Knob Creek Small Batch Review

Here today we have Jim Beam's flagship premium small batch bourbon. For the longest time it used to carry a 9 year age statement however a couple years or so ago it was removed. In an interesting recent twist however it was just announced that Beam would be adding the age statement back which is a circle of events I don't think we've ever seen before in bourbon. 

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; No Age Statement; 50% ABV; $35

Nose: Very typical bourbon nose - woody, vanilla/caramel. A bit of the familiar Jim Beam peanut funk is mixed in as well. It might be slightly boring as far as bourbons go but not bad.

Taste: Just like the nose it checks all the boxes of a middle aged bourbon. There is a good amount of wood, a good amount of sweets, and 100 proof gives it plenty of umpf. I know this doesn't have an age statement but I would guess this is still pretty close to 9 years old if not actually still that old. Beam peanut is pretty pervasive as the sweets take on a peanut brittle kind of flavor. The finish lasts quite a bit and is kind of hot for the proof but lingers with a little rye bit on top of the aforementioned flavors.

Thoughts: It's not very exciting but if you don't mind a hefty dose of nutty flavors in your bourbon this will certainly get the job done. This isn't something I buy regularly as I feel there are better values for the money in this price range but if I am out at a bar with a less than stellar selection I can almost always count on this being available and I never regret getting it.

Rating: B- (80/100)

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating. 

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C918, Knob Creek Single Barrel "The Green Monstah", and Stagg Jr Batch 10 (126.4) Reviews

The state of American whiskey in 2019 is a weird place. The demand for allocated bottles has been in a fever pitch and seems to have no end in sight. Even worse, the list of whiskeys that are now considered allocated has become a sad state of affairs. A quick look the recent influx of posts on /r/whiskyporn that are treating bourbons like Weller Special Reserve and Blanton's as coveted major scores has anyone that's been around a while thinking we've hit rock bottom yet despite that sentiment the WTFs just keep coming.

But for all the silly shit that is happening in the whiskey scene, there are some bright spots, and one of those is that we are in a golden age of well aged, high proof, decently priced, not impossible to find bourbons and ryes. There are so many more good high proof options today than there were 6-7 years ago and even with the crazy demand, most of them are not that hard to come by. So with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to compare three popular options against each other, all of which I was able to find at retail just by walking into a shop, no special favors required.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C918

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; Aged 12 years; 65.7% ABV; $75

Nose: Woody and sweet, just like what you should expect from a twelve year old cask strength bourbon.

Taste: Lots of lush sweet caramel up front and some rye spice bite in the backend. The ever increasing peanut note I am getting in Heaven Hill these days is there in the form of peanut butter marshmallow smores. The finish lingers for quite a while with an oak laden sweet spice punch. There is plenty of wood depth there but there are also twangs of a younger, green wood taste that I sometimes get in this product's younger brother, Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond.

Thoughts: This is good but if I am going off memory it is far from the most complex ECBP I've ever had. The touch of green wood is the biggest detractor here for me, I don't recall ever getting that in the older ones. It's probably just me but I feel like these just aren't as good as the releases from 2-3 years ago. Still a very solid high proof bourbon and if found a retail is a buy on sight for me.

Rating: B/B+

Knob Creek Single Barrel "The Green Monstah" Selected by Barrels & Brews

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; Aged 15 years 1 month (label is incorrect); 60% ABV; $50

Nose: A remarkable balance of a ton of wood and just as much sweetness. Very, very good.

Taste: Sweet nutty flavors like peanut brittle with lots and lots of oak. It's a bit dry but there is a lot of flavor to make up for that without being bitter. The finish rides out with dark cocoa sweet vibes and touches of rye spice but again it's super oaky and yet just as sweet. Not much to say other than it's a flavor bomb.

Thoughts: I've had mixed results with these older aged Knob Creek Single Barrels but this one is a home run for me. I did a bottle split of Booker's 30th with a friend and this is easily better for me and probably the best Knob Creek Single Barrel I've had yet. The Barrels & Brews guys have been doing a hell of a job with their selections and this one is no different. 

Rating: B+

Stagg Jr Batch #10

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; No Age Statement; 63.20% ABV; $50

Nose: A sweeter, fruitier nose than the other two which make sense given the likely age of 9ish years. Cherries, peaches, stone fruits, and woody caramel.

Taste: A balanced, classic taste of bourbon with an equal combo of fruit, sweet, and oak. Sugary salted fruit pie crust comes to mind for the sweet notes along with just enough wood depth to balance things out.

Thoughts: This is a completely different vibe than the ECBP and KCSiB which makes sense since it the youngest in the bunch. That's not necessarily a bad thing here though as it's able to showcase more dimensions that just being an oak bomb. This isn't as good as Batch 9 which I still think is the best release of Stagg Jr yet but this is a quality product that I think as time goes by is slowly but surely chipping away at ECBP as the most consistent best bang for your buck high proof bourbon. At retail, these are a buy on sight for me all day long.

Rating: B

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Knob Creek Cask Strength Rye Barreled in 2009 Review

Here today is a limited edition release from Beam. When this was first announced it raised a lot of red flags that had me suspecting it would cost $150 to $200 - vintage statement, rye, cask strength, and the words "limited" on the label. Much to my surprise, one of my locals got in a bunch of them at a price that isn't terrible so I took a chance.

Though this says "Barreled in 2009", here's a reminder that vintage statements are not age statements. I seriously doubt Beam has done anything other than dump this straight from the barrels but you have to wonder why this doesn't have an age statement. Even more curious is that like standard Knob Creek Rye, you won't find the words "straight rye whiskey" anywhere on the label. Straight doesn't have a whole lot of meaning when it comes to Bourbon but in the rye world omitting that term does not preclude the addition of up to 2.5% additives. Again, I really doubt Beam is doing that here but as a whiskey nerd I find all this mildly infuriating. 

Beam, wat r u doin. Beam, stahp.

No Age Statement; 59.8% ABV; $77

Nose: Woody with a touch of rye bread dough. I'm assuming this is a barely legal 51% rye and it certainly smells that way as it could easily be mistaken for a high rye bourbon rather than a rye, almost like an extra aged Old Grand Dad 114. The familiar Beam peanut funk is evident.

Taste: Honey corn nuts upfront, burnt wood sugars in the middle, and a brash finish of darker tannins and rye baking spices. It has the good characteristics of a 9 year old Knob Creek Single Barrel with a bit more rye spice. Things are okay upfront and in the middle but the hot slightly bitter finish is where it falls apart.

Thoughts: Meh. Blind I would probably guess it was a high rye Beam bourbon or maybe even a home blend of Beam and some other rye as it's disjointed. There were nights with this that I could barely drink it and here today I waffle between it being okay and not good. While the cost here isn't terrible in today's market for an aged high proof rye, I would have been much happier with something like a Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Rye or store pick Whistle Pig Single Barrel Rye over this. Beyond that, I was recently in on a barrel pick of the 115 proof Knob Creek Single Barrel Rye and I enjoyed all the ~5.5 year old barrels we tasted over this. 

Rating: C-

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Knob Creek Single Barrel Review

If you were take a poll in the bourbon community of the most loved Beam product, I’m pretty confident the winner would be Booker’s. There’s just something about Booker’s that appeals to people and I understand the sentiment because I am quite fond of the product myself. There’s a lot to be said about barrel proof bourbon that is readily available, age stated, and not absurdly expensive. The thing about Booker’s though is you really have to be in the mood for it. Batches of Booker’s average anywhere from 6-7 years old which is slightly on the young side of most barrel proof products. Combine the youngish age, high barrel proof, and the notorious nutty notes that Beam yeast is known for and sometimes a pour of Booker’s can taste like molten peanut butter and bananas. That’s Booker’s for you though - it’s the quintessential unapologetically brash “put hair on your chest” whiskey.

But what if I told you there was an older, cheaper, and only slightly less proofed version of Booker’s that doesn’t really get a whole lot of attention? If you think about it that doesn’t really make a lot of sense but it’s true. Knob Creek Single Barrel is the same mashbill as Booker’s, 2-3 years older (50% older than some batches!), costs 20% less, and is on average about 4% less ABV. On paper it certainly looks like it has Booker’s trumped. But does it?

60% ABV; 9 years old; $47

Notes: The nose is very woody with some nutty caramel around the edges. It breathes hotter than it should and it’s rather flat underneath all the ethanol so the nose isn’t going to win anyone over. Things improve dramatically on the taste though. It’s sweet, woody, and warm but not overly hot with a nice richness to it. Towards the back of the palate and finish some sweet maltiness and rye spice comes in. It’s got some nice layers of depth and the age is doing wonders to tone down the sometimes off-putting nutty Beam yeast funk notes. The proof is in a really good spot here as I never feel like it’s going to burn my face off even with the modest rye content. Overall, I think it’s a really good balance of wood, heat, sweet, and spice.

Thoughts: Obviously this is a single barrel so your mileage may vary but I think this is every bit as good as the specs indicate it should be. I’m willing to say I like this more than Booker’s. It’s a more refined product with better wood depth, deeper sweets, and less untamed heat. It lacks the finesse and elegance of something like Four Roses Single Barrel but I’m ready to go so far as to say this is the best product in the Beam lineup.

Rating: B / B+

Updated Thoughts March 2016: I’ve since been through a couple of different bottles of these since my review and sampled maybe 1-2 more. The above review represents the best bottle I’ve had of the bunch. One bottle was such a hot mess that I couldn’t even drink it and adding water only made it a watered down mess. The rest have all been consistent but a touch too bitter. I’d go back to saying Booker’s is probably worth the extra premium and being a small batch, the more reliable product in the Beam lineup.

Updated Rating: B / B-