You’d think a guy would have to be dead to end up with his picture on a liquor bottle, especially a classic like Jim Beam. But if you find one of the newer bottles on a liquor shelf near you, take note of the newly added seventh face on the side of the Jim Beam label.
That mug belongs to the seventh generation of Beam boys, Fred Noe, who not only is alive but at 50 also is poised to become the next Beam master distiller from the family, following the footsteps of his six forbears also honored on the label.
“My picture’s on the bottle, but there’s a whole lot of people giving their hearts and souls to the company,” said Noe, very much a Kentucky gentleman. “It’s not just me or my father.” His father’s death in 2004 opened the door to succession for Fred, but Noe isn’t expecting a free ride as princely heir.
First off, the guy spends eight months a year on the road as ambassador for Beam, now owned by a publicly held company. He also expects to make his own mark by offering a signature product at some point, as his dad, Frederick “Booker” Noe, did with Booker’s, one of the premium labels offered by Beam. That unfiltered bourbon remains one of Fred Noe’s favorites, “as long as I don’t have a speaking engagement.”
Knowing he grew up in the business, we had to ask, “When did you get your first taste of the family product?”
“In Kentucky back then, when a baby was teething, mothers would rub whiskey on their gums,” he said. “I think I was a little-bitty thing when I tasted it.” So the answer is, he tasted it before he had teeth. Too, he said, his mom cooked with it and once blew open the oven door when the alcohol fumes ignited.
Beyond food, Jim Beam also is an ingredient in songs. Noe’s favorite: “Family Tradition,” by Hank Williams Jr. Which, of course, figures.
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Coincidentally, hanging out with Hank’s band on the road during his college years inflated what should have been four years into seven. But aging brings mellowness. And all Hank’s rowdy friends done rowdied on down.