Review: Jim Beam Lineage (Updated 2025)

Jim Beam‘s latest release is an ultra-luxe bottling that will be exclusive to travel retail. It’s also the first collaboration between father and son Fred and Freddie Noe, a 15 year old bourbon distilled in 2004 that is the first bourbon in the Jim Beam portfolio to bear Freddie’s name.

Bottles are packaged inside a wooden box with a brass placard inside which is engraved with batch and bottle number.

Update: We’re adding a new review of the 2025 reissue of Lineage, Batch #2, so we can keep the family together.

Jim Beam Lineage Batch #1 (2021) Review

There’s instantly a lot to love here, and I don’t say that lightly. This is an exuberant, well-made product.

The nose is just overflowing with spice, beautifully mixed with toasty oak, sesame, and a touch of peanut shell. Hints of tea leaf emerge with time in glass, giving the whiskey a certain exotic character.

The palate again shows powerful bursts of baking spice and a smattering of fresh, green herbs. Butterscotch and, unusually, gingerbread notes quickly come to the fore, with notes of cloves and dark caramel washing over the experience in waves. Warming and satiating, the whiskey is even better with a little water, letting notes of chocolate and a stronger, brighter caramel note come to the fore. A gentle layer of spice lingers on the finish, making for a soothing and delightfully refined bourbon experience.

This is a much different experience than Beam’s last 15 year old expression, Knob Creek 15 Years Old, so don’t feel like you’re doubling up if you’re considering adding both to your collection. 111 proof. A / $250 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]

Jim Beam Lineage Batch #2 (2025) Review

Four years between Lineage editions — wow. It’s still 15 years old, blended from hand-selected barrels by Fred and Freddie Noe.

That spicy nose remains a constant, but for 2025 it folds in a healthy dose of fruit in the form of orange peel and some juice, wandering into a tangerine note with a little time in glass. Further mellowing time allows that telltale tea leaf to come through, backed up by touches of char.

The palate feels a lot softer than the 55.5% abv would suggest, nutty but refined, more peanut brittle than peanut butter. Lots of butterscotch here, though the whiskey doesn’t quite feel like dessert, because its sweetness is kept in check. Baking spices segue into mulled wine spices, with a distinct apple note arriving late in the game. Less chocolatey than the 2021 edition, the finish is all brown sugar and caramel, touches of peanut, and a reprise of baking spice. Bright and sunny, I have no complaints here, again. 111 proof. A / $250 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]

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