Beam, Straight Up: The Bold Story of the First Family of Bourbon

Great Christmas gift for my son who is a huge fan of Jim Beam whiskey. Lots of history in this book that we didn’t know.

Nach den ersten Seiten bin ich von dem Buch total begeistert.Von Fred Noe (7.Gereration Beam Familie, der Herr unten rechts auf jeder Jim Beam Flasche), einem direkten Nachfahren von Jakob Böhm (Jacob Beam), einem deutschen Auswanderer und der ersten Generation Beam Familie, mit sehr viel Emotion geschrieben.

Funny, informative and quick read.Candid and authentic story of the life of Fred Noe--Frederick Booker Noe III--co-written by Beam’s PR firm/guy, Jim Kokoris. Fred's voice…not Jim’s…comes through authenticallyFred tells the story, with warts and embarrassments included, on his life, the Beam family, the art/science making Bourbon, and building a brand.Favorite quotes from the book:* “Things go bad before they go bad.”* “We changed (introduced Red Stag by Jim Beam) before we had to.”Funniest part: Fred’s employer hires a speech coach. He is taught how to speak and change his dialect. Hilarious.Would love having Fred join friends and me for an evening of solving the world’s problems over some drinks.He even offered his 10 views of growing a business and a brand.I came away enormously impressed by Beam’s commitment to the product. Something I hope the new mega-corporate owners preserve. Virtually all Beam products are in my bar cabinet.

When you want to learn about the history of the Beam family and their bóurbon you are right here. This is an easy read book with lots of information. Its not so much an advertisement about Beam it describes also the history of bourbon, the native spirit. You learn about the german roots of Beam which was Jacob Böhm originally but changed his name to Beam, easier to say.I also have it as e-book from audible and enjoy it from time to time, read by the author.Here is my critics. I do not understand why the Beam family has solid their heritage to a foreign company. A large portion of bourbon is no longer in local hands.

This is a personal and heartfelt sharing of the twists and turns in the life of Fred Booker Noe III, in finally taking his place as the 7th generation to lead Jim Beam. He is the great-grandson of Jim Beam, and son of Booker Noe.He writes in a conversational style. You feel that you are sitting down with him, and sipping a black label 8-year old Beam, listening to him tell tales. You can't help but like this man. Partway through the book you will feel like he is an old friend.Page 43, how he selected his college, will make you smile.Chapter 3 is golden. The story of his father's work on smoked hams, beaten biscuits, and finally the development of the 4 small batch bourbons gives a portrait of the work ethic and drive of that man. Booker may just be the one man most responsible for the renaissance of bourbon. At the end, the 4 pages about his father's last few weeks, were extremely moving.My only criticism is that the book was not longer. I wanted to know about those missing years working every job in the business-- after a wonderful start, in the bottling room, he skips the next 28 years!I'll be passing this biography on to a friend, and I've already ordered another copy to give as a gift to someone else.For more history and tech details, also read Charles Cowdery's Bourbon Straight, and Michael Veach's Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage.