Booker’s ‘By The Pond’ Batch Bourbon Was Made For Putting Some Hair On Your Chest By The Lake

The second Booker’s Batch Bourbon of the year was just released, ‘By The Pond,’ and as luck would have it I’ve been hanging out lakeside for a few weeks now.

Naturally, I had to indulge in the Booker’s ‘By The Pond’ Batch to see if drinking this 126.5-proof bourbon by Lake Arrowhead here in Maine would make my Summer’s wildest dreams come true. Did it? That’s hard to say since I’m not really a dreamer but I’ll be darned if this 7 year, 1 month, and 20-day Booker’s Batch Bourbon doesn’t slide perfectly down the gullet.

Booker’s Bourbon ‘By The Pond’ Batch

One of the many reasons I love Booker’s is each of the four annual batch releases has a story behind it. ‘By The Pond’ is the second Booker’s Batch Bourbon release of 2025 and it is named in honor of the pond behind Fred Noe’s dad’s house.

Fred Noe is a story teller and a great one at that. I’ve been fortunate enough to speak with him a few times over the years. And as someone who grew up addicted to fishing, this story about the pond really resonated with me.

Fred says “we didn’t always have a pond in the backyard. But then Dad decided he wanted one to raise catfish and bluegill, so we’d always have fresh fish for supper. And that was that.”

He continued, saying the “next thing I knew, Dad put me and some buddies to work: digging the pond, filling it up, making it homey enough for those fish. After a few days, the pond Dad had dreamed up was right behind our house.”

The 7th Generation Master Distiller kept going, saying “but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. At first, the pond leaked, so we put in a liner held down with big stones. Then, after realizing the city water was no good for fish, Dad rigged a system to bring in fresh rainwater. And finally, we had to figure out what to do about the fifty-foot maple tree looming above it.”

The pond still needed TLC according to Fred Noe. He continued, saying “when its leaves fell, they covered the whole pond. Dad set up a net to catch them on the water’s surface, but all he ended up catching was the fish underneath, finding dozens of them tangled up in it each morning.”

Lastly, Fred Noe said “eventually he put a roof over the pond, and it became something more: a place to reflect. It was where he sat with Freddie as a boy for hours on end, and where he enjoyed plenty of those warm Kentucky days. I think it’s one of the places he felt most at peace. I hope you savor this batch in a place where you find your own bit of happiness, wherever that may be. So go off, and enjoy.”

I’ve been on Lake Arrowhead in Maine for a while, a lake full of largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, yellow perch, sunfish, and pickerel. So naturally, I had to walk down to the lake to crack this bottle open and see if it tastes better by water:

What’s in the bottle?

The second Booker’s Batch of 2025, the ‘By The Pond’ batch, comes in at 126.5 proof and has an age statement of 7 years, 1 month, and 20 days.

It has some truly exceptional liquid streams pulled from 8 different locations across the Beam property in Clermont, Kentucky. That breakdown is:

— 11% came from the third floor of warehouse J a nine-story warehouse
— 11% came from the fifth floor of warehouse 3 a seven-story warehouse
— 11% came from the fifth floor of warehouse 1 a seven-story warehouse
— 5% came from the seventh floor of warehouse H a nine-story warehouse
— 11% came from the fourth floor of warehouse K a seven-story warehouse
— 11% came from the fifth floor of warehouse L a seven-story warehouse
— 11% came from the fourth floor of warehouse 4 a seven-story warehouse
— 29% came from the sixth floor of warehouse G at Waterfill a seven-story warehouse

Booker’s ‘By The Pond’ Batch has an SRP of $99. At that price point, people will have all sorts of thoughts but honestly this one is worth it.

It is the perfect Summer bourbon to put some hair on your chest by the lake with a harmonious marriage of heat and flavor. This Booker’s Batch Bourbon has strong notes of baking spice and caramel. There’s smooth vanilla on the back end that I can’t get enough of.

Open it and enjoy

One issue I have had with the bourbon world over the past 5-10 years is people chasing bottles all over and then sitting on them. Bourbon was made for drinking.

In one of my handful of interviews with Fred Noe’s son Freddie over the years, I forget which, I asked him what the best way to drink bourbon is. His answer has always stuck with me, he said ‘whatever way you like it best.’ And then went on to talk about how bourbon was meant to be shared, to be drank, and not gather dust on a shelf as some prized possession for people to gawk at.

I immediately thought about that with this bottle. Crack it open and enjoy. Share it with your best friend. Pour one for dad. Don’t let it gather dust because it’s delicious!

Lineage Batch #2, A Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

I wanted to call this one out too! Lineage Batch #2, A Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey was just announced this week.

It is a collaboration between Fred and Freddie Noe and an ultra-premium bourbon that is poised to blow everyone away. Talk about opening a bottle and enjoying it? You won’t be able to put this one down once it’s cracked and at $250/bottle, you should find the right time to treat yourself.

This hand-selected 15-year-old bourbon can only be purchased at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. campus in Clermont, Kentucky. The Lineage Batch #2 was aged in charred white oak barrels at the Booker Noe Plant to perfection.

Honestly, I’m putting this one on my list for Santa this year. 15 year old bourbon that Fred and Freddie whipped up together? C’mon. It’s going to be transcendent. For more on that, check out Fred Minnick’s review here.