CLERMONT, Ky. (March 1, 2013)—Jim Beam, the world's top bourbon producer, is turning to moonshining's colorful past to create its own white whiskey.

Beam Inc.'s newest spirit is called Jacob's Ghost in honor of Jacob Beam, the founding distiller of its flagship Jim Beam brand.

Jacob's Ghost resembles the potent potion that flowed from the pioneer's still in the 1790s and perhaps from a moonshiner's even today, but it’s no run-of-the-mill, backwoods hooch.

Jacob's Ghost is an 80-proof whiskey aged at least one year in a charred, white oak barrel.

The aging adds flavors from the wood that's missing in un-aged whiskies and moonshine.

Beam, based in Deerfield, Ill., is tapping into a white whiskey category that amounts to a drop in the bucket compared to bourbon, but white whiskey is finding a niche, thanks to craft distillers.