Source
r/whiskey•
TheDoctorEngineer

Jim Beam vs Jameson vs Maker's Mark

Who will come out on top? FIGHT!!

But seriously, I'm obviously new to the whiskey scene and I want to see how you guys would rank this "starters pack" of whiskey. I know they're pretty low-end compared to what's usually posted here, but I'm curious. Which one is the best? Which one is the worst?

I've got Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon (white sticker), Jameson Triple Distilled, and Maker's Mark 90 proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon (which I assume are all the lowest-end versions). Personally I find Jim Beam disgusting, and it burns my throat like no other, while Jameson I think is the smoothest.

I'm sure you guys are used to better whiskeys, but... thoughts?

Posted Jul 25, 2016, 12:56 AM UTC · edited

215
Neversafeforlife•

I'd have to go with beam personally. Jameson is too lightly flavored and tastes of newspaper (imo), Makers has a heavy ethanol presence across the entire lineup. The beam shows its age, but you can't really fault it at the price.

I'd still rather WT101 or Ogd bib.

5
w0m•

Jim was my go to in college with coke. Cheap and drinkable. Gasoline and coke would also probably be drinkable now that I think about it...

3
FatherFenrir•

Well my vote is going to be for Jim Beam.

I personally love the robust strong flavor it has, I feel it has great last with a strong finish. I have been an avid supporter of the Beam name for as long as I have enjoyed whisky.

Makers Mark is my easy second pick, just because its a bourbon. I actually have a bottle over at my Mothers house for when me and her boyfriend have a whisky together. He enjoys his Canadian whisky.

Your choice in whisky is yours and yours alone. Everyone has a different palette.

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quercus_robur•

What's your definition of "best"? Smoothness is not what I would look for.

Of course Jameson is "smoothest", first because it's mostly grain spirit almost like a vodka (that's why it's listed as "blended"), and second because even the malt portion is made from barley and aged in used barrels. Then they also likely add a small amount of sherry wine, which also adds sugar.

That is nothing like the process required by law for bourbon, which is based on a majority corn content and new American oak barrels, with nothing else added.

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TheWonder123•

Howdy Mr European Oak, I agree with you on the blended "smoothness" criterion. Do you think that Jameson's corn grain spirit differs greatly from those from bourbon country (excluding the different ages of the barrels) I would have thought that if this was the criteria for smoothness then the bourbons being majority corn would exceed Jameson?

Also just wanna add that Jameson doesn't use malt but potstill and no amounts of Sherry wine but sherry barrels. The Irish Whiskey technical act doesn't allow for other alcohols like sherry to be added to whiskey

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quercus_robur•

I don't know the Ireland laws as well, but in Scotland, scotch grain whisky is allowed to be distilled to over 95% ABV. Presumably irish is similar. If so, their corn spirit will be much more vodka-like (purer and "smooth") than bourbon, since bourbon can be distilled no higher than 80%. By distilling to a lower purity, bourbon has extra congeners make it across the still that give bourbon extra richness and mouthfeel, even as white dog (before the extra richness from aging in new oak as well).

I was under the impression that "pure potstill" is somewhat undefined, but means a mix of both malted and unmalted barley (and of course the blending grain whiskey would also contain malt in this case). For example, I thought Redbreast only had 10-20% unmalted barley in it. Do you have any information to correct my understanding?

I was over-simplifying by calling the sherry added--of course using sherry barrels often results in ~1-2% wine carryover, both from the wood and from any extra liquid sloshing around in the barrel if it was never disassembled. (This also raises a thorny issue regarding where the sherry was added to the barrel, how long it was in the barrel, and where it was dumped--if the sherry was added and then dumped in Ireland right before filling with distillate, then there is certainly some intentional carryover of the wine from what is left in the barrel. I believe the law does not address this, so it's a way around being able to add some sherry for sweetness and roundness.)

Thanks. Cheers!

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TheWonder123•

Ah completely forgot they couldnt go above 80%! That makes sense. Yeah Ireland goes up to 95% on grain.

Single Pot Still (the new name after American law makers held issue with the use of the word Pure) has become more rigidly defined recently with the Irish Whiskey Technical file. It now can be malt, unmalted and other cereals. But yes you are bang on that there is malted barley in it, I just read it as "malt whiskey element" rather than ingredients. Redbreast is at least 50/50 as far as Im aware. I don't think Irish Distillers don't distil anything as low as 20% unmalted barley in it at the moment.

Oh yeah ok fair enough I thought you alluding to sherry added like some Canadian whiskies haha

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quercus_robur•

Thanks for the additional detail! I'll definitely have to come up to speed on Ireland's regulations and laws!

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TheDoctorEngineerOP•

I suppose "best" would just be the one you subjectively enjoy drinking the most. I think Jameson is my favorite because smoothness is the most prominent thing I notice when drinking whiskey.

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quercus_robur•

Makers Mark would be best for me out of those three.

Vodka is even "smoother", if that's your only criterion. I prefer most flavorful instead.

But keep enjoying, and I'm sure your palate will change if you keep experimenting.

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somethingsomethings•

For me too, Jameson is the "smoothest" but also the blandest. I don't like Jim Bean much although I think it's over-maligned. Maker's Mark is a perfectly fine cheaper whiskey. Decent flavours, nice notes, easy drinking.

Also it's worth noting you have 2 American whiskeys and an Irish. They're different styles with different flavours. Everyone has their favourite but I'd recommend trying by genre first: Irish, Scotch, American, Canadian, Japanese. I personally go for scotch myself but it's rarely people's entry whiskey.

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sharknado•

Depends on the situation. Of the three, on an average day I prefer to drink Makers. Hard to say which is "best", considering I grew up in KY I'm heavily biased towards Kentucky Bourbon, and I find Makers to be the more flavorful of the two.

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Rsubs33•

Comparing Jameson to the other two isn't the best comparison since they are different whikseys. Jim Beam and Makers Mark are both bourbons, while Jameson is an Irish whiskey, so they are going to be different purely from an ingredient aspect. By law bourbon must be aged 4 years in new American oak, distilled in the US and the mash must contain at least 51% corn. While Jameson uses only malted and unmalted barley. It is really going to be down to preference the bourbons will be a little sweeter and have more vanilla notes. It will really depend on the person and their mood. I prefer Marker's Mark vs Jim Beam for bourbon though.

Edit:Fixed.

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TheWonder123•

Jameson also uses grain whiskey made from maize and they most certainly do not use peat in the drying process. There are no malt houses in Ireland that peat barley, we leave all that to Scotland

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AUBlood•

All shit!

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