Booker's Bourbon has always occupied a particular corner of my shelf — the one reserved for whiskeys that don't apologise for what they are. The 2025 Release Kentucky Straight Bourbon carries on that tradition with a hefty 63.2% ABV, bottled uncut and unfiltered as every Booker's release has been since the late Booker Noe first decided that his personal stash deserved a wider audience. At around £67, this sits in a price bracket where you're paying for genuine craft rather than marketing gloss, and I think that's a fair trade.
What to Expect
For anyone unfamiliar with the Booker's line, here's what you're walking into: this is barrel-strength bourbon with absolutely nothing dialled back. At 63.2%, it hits with real authority. The high entry proof means the spirit has spent its time in the barrel pulling serious flavour from the wood — expect deep caramel, assertive oak, and that unmistakable warmth that only a proper cask-strength bourbon delivers. There's no age statement on this release, but Booker's batches have historically sat in the six-to-eight-year range, which for a bourbon at this proof tends to be a sweet spot where the barrel influence is pronounced without tipping into over-oaked territory.
What I appreciate about Booker's is the honesty of the product. No chill filtration, no water added post-barrel. You're getting exactly what came out of the rick house, and that means every bottle carries the specific character of its batch. The 2025 release holds true to the house style — bold, unapologetically rich, and built for people who actually want to taste their whiskey rather than sip something polite.
The Verdict
I'm giving this a 7.9 out of 10, and here's why it earns that score. Booker's consistently delivers one of the most authentic barrel-strength bourbon experiences available at a price that hasn't gone completely off the rails. At £67, you're getting a genuine small-batch, cask-strength Kentucky bourbon — try finding that combination elsewhere without spending north of £90. It's not trying to be subtle, and it shouldn't be. This is a whiskey with real backbone and real flavour, the kind of pour that reminds you why bourbon became a global obsession in the first place.
Where it sits just shy of the top tier for me is the lack of transparency on age. I'd love to see the exact maturation period on the label — Booker's used to include it, and I think drinkers who are paying this kind of money deserve that detail. But that's a labelling gripe, not a quality one. What's in the glass is excellent bourbon, full stop.
Best Served
Pour this neat and give it ten minutes to open up — at 63.2%, it genuinely evolves in the glass. If the proof is too much straight away, add a few drops of water rather than ice; you'll unlock layers without killing the texture. And if you want to make the best Old Fashioned of your life, this is your bottle. A barspoon of rich demerara syrup, two dashes of Angostura, and a generous pour of Booker's — the high proof stands up to the dilution from the ice and keeps the cocktail punchy right down to the last sip. I used to build Old Fashioneds with Booker's behind the bar and it converted more than a few guests who thought they didn't like bourbon.
