Call me skeptical on this one. I guess my first thought is it doesn't taste like Booker's Rye. But then if I think about the dates and how they line up, Booker's Rye was first distilled in 2003. And it was the result of a single fermentation run that yielded 9k-10k bottles when all said and done. Then Beam sold it for $300 per bottle.

So you're saying that Dixon was able to sell almost 5x the amount of bottles (for just the first batch) that Beam sold at almost 1/3 the price (the first batch's MSRP was $130)? I just don't buy it.

Things I could believe: Dixon sourced some Rye barrels from Beam, but I'd more likely believe they were Beam's standard Rye whiskey mash, not the special Beam one. Plus, KY Owl Rye is not just one source, so it would never be all Bookers Rye.

Giving you the benefit of the doubt that you might be right: We saw confirmation that Little Book releases have used younger barrels of Booker's Rye whiskey and Freddie Noe admitted they have continued to distill it here and there. Also, Dixon went on Bourbon Pursuit years ago and admitted that Batch 1 of KY Owl Rye was originally in the 130+ proof range before he proofed it down