Jim Beam
Type: Brand made at a named distillery
Jim Beam is a Kentucky straight bourbon brand made at the James B. Beam campus in Clermont and at the Booker Noe Distillery in Boston, Kentucky.[4][6] Its history combines a family distilling tradition with corporate ownership: the Beam family sold the company in 1967, and its owner group is now called Suntory Global Spirits.[8][9]
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Brand | Jim Beam Kentucky straight bourbon.[6] |
| Company name | James B. Beam Distilling Co.[6] |
| Owner group | Suntory Global Spirits, as recorded in November 2026; the group adopted this name on 30 April 2024.[8] |
| Immediate legal owner and effective date | Not reliably established in the supplied sheet. |
| Ultimate parent | Not reliably established in the supplied sheet. |
| Distilled at | James B. Beam campus, Clermont, Kentucky, and Booker Noe Distillery, Boston, Nelson County, Kentucky.[4][6] |
| Historical starting point | The producer dates the family's first barrel sale to 1795.[1] |
| Named expressions | Jim Beam Kentucky straight bourbon, Jim Beam Rye, Devil's Cut and Double Oak appear in the producer's history.[1] |
What Jim Beam is known for
The useful distinction is between Jim Beam the brand, the distilleries that make it and the wider Beam family of bourbons. Clermont is its principal campus, but Boston also produces Jim Beam; treating the brand as the output of one distillery misses an important part of its production.[4][6]
The family names extend beyond the main bourbon. Booker's, Baker's, Basil Hayden's, Knob Creek and Little Book all appear in the producer's account of its development, while the Fred B. Noe Distillery at Clermont is home to Booker's, Baker's and Little Book.[1][2] These names belong to the wider story, rather than being interchangeable names for Jim Beam Kentucky straight bourbon.
That distinction also explains why a family history and a company history need to be read separately. The Beam family remains prominent in the producer's account of distilling leadership, but family involvement does not mean that the company remains family owned.[1][9]
From Jacob Beam to the Clermont rebuild
The producer traces the story to the Boehm family's arrival in the American colonies in 1740 and says the surname became Beam after the move to Kentucky.[1] The company history reproduced by Encyclopedia.com places Jacob Beam's settlement in Kentucky, with a copper still, in 1788.[9]
In the producer's account, Jacob sold his first barrel in 1795 under the name “Old Jake Beam Sour Mash”. His son David took over in 1820, and David M. Beam moved the distillery to Nelson County near the railroad in 1854.[1] The encyclopedia record identifies that Nelson County operation as Clear Spring Distillery.[9]
Old Tub, rather than Jim Beam, was the earlier nationally established brand: The Spirits Business dates that development to 1880.[7] James Beauregard Beam, born in 1864, joined the business at 16 and took charge in 1894, according to the trade history and the producer's chronology.[1][9]
Story box: Jim Beam's Clermont rebuild
| Field | Record |
|---|---|
| Founding story | The producer dates the launch of Colonel James B. Beam bourbon to 1935. A brand founder is not documented in the supplied sheet. Jacob Beam's first barrel sale in 1795 belongs to the earlier family history.[1] |
| Turning point | The sheet records a Clermont rebuild in 1933 in about 120 days, but its reported age is inconsistent with its recorded birth year.[6][7][9] |
| Documented record | The company was incorporated as James B. Beam Distilling Co. in 1933; the producer dates bourbon production at the Clermont campus from 1935.[2][9] |
| Verdict badge | Documented |
| Claim assessed | The sheet records that Jim Beam rebuilt the Clermont distillery in about 120 days and reports his age as 70.[6][7] |
| Evidence gap | The recorded birth year of 1864 would make Beam 68 or 69 in 1933, not 70. The editor must resolve the discrepancy.[6][7][9] |
| Earliest known source | Not established from the supplied record. |
| Sources and claim mapping | First barrel: producer history. Rebuild: producer account and trade history. Incorporation: company history. Campus production: producer announcement. |
| Last checked | Exact check date not established in the supplied record. |
The producer dates the launch of Colonel James B. Beam bourbon to 1935 and says the Old Tub name had been lost.[1] The familiar Beam name therefore belongs to a particular stage in a longer business history, not to every whiskey the family had previously made.
Production milestones
The dates below distinguish changes in leadership, new distilleries and brand launches. They are not all founding dates, and none should replace the others when describing the business.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1938 | Jim Beam Rye introduced, according to the producer.[1] |
| 1946 | T. Jeremiah Beam took charge.[1][9] |
| 1950 | Booker Noe joined the business, according to the company history.[9] |
| 1960 | The producer places Carl Beam as master distiller at Clermont and Booker Noe at Boston.[1] |
| 1987 | Booker's introduced, according to the producer.[1] |
| 1992 | Baker's, Basil Hayden's and Knob Creek named in the producer's Small Batch Collection chronology.[1] |
| 31 August 2021 | Fred B. Noe Distillery opened at Clermont, led by Freddie Noe.[2] |
| 2022 | Expansion at Booker Noe Distillery announced, adding about 50 percent capacity.[4] |
Who owns Jim Beam?
American Brands bought James B. Beam Distilling Co. from the Beam family in 1967. The company history also records the acquisition of National Distillers' distilling division in 1987 and American Brands' change of name to Fortune Brands in 1997.[9]
The later corporate names need similar care. An SEC-filed document records a merger agreement with Suntory Holdings dated 12 January 2014 and the change from Beam Inc. to Beam Suntory Inc. on 30 April 2014.[3] Those are different events, and the agreement date should not be used as shorthand for every subsequent corporate change.
On 30 April 2024, Beam Suntory announced its rebranding as Suntory Global Spirits, headquartered in New York City.[8] That is the owner-group name used here as checked in November 2026; Beam Suntory remains relevant when reading older company documents.
How the two main production sites fit together
The producer describes the Clermont campus as covering about 430 acres and identifies its water source as a spring-fed lake on limestone.[6] It also says the Clermont and Boston distilleries use the same mash bills and yeast. A mash bill is the grain recipe used to make the whiskey.
These are the producer's descriptions, not independent measurements of the spirit. They establish the company's stated continuity between the two sites without requiring an assumption that every bottle comes from Clermont.[6]
For scale, the producer reports about 3.1 million barrels across about 100 rackhouses at Clermont, Boston and Frankfort, as recorded in the November 2026 sheet.[6] These are stocks and storage buildings across several locations, not annual production figures or a count confined to the Clermont campus.
The family yeast is another recurring part of the producer's account, which says the strain survived Prohibition.[1][6] That account can be reported without treating every associated family anecdote as documented production history.
The 2026 pause was not a permanent closure
Fox Business reported the company's plan to pause distillation at the main Clermont distillery for 2026 while site enhancements were made. Its account said the Fred B. Noe and Booker Noe distilleries would continue, while the visitor centre and Kitchen Table restaurant would remain open.[5]
The report concerned distillation at one main distillery, not the disappearance of the brand or the closure of the whole visitor campus.[5] The producer later said a phased restart was confirmed on 24 July 2026 at about 60 percent capacity; the supplied sheet says this account has not been independently confirmed.[6]
The family names behind the wider range
The producer identifies Fred Noe as a seventh generation master distiller and Freddie Noe as an eighth generation master distiller from 2022.[1] The sheet classifies the differing seven and eight generation descriptions as Disputed; naming the person and role avoids applying either count indiscriminately.[1][6]
The Fred B. Noe Distillery opened under Freddie's leadership in 2021.[2] In the opening announcement, Fred credited Booker Noe with creating the original small batch bourbons.[2]
The producer's release chronology also records Red Stag in 2009, Devil's Cut in 2011, Signature Craft 12-Year and Distiller's Masterpiece in 2013, Double Oak in 2016 and Little Book in 2017.[1] These are historical milestones, not a claim that every expression remains in the current range.
Visiting the Clermont campus
The American Stillhouse visitor centre opened on 3 October 2012, according to the producer's history and the trade account.[1][7] Visitor access and distilling activity should be checked separately, as the arrangements reported for the 2026 pause demonstrate.[5]
Before travelling, check the producer's official website for booking requirements, accessibility and age rules for tours. Use current visitor information rather than assuming that a production announcement describes what a visitor can see.
Where to go next
- Knob Creek: follow one of the names in the Beam Small Batch Collection.
- Maker's Mark: read a separate brand reference alongside this one.
- Jack Daniel's: continue exploring American distillery and brand histories.
Sources
- Jim Beam. Beam History. Producer's account, undated. https://www.jimbeam.com/en-us/our-story/beam-history
- Suntory Global Spirits. America's First Family of Bourbon Unveils New Distillery. Producer's announcement, 2021. https://www.suntoryglobalspirits.com/news/americas-first-family-bourbon-unveils-new-distillery-pushes-boundaries-what-american-whiskey
- US Securities and Exchange Commission. Beam Suntory Inc. no-action request. Filed company document, 2014. https://www.sec.gov/files/divisions/corpfin/cf-noaction/2014/beam-051614-12h3-incoming.pdf
- Suntory Global Spirits. Renewable Energy Powered Jim Beam Expansion. Producer's account, publication year not supplied in the fact sheet. https://www.suntoryglobalspirits.com/news/suntory-global-spirits-unveils-renewable-energy-powered-jim-beam-expansion
- Fox Business. Jim Beam to close one of its distilleries for a year. Trade report concerning the 2026 pause, publication date not supplied in the fact sheet. https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/jim-beam-close-one-its-distilleries-year
- James B. Beam Distilling Co. Where Is Jim Beam Made? Producer's account, undated. https://www.beamdistilling.com/articles/where-is-jim-beam-made/
- The Spirits Business. Jim Beam: a brand history. Trade history, publication year not supplied in the fact sheet. https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/03/jim-beam-a-brand-history/
- Suntory Global Spirits. Beam Suntory Rebrands as Suntory Global Spirits. Company announcement, 30 April 2024. https://www.suntoryglobalspirits.com/news/beam-suntory-rebrands-suntory-global-spirits
- Encyclopedia.com, International Directory of Company Histories. Jim Beam Brands Worldwide, Inc. Company history, edition and publication year not supplied in the fact sheet. https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/jim-beam-brands-worldwide-inc
This desk-researched article uses verified fact sheet TOP-A284, distinguishing producer accounts, trade histories and the SEC-filed corporate record.
Last checked: November 2026