Booker’s The Reserves Review: 2025 Tequila-Barrel Bourbon

BOTTLE DETAILS

• DISTILLER: James B. Beam Distillery
• MASH BILL: 77% Corn | 13% Rye | 10% Malted Barley
• AGE: 8 years, 10 months, 11 days
• YEAR: 2025
• PROOF: 123.3 (61.65% ABV)
• MSRP: $129.99
• BUY ONLINE: Not currently available online.

STEVE'S NOTES

SHARE WITH: Bourbon fans, as well as those rare fans who love bourbon and tequila.

WORTH THE PRICE: Yeah! Not only is it delicious, it's unique. This release marks the first time any spirit in the Beam portfolio was aged in ex-tequila casks, and it is–to my palate–an historically powerful bourbon that's beneficially tamed because of that. That modest reduction of Booker's typical heat allows drinkers to hunt for tequila influences without palate fatigue.

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottle, but don't pass it up if you see it well priced at a bar.

OVERALL: When working at the 2025 Kentucky Bourbon Festival this past September, I purloined a gulp or two of this release after a Beam-centric whiskey and food pairing. When someone said, "You want a taste of this?" I had no idea that the whiskey inside that bottle had been finished in ex-tequila casks. I just knew it was Booker's, which is always good, and I knew I liked it. When I saw the news release about it, I requested some, and a full bottle arrived sometime later.

The 2025 Reserves release centers on the use of some well-traveled and uniquely flavored barrels. They first held bourbon used to blend the Booker’s 30th Anniversary release in 2018. Once dumped, they were shipped to Destilería La Alteña in Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico, where the Camarena family filled them with tequila that would become El Tesoro’s 85th Anniversary three-year-old extra-añejo. Once dumped in 2022, those same barrels were returned to the James B. Beam Distillery in Clermont, Ky., where master distiller Freddie Noe had a portion of them filled yet again with Booker’s bourbon. Total truck miles traveled: 3,691.

The 2025 Reserves bourbon was rested for 11 weeks in the ex-tequila casks, which, to me, wasn't enough to influence the nose. Every aroma present points to rich, bold bourbon. Call it Booker's just being its aromatically bossy self.

On the palate it's deep, dark and simmering Booker's bourbon complete with a novel richness and more syrupy-than-usual texture. I'd attribute both characteristics to the extra aging in those ex-tequila casks.

Stone fruit, particularly dark cherry and grilled peach, also is missing from the standard Booker's profile. In their place are golden raisins, golden apple, honey, warmed caramel, toasted oak and floral character–flavors I find often in aged tequila. The whole is sweeter and rounder than usual, and desirably so.

After tasting other tequila cask-aged bourbons this year, a few outcomes are similar with The Reserves 2025: Regularly, ex-tequila casks tend to 1. smooth out bourbon's rougher edges, and 2. replace flavors commonly found in bourbon with subtle flavors common to tequila. Those boxes get checked here.

But that's not to say the rough and rowdy aspects I love about Booker's bourbon disappear in this iteration. Since the base bourbon still flexes its liquid muscles, a lot of tequila nuances get pushed to the background. Undeniably this is a different and nuanced Booker's, and I like that. But I can't help wondering if more time in those used casks would have bumped up the El Tesoro flavors some.

If you know the master distillers who created the base spirits that ultimately influenced this release–Fred Noe (bourbon) and Carlos Camarena (tequila)–the result makes some symbolic sense. The two men became good friends as Beam Suntory colleagues (Camarena now distills exclusively at Tequila Ocho, which is under the Heaven Hill umbrella), and it's serendipitous that their products would combine to make such a satisfying mashup of those spirits. Call it a liquid extension of their friendship. Knowing both perhaps leaves me a little sentimental about this bottle, so factor in that bias if needed.

Oh, and also a nod to Fred's son, master distiller, Freddie Noe, who chose the Booker's barrels blended for this batch. Perhaps he and newly minted La Alteña master distiller, Jenny Camarena (Carlos's sister) can collaborate further on bourbon and tequila projects.

BRAND NOTES

The is a one-of-a-kind bourbon–uncut, unfiltered, and brimming with character. At 123.3 proof and aged exactly eight years, 10 months and 11 days, it opens with caramel, vanilla, and a hint of agave on the nose; deepens into rich caramel, charred oak, and baking spice on the palate; and closes with a complex finish of agave and black pepper.

Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter received a sample of this product from the brand for review. We appreciate its willingness to allow us to review its products with no strings attached. Thank you.