Introduction
Today, we are checking out Jim Beam Devil's Cut Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This is the second in our Jim Beam miniseries to round out the season after last week's review of Jim Beam Double Oak. Bob and Brad are familiar with this product but have never tried it before.
Jim Beam Devil's Cut is a unique offering from the brand, where they extract the whiskey trapped inside the barrel wood, blending it with "extra-aged" bourbon. This 90-proof bourbon has no age statement but is known to be at least four years old.
The following review is taken from our episode "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story / Jim Beam Devil's Cut." Click the link to listen to this review in audio format.
Nose
Brad: It's oak, Bob. There's some oak and then there's some more oak. There's a little bit of burnt caramel, a bit of peanut, and a sour young apple peel vibe. I'm not a huge fan here. It's not bad, but I'll give it a 5.5/10.
Bob: I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced a bourbon smelling thin on the nose. It doesn’t have much complexity, but it has that classic Jim Beam peanut note underneath the oak, giving it a spice. I do get a weird note that reminds me of the smell of MSG in a Chinese takeout bag. It’s like a cookie with MSG. All that said, I don’t hate this. I’m going to give it a 7/10.
Taste
Brad: The apple peel comes through stronger here, and the oak turns into a charred oak with a little bit of cinnamon. It’s watery, Bob. It doesn’t taste as viscous as it should at 90 proof. It feels like an 80-proof whiskey. I'll give it a 6/10 on the palate.
Bob: I don’t like this, Brad. It’s really thin in terms of mouthfeel, and the bitterness from the oak extraction tips into a chemical taste. It’s a type of bitterness I associate with very low-grade, cheap whiskey. I’m only going to give this a 5/10 on the palate.
Finish
Brad: The finish just disappears on me. There’s a little bit of oak and black pepper, but nothing much happening here. I’ll give it a 4.5/10.
Bob: The finish is not quite as bad for me. I get a bit of that apple peel and some cinnamon notes, but it’s just wisps of flavor because it’s such a thin whiskey. I’ll give it a 5.5/10.
Balance
Brad: There’s nothing to write home about here. I’ll give it a 5/10 on balance.
Bob: I’ll give it a 6/10 on balance because it is a very inexpensive whiskey. It’s a perfectly fine cheap whiskey, so I’m giving it a little leeway here.
Value
Brad: This is $19.99. I prefer the Double Oak, Bob. If you’re going for an oaky version of Jim Beam, go spend $20 on that instead. I’m giving this a 5/10 on value.
Bob: When we talk value, Brad and I often operate from different perspectives. For the market, this is not a bad value because you really can’t get whiskey much cheaper than this unless you go all the way down to Benchmark. But I think Benchmark is probably a better whiskey. I’ll give this a 5/10 on value.
Final Scores
Brad: I’m coming to a 26/50.
Bob: I’m just a little bit higher at 28.5/50, which puts us at a 54.5/100 or a 27.25/50 on average.
Conclusion
At this score, we’d typically not recommend trying a pour at a bar or buying a bottle if you're curious. For context, a 35/50 mark is where we'd typically recommend trying a pour at a bar. A 40/50 is considered great, and a 45/50 is excellent. Jim Beam Devil's Cut is a misfire from Jim Beam. It’s surprising this has lasted as long as it has on the market.
It might make for a good whiskey-and-Coke because of the oak and bitterness, but unfortunately, we don’t sample our whiskeys with Coke when deciding if it’s good or not.
Do we recommend this product? No.
