Jim Beam Kentucky Rye whiskey is not a bourbon (obviously… it’s a rye whiskey and so based on a rye recipe rather than a corn-based one for bourbon) but rather represents one of the Beam efforts at the rye whiskey market. A spicy rye, aged for four years and described by Jim Murray thus: “…this is a rye that refuses to take prisoners, a volcano of flavors erupting over the taste buds, making for one of the world’s super-great whiskeys.