The first Booker’s bottling of 2019 is on its way, in honor of a longtime employee of the company. Teresa’s Batch is named for distillery employee Teresa Wittemer, hired three decades ago by renowned Master Distiller Booker Noe. Her namesake Booker’s release is aged six years, three months, and one day, and is bottled at 125.9 proof.
Each year, the distillery releases 4 batches of uncut, unfiltered Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey in the tradition of their late Master Distiller. At Christmas, Booker would select prime barrels from the warmer center sections of the rickhouses and bottle them without filtration or water added. He gifted these bottles to friends, family, and distillery employees, who now do the same for bourbon lovers around the country.
Every release is named for a person, place, or thing Booker loved. Previous batches have included Kathleen’s Batch (named for Brand Ambassador Kathleen DiBenedetto), Dot’s Batch (honoring Booker’s loyal dog), and Kentucky Chew (an homage to his method of tasting whiskey).
For Teresa’s Batch, the distillery offers tasting notes of “a sweet nose with hints of brown sugar and light oak, along with the signature vanilla. The finish is pleasant and warm while also both sweet and spicy.”
According to a press release, “Booker… hired Teresa on the spot after a quick 15-minute interview more than 30 years ago, and she’s been part of the family ever since. During her career at the distillery, Teresa has worked in the lab and in the Quality Control department, where she became an expert on mingling bourbon barrel samples to the exact taste profile Booker preferred. In turn, she’s helped both Booker and now his son Fred—7th Generation Master Distiller—select batches of Booker’s Bourbon that live up to the high standards of its founder’s name.”
Booker’s Teresa’s Batch is on shelves now in limited quantities for around $80.
