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Jim Kokoris
The Big Man of Jim Beam
The Big Man of Jim Beam
Booker Noe and the Number One Bourbon in the World
Jim Kokoris
Cover image: [BOOKER NOE] © Bean Suntory [DRINK] © GETTY IMAGES /
THOMAS WINZ
Cover design: Paul McCarthy
Copyright © 2016 by Jim Beam Brands Co. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Names: Kokoris, Jim, author.
Title: The big man of Jim Beam: Booker Noe and the number one bourbon in the world / Jim Kokoris.
Description: Hoboken: Wiley, 2016. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016031585 | ISBN 9781119320159 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119320005 (epub) | ISBN 9781119320173 (ePDF)
Subjects: LCSH: James B. Beam Distilling Company–History. | Noe, Fred. | Beam, James B., 1864-1947–Family. | Distillers–United States–Biography. | Whiskey industry–United States–History. | BISAC: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / General.
Classification: LCC HD9395.U47 K65 2016 | DDC 338.7/66352092 [B] –dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031585
FOREWORD
My dad, Booker Noe, was an original – that is one thing I am certain of. There weren't any others like him. Opinionated, stubborn, fun loving, smart, curious, and charismatic, he lived life all out. Every day was an adventure. Every day offered another opportunity to explore or try something different. Every day offered another chance to have fun, share a joke, hear and tell another story, meet and make another friend.
Booker had a lot of interests – fishing, hunting, dancing, and cooking – but he really had only one true passion: making whiskey. Very few people do what they were absolutely meant to do – and my father was one of them. He was born to be a distiller, had it in his blood, and took his craft about as seriously as you can. Making whiskey wasn't a job to him, it was a calling. Something he had to do, and something he wanted to do well.
He was more than just a distiller, however. He was an innovator, a big thinker. He liked to tinker, test boundaries, ask what if. “By God, let's give that a try,” was one of his favorite expressions. Some of his ideas fell flat; many others succeeded. Success or failure didn't matter as much to Booker as trying did. Can't accomplish nothin' if you don't try. If there's one thing I learned from him, it was probably that.
My dad touched a lot of people during his life. Hundreds, if not thousands, called him a good friend. When he met you, he made you feel special. After talking to him awhile, you wanted to be in his orbit, spend more time with him. When Booker was around, everything was pretty much all right or would be soon.
My dad passed away too soon. There were more stories to tell, more adventures to go on, more bourbon to sip. But I'm grateful for the time I had with him.
Booker's gone, but this book, written by my longtime friend Jim Kokoris, brings him back. For those of you who knew him, it will be fun reminiscing and going over old times. For those of you who didn't, well then, fasten your seat belts, you're in for quite a ride.
PROLOGUE: BOOKER NOE: THE BIG MAN OF BOURBON
When I-65 South hits Lebanon Junction, it's pretty much a straight shot west to the distillery. A few miles past open fields and woods, and you're there. While other distilleries have enjoyed a renewal in appearance and upkeep, fueled by a relentless bourbon boom, this plant, smack dab in the middle of nowhere, is nondescript, plain. No trolleys, restaurants, gift shops, or historical recreations drawing tourist attention and dollars. Just a handful of gray rack houses and low-slung, cinder-brick buildings set back from the road with a solitary sign marking its presence. If you aren't looking for the place, you could miss it, a dusty and remote outpost, there and gone.
There's little to indicate that this distillery, located on the outskirts of tiny Boston, Kentucky, about an hour south of Louisville, was ground zero for the great renaissance the bourbon industry is enjoying now. But it was. A lot took place here a long time ago, because a long time ago Booker Noe worked here.
Faraway from the inquisitive eyes of marketing executives and tourists, this sixth-generation Beam, a giant of a man both literally and figuratively, was free to ruminate, experiment, concoct, and create. What he ended up eventually doing here changed not only the trajectory of his family's centuries-old company, but the future of the entire bourbon industry as well.
Nowadays the distillery is as busy as ever, pushing out close to 70,000 gallons a day, six days a week. A quick walk around confirms growth: trucks full of grain whiz by, the smell of sweet cooking mash fills the air, and a new barrel recovery system is being built, which will ultimately help produce more whiskey. Bourbon is on fire, especially Beam products, with demand threatening to outstrip supply. And this growth doesn't show any signs of abating.
There aren't many photos of Booker at the plant, no statues or plaques to speak of. All of those are over at the flagship Clermont plant, six miles away in Bullitt County. The Boston distillery does bear his name, though: it's called the Booker Noe Plant, and that would have been good enough for Booker.
It's more than fitting that this place in north-central Kentucky was where Booker Noe – master distiller, grandson of Jim Beam, scientist, artist, raconteur, American Original, and Big Man of Bourbon – spent most of his career. Because, like this distillery, Booker was no frills, straightforward. You get what you see. All Booker