Today, the James B. Beam Distilling Company (JBBDCo) celebrates the launch of Hardin’s Creek™, a new brand that will chart the ongoing story of the Beam family legacy, one that is more than 227 years in the making, through highly limited and rare releases. Hardin’s Creek is the next generation of boundary-pushing, premium American Whiskey inspired by the expertise of seven generations of Beam Master Distillers.
Hardin’s Creek is an ongoing series of annual releases, featuring some of James B. Beam Distilling Co.’s rarest and most unique liquids and grounded in the rich experience and distilling expertise of James B. Beam Distilling Co. Each set of releases will showcase the breadth and depth of the James B. Beam Distilling Co’s whiskey-making credentials inclusive of age, blending, mash bill, distillation, barrels, rackhouse locations, and more. This year’s inaugural Hardin’s Creek series will launch with two expressions: Jacob’s Well™ Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, a thoughtful blend of two ultra-aged bourbons, and Colonel James B. Beam™ Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, a carefully crafted young whiskey.
“We couldn’t be more excited to launch Hardin’s Creek, particularly after the refresh of the James B. Beam Distillery and the opening of the Fred B. Noe Distillery. This has been a long time in the making, and I can’t wait to share it with the world,” said Freddie Noe, the newly appointed Master Distiller of the Fred B. Noe Distillery. “Every detail, from the blending techniques to the labels, draws inspiration from centuries of our family’s history, paying homage to our heritage while looking towards our future.”
The Fred B. Noe Distillery was thoughtfully named after seventh-generation Master Distiller Fred Noe, with the intent of producing new-to-world innovative products as part of the next generation of whiskey such as Little Book® and Booker’s®. On May 12, 2022, Freddie Noe was officially named the Master Distiller of the Fred B. Noe Distillery, announced by his father Master Distiller Fred Noe. This is significant as it is the first time in Beam history that there are two family members, working alongside one another, sharing the Master Distiller title at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. homestead in Clermont, KY.
Today the Beam name is synonymous with bourbon, and that all started with Johannes Jacob Beam, the forefather of America’s first family of bourbon. In 1795, Jacob Beam set down roots in the foothills of Western Kentucky. He started with a sturdy but humble well to draw water from a nearby creek. That water powered a mill – the mill to grind fields of corn – which formed Jacob Beam’s earliest mashes. That creek – Hardin’s Creek – became the first source of his family’s enduring legacy.
