Jim Beams Grandson
Fred Booker Noe Cooks
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By Michelle Winner
eet Jim Beam’s grandson
Frederick “ Fred” Booker
Noe III, Master Distiller is
the current “ Keeper of
The Flame” at Jim Beam
Distillery. And yes there was a
real Jim beam.
Frederick “ Fred”
Booker Noe III
A Master Distiller Emeritus, Fred is
the great-grandson of the original
Jim Beam and a seventh generation
distiller. The six family distillers
who preceded him in the family
business were Jacob, David, David
M., Jim, Jeremiah and Fred’s dad
Booker, all part of a family that
has been cooking up hooch for over
200 years and refining it to become
the world’s top selling brand.
Frederick Booker Noe III was born
on March 9, 1957, in Bardstown, Ky.,
“Bourbon Capital of the World.”
He grew up in the very same house
his great grandfather, the legendary
Jim Beam, had once lived in. His
early years were steeped in whiskey
culture as he listened to his father’s
tales of his famous family, he
learned to appreciate and
understand the craft of
whiskey making.
Fred took over the duty of serving
as ambassador of “The Small Batch
Bourbon Collection” after his dad’s
retirement. After rigorous years of
apprenticeship and training, he was
named Master Distiller in 2003. In
addition to expandin g the Knob
Creek portfolio, Fred oversaw the
creation of Devil’s Cut™, a premium
bourbon whiskey developed using a
proprietary process that extracts
the liquid trapped inside the wood
of the bourbon barrel, which leaves
rich flavors from deep within the
barrel wood it contains. He also
worked closely with the company
to expand Red Stag by Jim Beam,
a line of fine Kentucky Straight
Bourbon infused with natural
flavors using an artisanal process.
The complete Red Stag by Jim Beam
portfolio includes Red Stag by Jim
Beam Black Cherry, Red Stag by
Jim Beam Honey Tea and Red Stag
by Jim Beam Spiced.
Fred Noe resides in a house built
adjacent to the old Bardstown, KY.
Beam family home with his wife
Sandy and son Frederick Booker
Noe IV. Noe remains instrumental
in the Beam business, dedicating
himself to perfecting the family’s
closely guarded bourbon-making
process and continuing his
family’s legacy.
Starting in the bottling line after
college, under his father’s tutelage,
Fred learned every aspect of the
bourbon-making process, including
grain selection, fermentation and
distillation. Moving forward as the
world’s thirst for new flavor
extensions grew, Fred was integral in
the development of some of Beam’s
innovations in the early 1990s.
Subsequently, he also began to play
an important role in promotion of
“The Small Batch Bourbon
Collection”, ‘Basil Hayden’s”, “Knob
Creek”, “Baker’s” and “Booker’s”
bourbons. These are ultra-premium
bourbons; aged longer and featuring
higher proofs, that were created
under his father’s guidance.
Fred’s uber high-tech version
of tasting samples when the
bourbons were first introduced,
consisted of sitting around the
family’s kitchen table selecting
the batches that were ready for
bottling. It from that kitchen
able a recipe using Jim Beam comes
from Fred to you. In fact Fred sent
three recipes. We tested and we
liked the overall flavor profile of
one so much that we used it for
ribs and chicken so we included
the preparation for both. Be
sure to use Jim Beam!
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