Review: Booker’s Bourbon The Reserves 2025 and “By the Pond Batch” 2025-02
Booker’s is back with two special editions — one is the latest release of the Booker’s barrel proof series, “By the Pond Batch,” the second drop for 2025. The other is the second ever release of Booker’s The Reserves, a series that launched in 2024 to offer even more special releases from the Booker’s library.
The first edition of The Reserves was, well, something of a greatest hits release of the barrel proof offerings, a blend of “center cut” whiskeys aged 8 to 14 years. Big, but really more of the same stuff we’ve been tasting for years. For 2025, Booker’s has something completely different in store for us — and frankly, I was shocked to read what the approach to this release was. If this is how The Reserves are going to go as we plow ahead, well, nothing’s off the table.
Details, and thoughts, follow.
Booker’s Bourbon The Reserves 2025 Review
“Center cut” bourbons? Fuggedaboudit. This is a totally crazy release of Booker’s that “tells the story of some well-traveled barrels: First used to age the Booker’s 30th Anniversary release, then shipped to Jalisco where the Camarena family filled them with El Tesoro’s 85th Anniversary tequila. They then came back to Clermont for use as finishing barrels for The Reserves 2025 — marking the first time any Beam product has ever been finished in tequila barrels. Total age on this release is 8 years, 10 months, and 11 days.
Tequila-finished whiskey is on the rise and it’s easy to see why, thanks to the incredible amount of flavor the agave spirit imbues to whiskey in a short amount of time. That said, the finished product can be divisive and sometimes a little weird. Here, the tequila influence isn’t immediately obvious or overwhelming, the nose evoking lots of traditional barrel char, dark chocolate, and both sweet and savory spices. This is however backed by some heat in the form of both black pepper and a jalapeno-adjacent greenness, increasingly herbal the longer it lingers in glass. After a half hour, the tequila influence becomes significant, though short of overwhelming.
The palate follows a similar trajectory, first laden with caramel and vanilla, with just a touch of apple fruit in evidence. It’s quite charry and tannic as it builds, scratching at the back of the palate with a certain rustic quality. That’s in part driven by the 61.65% abv, of course, but again that tequila barrel rears its head the longer it spends in glass. The herbal notes pair with dark chocolate to create an exotic combination of sugar and spice, the finish evoking perfume, then coconut plus a healthy pinch of spice.
This whiskey is quite a ride and nothing like you would expect from the Beam family, and you can thank Jalisco for that. I warmed up to it over the hour or so I spent sipping the stuff, but I expect most will find the experience the most polarizing whiskey Beam has probably made since Jim Beam Orange. 123.3 proof. B+ / $130 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Booker’s Bourbon “By the Pond Batch” 2025-02 Review
7 years, 1 month, 20 days old — named for, well, you can figure this one out. At a brisk 63.25% abv, this whiskey isn’t shy, featuring a nose bold with wood but tamed by aromas of raisins, sweet tea, dark chocolate, and even darker caramel. Bold vanilla aromas emerge with some aeration, ringed with notes of apple and maraschino cherry. Complex and well-rounded, there’s plenty to explore both with air time and with the mindful addition of water.
The palate does not break stride and continues the theme of complexity; this really does come across with a kitchen sink of flavors that can initially feel like a bit of a jumble. Fruit salad is first — with apple, pear, and cherry notes reminding me of syrupy, canned delights from my childhood. A chewy and iconic Beam peanut note builds from there, working well with plenty of vanilla and more of a milk chocolate quality. Cinnamon red hots and some mint round out the dessert theme.
Water is an outstanding idea here, and even a splash helps amplify the fruitier qualities of the whiskey, though its power and flavor can remain fully intact. Ample spice pushes into a finish that avoids the trap of becoming overly drying or bitter, with lingering touches of cinnamon and nutmeg. I don’t have a pond, but I do have a pool — and I think this would work just fine there. 126.5 proof. A / $100 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
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