Hardin's Creek Middle Distillation Profile 8 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey
Hardin's Creek Middle Distillation Profile 8 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey is the balanced center of the Distillation Series from the James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky. The three-expression series holds the mash bill and fermentation constant and changes only the distillation: this Middle expression was run at a 115-proof target on its first distillation (120 proof on the second), the mid-point of the range explored by eighth-generation Master Distiller Freddie Noe. After eight years in oak it is bottled at 109 proof (54.5% ABV) in a 700mL bottle, with a rounded, well-defined profile of vanilla, brown sugar, toffee and toasted oak. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.
- Proof / ABV: 109 proof (54.5% ABV)
- Distillation: 115-proof first-distillation target, 120-proof second distillation
- Age: 8 years
- Style: Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey; Distillation Series, Middle profile
- Distillery: James B. Beam Distilling Co., Clermont, Kentucky (DSP KY-230)
- Size: 700mL
One Variable: Distillation
Hardin's Creek is Freddie Noe's experimental series for the James B. Beam Distilling Co., built to isolate the decisions that shape bourbon. The Distillation Series is its most technical chapter yet: identical mash bill, identical fermentation, three different distillation proof targets. The Middle bottling came out of an experiment on the big Clermont still, run between the richer Hardin's Creek Low Distillation Profile 8 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey (105-proof first distillation) and the brighter Hardin's Creek High Distillation Profile 8 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey. As the label puts it, this whiskey climbed to the mid-point of the distillation spectrum, its flavor compounds more concentrated, and a well-defined, layered profile takes shape. Browse the full Hardin's Creek collection to compare the trio.
Tasting Notes
The nose carries vanilla bean, brown sugar and toasted oak. The palate is rounded and balanced — toffee sweetness with vanilla and warming cinnamon — and the finish returns to toasted oak and cinnamon spice. Of the three profiles, Middle is the reference point: the sweetness of the Low end with some of the High end's definition.
How to Enjoy
Pour it neat first to explore its balance of sweetness and spice, then add water gradually to suit your preference. When tasting the complete series, start with Middle before revisiting it between pours of Low and High — it is the baseline the other two depart from, and a natural anchor for a bourbon whiskey flight.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "Middle Distillation Profile" mean?
It identifies this expression's place in Beam's three-bottle experiment: a 115-proof target on the first distillation and 120 proof on the second, between the Low profile's 105-proof target and the High profile's higher setting. Its finished bottling strength is 109 proof.
How long is this bourbon aged?
Eight years, as stated on the label — the same age statement carried by all three Distillation Profile expressions.
What proof is the Middle expression?
It is bottled at 109 proof, or 54.5% ABV, matching the Low and High expressions so the three can be compared on distillation alone.
What does the Middle Distillation Profile taste like?
Vanilla bean, brown sugar and toasted oak on the nose, rounded toffee and cinnamon on the palate, and a toasted-oak, cinnamon-spice finish — the most balanced pour of the trio.
Where is it made?
At the James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky, under Master Distiller Freddie Noe, the eighth generation of the Beam family.
The reference pour of Beam's distillation experiment — order the Middle Distillation Profile from Del Mesa Liquor, and explore more limited Kentucky bourbon across our whisky range.