Old Jim Beam Bottle

Have an old/rare bottle you'd like some more info on?

Moderator: Squire

Old Jim Beam Bottle

Unread postby jlinder » Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:21 pm

I have a bottle of Jim Beam that was bottled in 1976 after aging 8 years.
It has a gold label.

I was wondering if anyone had a clue if it was worth anything.

Thanks
jlinder
Registered User
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:16 pm

Unread postby Bourbon Joe » Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:51 am

I personally like Beam from this era. As to what your bottle may be worth, I think possibly not too much as Beam decanters from 1976 are sold all the time on E-Bay for between 10 and 20 bucks. My suggestion is to drink it.
Joe
Colonel Joseph B. "Bourbon Joe" Koch

Bourbon, It's cheaper than therapy!
User avatar
Bourbon Joe
Erudite Bourbonite
Erudite Bourbonite
 
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:02 pm
Location: Eastern Pennsylvania

Unread postby jlinder » Mon Jun 05, 2006 3:39 pm

Thanks for the reply but the bottle is just a standard bottle...not a decanter.

These days they sell it as Knob Creek.
jlinder
Registered User
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:16 pm

Unread postby cowdery » Mon Jun 05, 2006 8:15 pm

jlinder wrote:These days they sell it as Knob Creek.


That's an interesting statement. What makes you say that? I take it this product is also 100 proof?

Does the label say "Jim Beam" or "Beam's" something?

Beam has always been an interesting company. Back before the National Distillers acquisition (1987) they made a vast array of different products, whiskey and others, all with "Beam" in the name, including my favorite, Beamero Tequila.
- Chuck Cowdery

Author of Bourbon, Straight
User avatar
cowdery
Registered User
 
Posts: 1586
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 1:07 pm
Location: Chicago

Unread postby jlinder » Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:24 am

I say they would call it Knob Creek now because of the year in which it was barrelled, 1968...and the year in which it was bottled, 1976.

I haven't checked the proof in a while so I'm not sure.
jlinder
Registered User
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:16 pm

Unread postby jlinder » Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:25 am

I apologize for posting again...but it looks like the standard Jim Beam Label but for the fact that the backround is gold and the lettering is predominately black.

Other that that it looks like the standard squarish Jim Beam 5th.
jlinder
Registered User
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:16 pm

Unread postby Bourbon Joe » Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:28 pm

I may not have mentioned that the Bicentennial Decanters contained 100 month old Beam whiskey (quite good).
Joe
Colonel Joseph B. "Bourbon Joe" Koch

Bourbon, It's cheaper than therapy!
User avatar
Bourbon Joe
Erudite Bourbonite
Erudite Bourbonite
 
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:02 pm
Location: Eastern Pennsylvania

Unread postby cowdery » Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:07 pm

Knob Creek is nine years old and 100 proof. Beam's Black Label, predecessor to the current Jim Beam black label, was generally 8 years old (though sometimes 7) and 90 proof.

Part of my curiosity is because, when Jim Beam Black Label was launched, the company stated that it was the first time any product other than white label had carried the Jim Beam name. Prior to that, every "other" product had been named "Beam's" something-or-other, i.e., Beam's Black Label, Beam's Five Star, and so on.

Therefore, the bottle you describe is at least an anomaly.

A picture would be nice.
- Chuck Cowdery

Author of Bourbon, Straight
User avatar
cowdery
Registered User
 
Posts: 1586
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 1:07 pm
Location: Chicago

Unread postby jlinder » Thu Jun 08, 2006 9:56 am

How did I know that a picture would be the next request? :lol:

I will have to actually transport the bottle and get a picture of it to post.

Hopefully I can do that tonight!
jlinder
Registered User
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:16 pm

Unread postby jlinder » Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:12 am

I can't get the guy with the camera but I found a similar bottle on-line.

The color scheme is the same but my bottle says "BONDED BEAM" and the design is a little different.

I will post a picture as soon as I can get a camera.

Thanks
Attachments
02341.jpg
02341.jpg (8.84 KiB) Viewed 17388 times
jlinder
Registered User
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:16 pm

Unread postby EllenJ » Fri Jun 09, 2006 6:16 pm

Well that that DOES blow everything to bits, doesn't it?
What you've got is Bonded Beam, a fine product that, at 100 proof and eight years, may well have been a precursor to Knob Creek. But that's exactly what Chuck was saying -- it says "Beam" but not "Jim Beam".
Then you show us a photo you think of as similar, but that isn't Bonded Beam at all, even though it's obviously Jim Beam Bonded Bourbon. I've never seen a label like that. I suspect the website you found that on is in Asia or Europe.
Here is a photo of Bonded Beam that I have;
Is this more like the one you have?
And for Chuck, the second photo is Jim Beam Rye. I don't know when the black label came out but this was bottled in 1978 and says Jim Beam. Interestingly, though, although it says that on the label, the neckband just says "Beam Rye"
Attachments
bondedbeam.jpg
bondedbeam.jpg (54.29 KiB) Viewed 17352 times
beamrye.jpg
beamrye.jpg (45.82 KiB) Viewed 17353 times
=JOHN=
(the "Jaye" part of "L 'n' J dot com")
http://www.ellenjaye.com
User avatar
EllenJ
Registered User
 
Posts: 866
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Ohio-occupied Northern Kentucky (Cincinnati)

Unread postby bourbonv » Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:10 pm

John,
The question is which came first - Jim Beam Black or Jim Beam Rye? If the black label came out before 78 then what Chuck says is completely accurate. I do believe that it did come out while I was in High school, about 1975, because I believe we drank some Beam Black at a party one night my senior year - 1976.

Mike Veach
Mike Veach
"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
User avatar
bourbonv
Registered User
 
Posts: 4086
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:17 pm
Location: Louisville, Ky.

Unread postby jlinder » Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:03 pm

Finally,

Here is a picture of my bottle and the tax stamp.
Attachments
bottle1.jpg
bottle1.jpg (165.46 KiB) Viewed 17166 times
jlinder
Registered User
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:16 pm

Unread postby jlinder » Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:03 pm

tax stamp...sorry about that.
Attachments
label1.jpg
label1.jpg (185.77 KiB) Viewed 17159 times
jlinder
Registered User
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:16 pm

Unread postby cowdery » Wed Jun 21, 2006 4:39 pm

Jim Beam Black Label is fairly recent, last ten years, maybe less. Before that there was "Beam's Black Label," a similar product.

As for the "Jim Beam Rye" from 1978, putting the lie to the statement that nothing was ever labeled "Jim Beam" except the white label until Jim Beam Black Label, I will write that off to the people at Beam (my source for the statement) being notoriously cavalier about their own history.
- Chuck Cowdery

Author of Bourbon, Straight
User avatar
cowdery
Registered User
 
Posts: 1586
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 1:07 pm
Location: Chicago

Next

Return to Collector's Corner

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 12 guests

cron