers know that there are bourbon distilleries in Virginia, Texas and upstate New York. There are no distilleries in Bourbon county, Kentucky: it's dry.”
Noe admits to liking a flutter on the horses and suggest placing a wager next time some know-all comes into your bar, and he'll only take a 10 per cent cut of your winnings.
Bourbon must be at least 51 per cent corn but there are concerns about future supplies.
“We had a lot of rain, the Ohio river flooded, making it tough for farmers to plant the corn this year,” says Noe.
“With gasoline prices and oil prices high we will see more corn used to produce ethanol. Corn prices will go up so our costs will go up, and that will lead to price increases down the line.”
The Expressionists fired questions at Noe. Will there be a single barrel Beam down the line? Maybe; maybe not.
“With a single barrel you don't know what it's going to taste like whereas with small batch you have two to three hundred barrels. If you want consistency go small batch; connoisseurs like to buy single barrel.”
There are also experiments with sweet mash at the distillery, which may be released in the future.
Noe is a straight talking man and likes his drinks straight too. Jim Beam Black is his after-work “go-to” while his mum drinks it with ginger ale, adding: “I never saw my dad give her any shit for it. It's okay to mix.”
Five expressionists got the chance to mix the big man a cocktail before he headed off on his NZ tour. New-to-Auckland, Alessandro Schiopetto of The Corner Store took the honours making a Jim Beam Black cocktail, mixed with Lillet Blanc, orgeat syrup, and Bols peach liqueur, spiced up with a kick of fresh chilli on the finish.