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 Twice Barreled Rye Review

Here today is a limited release from the folks over at Jim Beam. It is a no age statement version of their standard rye recipe (so at least four years old) that has been additionally aged in a second fresh charred oak barrel for an undisclosed amount of time. I've had moderate success with the Knob Creek Single Barrel ryes I've tried as they can be a decent value at ~ $45 when you factor in the 115 proof. Overall my biggest complaint with them is they could use more age since they still have quite a lot of grain forward notes. When I saw the announcement of this my hopes were the additional barrel aging would alleviate that issue. Over the holidays I happened to see a bottle of this on a shelf at a random local and though it was marked up I figured I would give it a shot.

Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey; No Age Statement; 50% ABV; $70 ($45 MSRP)

Nose: Lots of typical bourbon sweet notes with a bit of nutty pine spice. The nose is decent and has promise. 

Taste: Corn/grain forward with vanilla cola sweetness. Towards the middle some rye spice shows up in the form of peppermint but it's muted. There is not a lot of wood influence and the profile is mostly dominated by younger grainy notes. The finish is short and what does linger is mostly sweet grains. I'm a little surprised it's not as peanut forward as Beam whiskeys tend to be.

Thoughts: Meh. I'd never guess this was aged in an additional fresh oak cask because the wood influence is just not there. What you end up with is something that tastes like a barely legal, no age statement rye of middling proof which as a whole is completely forgettable. Even at MSRP this is a hard pass for me as you can find single barrel rye picks that are much better. 

Rating: C-

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.

Baker's Bourbon Review

Baker's Bourbon is one of four products in the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection which was launched by former master distiller Booker Noe. The other three bourbons in the collection are Booker's, Basil Hayden, and Knob Creek. For various good and bad reasons those other three get discussed often but it's rare you hear anyone talk about Baker's. I'd say that's because price-wise it's never made sense versus Booker's or Knob creek before those products have gone up in price or lost an age statement over the last couple of years. Through all that, Baker's has been stable in price, still bears an age statement, comes at a very respectable proof, and yet still it seems largely slept on. 

This product is so far out of mind that I wouldn't have thought to buy it on my own but the crowd over at /r/bourbon voted it as the May community review so here we are. On the noteworthy side of things, according to their website, Baker's uses a special strain of jug yeast. I point that out because most folks get a lot of nuttiness in Beam products that we attribute to their yeast so it will be interesting to see if this deviates from the typical Beam profile.

Aged 7 Years; 53.5% ABV; Batch B-90-001; $58

Nose: Smells like classic, highish proof, middle aged bourbon. Vanilla/toffee/burnt wood sugars, etc. It checks all the boxes you'd expect for the age and proof.

Taste: Again no surprise here, it just tastes like middle aged highish proof bourbon. Burnt caramel and other wood sugars, almond toffee, light rye in the form of baking spices, and a decent amount of umpf from the 53.5 % ABV. The age is apparent as there is some wood depth but there are still some traces of the grainy new make corn spirit.

Thoughts: This tastes exactly like I'd expect for the stats which is a good thing. While it isn't as peanut forward as something like Booker's or Knob Creek, I'm still getting a slight nutty vibe in the form of nut toffee. All in all, this is a decent, bordering on good bourbon though it is somewhat boring. Therein likes its real fault as $60 for the most okayest bourbon profile is quite a stretch and probably the main reason not many care about this. 

Rating: B / B-

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Old Grand-Dad 114 Review

2016 was a rough year for Beam fans. First the age statement was dropped from Knob Creek Small Batch. Then it was reported that Old Grand Dad 114 was being discontinued. Then an announcement that Booker's production would be decreasing from six to four batches per year along with a new $100 MSRP (an increase of about 65%). Not long after that Beam reversed course with a fluffball announcement stating MSRP would gradually rise to $100 in the near term and they are sorry that Booker's (a product that sits on shelves everywhere even at the current price) will be hard to find. While the Knob Creek and Old Grand-Dad announcements were met with grumbling, the Booker's news really set the internet over the edge with a lot of Fuck Beam comments. I love Booker's and understand it was in need of a price bump but that kind of full on ludicrous mode price hike left me holding my pitchfork and siding with the boycott crowd.

But because some men just like to watch the world burn, Old Grand-Dad 114 was voted as the January /r/bourbon community review. Sigh. I realize I am in the minority but I've never liked that product. On top of that I really didn't want to go there given the recent Beam shit show. Regardless, I'm compelled to participate so here goes with what is likely the last Beam product I will ever buy.

No Age Statement; 57% ABV; $28

Nose: Ripe bananas, peanuts, some earthy funk, a torrent of ethanol, and a blast of rye spices. It breathes on the hot side and I would guess higher proof than 114. I'm sure the high rye mash spice is what is making this so aggressive but it feels ethanol heavy which really masks the traditional woody sweet notes I want.

Taste: Upfront is honey, some peanuts kind of like peanut butter crème brûlée, and a decent amount of oak depth. It's not overly young but it doesn't exactly taste mature either. The finish is a lot of hot angry spice that lingers forever. The spice is similar to cinnamon red hots which when combined with the ABV make for something like barrel proof Fireball "whisky". 

Thoughts: Something about the combo of Beam peanut funk, high proof, and angry spices doesn't sit well with me. The traditional sweet and complex fruity flavors that I love in bourbon are muted by those aforementioned notes so it just ends up a hot funky mess. In about the same price range, something like Old Weller Antique 107 walks all over this so I'm not sad to see this one go. Bye, Felicia ✌️. 

Rating: D+

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Booker’s 2015-03 “The Center Cut” Review

If you were to take a poll of most well received bourbons currently on the shelf today, Booker’s would be in the hunt for a top spot. In a time where age statements are dropping like flies, prices are continuing to rise, and premium bottles are becoming increasing more difficult to find, Booker’s is a product that continues to spit in the face of all those trends.

Until recently, Booker’s releases have just been a batch code with the exception of a couple of limited editions. This applies even to the “roundtable” batches from 2014 that were selected by panel of industry “experts”. That all changed this year when Beam upped their marketing game for the brand and is now giving every batch a special nickname. In the bourbon nerd circles this move was met with some eye rolling as it was obvious Beam was trying to play up some sort of special release nature to what would be the same Booker’s product that’s always been available.

Eight months into the year and I think we all have to hand it to Beam-Suntory as their strategy appears to be working. It seems a week doesn’t go by lately without someone popping up on one of the bourbon social media groups to ask about the new “special” Booker’s release. You have to imagine that for every person who makes one of those posts there are hundreds more who are buying the product with the same idea.

All the marketing fluff aside, here today we have the third batch released this year named “The Center Cut”. The name comes from Booker Noe’s favorite warehouse location which is where the barrels for Booker’s are sourced.

Aged 7 years; 63.6% ABV; $60; Distilled by Beam

Nose: A blast of sweet caramel corn and light spice. There is a good amount of woodiness. It runs slightly warm but overall a very nice nose.

Taste: Tastes a lot like the nose - lots of corn and caramel with a hefty dose of wood. A little youth comes through with some new-make type fruity mash flavors and there is also some of the typical Beam nuttiness. Think caramel corn banana sundae topped with peanuts and a light sprinkle of cinnamon. Towards the end of the palate some smoky char comes in along with heavier rye spice and something I’ve never tasted in Booker’s before - an earthiness that is almost like dirt? That last part is rather strange but I’ve tasted it each of the 6-7 times I’ve visited this bottle.

Thoughts: While it’s no more special than any other Booker’s release, this is a good whiskey. I’ve had a couple of batches lately that I thought tasted a little more young but this one has a more mature taste which brings some depth that I’ve been missing in the product lately. The earthiness that depth brings puts it a little out of balance for me but overall it’s a solid representation of everything Booker’s represents - a brash, unapologetic bruiser of a pour that hits you in the mouth with classic bourbon flavors.

Rating: B / B+

Bottled in Bond Bonanza (Reviews #100 - #110)

There’s a lot of negativity in the American Whiskey scene right now. The whiskey boom is in full swing with no end in sight. Distilleries are struggling to keep up with demand and as a result lots of products are now allocated, age statements are being dropped, and prices are rising. Yet despite all that, there is still one category of whiskey that nullifies each of those issues: Bottled in Bond.

Visit any decent liquor store and you’ll find swaths of bonded whiskey hiding on the bottom shelf in plain sight. Don’t let the bottom shelf status fool you though. The very nature of Bonded whiskey standards ensures a built in level of quality in age (4+ years), proof, and distillation that allow them to punch way above their weight class. The blue collar value proposition of it is the key to why I believe Bonded whiskey is America’s real gift to the alcohol world.

As such, I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate 100 reviews than to shine a light on these (mostly) great whiskeys that you can find on shelves today for around $25 or less. Here is how I would rank them from first to last.

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1st: Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond

Aged 6 years; $11; Distilled by Heaven Hill

One of many Heaven Hill products in this roundup that all derive from the same high corn mashbill. Unlike everything else in this series this bottle is the the only one that carries an age statement and is probably the oldest in the lineup. Like the Evan Williams and Old Heaven Hill it also claims to be charcoal filtered. I believe this is only distributed in Kentucky and Indiana which is a shame.

Nose: Nice balance of standard sweet oak flavors but nothing terribly exciting. The heat is very tempered.

Taste: Like the nose, a nice profile of the standard bourbon flavors you expect. Lots of sweet vanilla, a decent amount of oak, and only a little smoky bitterness. Any young corny notes have been pretty well smoothed out.

Thoughts: A solid, no bullshit, classical bourbon. At $11 this is probably the most impressive whiskey for the price I have ever encountered. This is an unbelievable value.

Rating: B / B-

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2nd: Evan Williams Bottled in Bond

No Age Statement; $15; Distilled by Heaven Hill

I reviewed this one before and quite liked it but I thought I should re-evaluate it with fresh eyes for this roundup. It’s another Heaven Hill product so I expect it to be similar to those but this one also claims charcoal filtering so there could be some subtle differences.

Nose: Nose is pretty plain much like the rest of the others. Standard fruity corn and sweet oak. The heat isn’t overly aggressive which is good.

Taste: Again fairly standard but slightly more refined than the rest of the pack. Like the Old Heaven Hill I suspect that is the charcoal filtering. It doesn’t necessarily taste much older but there is less bitterness and the sweetness shines through more.

Thoughts: I still like this as much as the first time I reviewed it and feel it stands out against everything else. It’s a tremendous value, I’m still shocked you can buy a whiskey this good for $15.

Rating: B-

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3rd: Very Old Barton Bottled in Bond

No Age Statement, $15, Distilled by Barton

One of the few non Heaven Hill Bonded bourbons available under $25. I previously reviewed this product and quite liked it however that review was for the age stated product. In a rather shitty move, Barton’s parent company Sazerac has since removed the words “aged” and “years” from the neck but left the number 6. It’s incredible deceptive but that’s a topic for another day.

Nose: Pretty standard nose of oak, sweet, corn, vanilla. A little bit of grapes and light antiseptic menthol notes.

Taste: A nice balanced standard bourbon profile - sweet, good amount of oak, and a slight spice bite. I think it has a little less bitter barrel char than I remember from the age stated product. Doesn’t taste noticeably younger than I remember the 6 year product but doesn’t taste noticeably older than the rest of the bottles either.

Thoughts: Nothing remarkable or standout here, just another classic bourbon. Magnificent value given the price. I haven’t had the age stated product in a while but I can’t really tell a significant decline in quality.

Rating: B-

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4th: Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond

No Age Statement; $15; Distilled by Heaven Hill

Another Heaven Hill product but unlike the other high corn mashbill bourbons in the lineup this one uses wheat instead of rye as the secondary flavoring grain. As far as I know this is the only Bottle in Bond wheated bourbon currently for sale. I’m not a huge fan of the older version of this from Heaven Hill (Very Special Old Fitzgerald 12 year) so I had some trepidations going into this bottle. I believe this is rather hard to find outside of Kentucky.

Nose: The nose has some softer sweetness to it compared to the rest of the lineup. Think fresh baked wheat bread or a hefeweizen beer with a little funk and some dusty cardboard.

Taste: A lot like the nose. Much softer taste profile than the rest of the whiskeys in this series. Has some of the cinnamon zip I get in other wheated bourbon products but it’s pretty tame. Fairly sweet with an average amount of wood complexity.

Thoughts: Sweet and soft like a good wheater should be. I think this is much better than the 12 year product and at less than half the price it’s a much better buy.

Rating: B-

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5th: Rittenhouse 100

No Age Statement; $27; Distilled by Heaven Hill

Rittenhouse is one of the most loved products under $30 that I can think of. It’s known for being something great to sip on but even more famous for making excellent cocktails. A lot of the reputation however was built during a time when distillation was being contracted out to Brown Forman. That’s certainly the era in which I grew to love Rittenhouse. There have been rumblings that the Heaven Hill distilled Rittenhouse isn’t quite as good.

Nose: Anise and menthol spice, stale rye bread, a little vanilla, and some oak. Heat is a little stronger than the rest of the pack.

Taste: Tastes a bit on the young side. I’m getting younger new mash corn and fruit notes like bananas. With that fruitiness there is some spice but it’s not heavy handed in the front or mid palate. It tastes more like high-rye bourbon than a low-rye rye until the finish which finally brings a bit more prickly rye spice to the party.

Thoughts: I think there is something to the notion that the old Brown Forman Rittenhouse was a little better. Another downside is the price on this just keeps going up. I remember when it was around $21 a bottle but now the average seems to be around $27. Having said that, it still makes excellent cocktails and is a staple in my manhattans and old fashioneds.

Rating: C+ / B-

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6th: Old Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond

No Age Statement, $11, Distilled by Heaven Hill

Not much interesting to note about this other than it’s one of quite a few 75/13/12 corn/rye/barley Bonded offerings from Heaven Hill. Like a couple of other bottles here the label claims it is charcoal filtered. On a positive side, it’s extremely cheap.

Nose: Smells a bit older than four years even though I doubt it is. There is surprising amount of wood complexity and some sugary caramel.

Taste: Much like the nose. There is more depth of wood and sweet notes than I expected again. I’m a little shocked at how refined this tastes as it seems older than I imagine it actually is. I suspect all of this is due to the charcoal filtering.

Thoughts: A very solid offering and a wonderful value given the price point. It’s not tremendously complex but I like it.

Rating: C+

UPDATE 8/1/2015: I have since learned that this product has been discontinued. Bummer.

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7th: J.T.S. Brown

No Age Statement, $11, Distilled by Heaven Hill

Not much to say about this other than it’s another Heaven Hill offering so it should taste a lot like the others. I don’t know about distribution but I think this is hard to find outside of Kentucky or Illinois.

Nose: Sweet, a little sourness, and some light spice.

Taste: Sweet and rye spice just like the nose but without the sour notes. There are some deeper wood and sweet notes on the back of the palate which is nice. Plenty of wood influence here.

Thoughts: It’s rather unmemorable but in this case that’s completely fine. It hits all the marks in the right places. Would make a fine daily sipper and the price is more than okay.

Rating: C+

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8th: J.W. Dant

No Age Statement; $14; Distilled by Heaven Hill

Dant gets a lot of love on the /r/bourbon network (like this and this) for being a trusty go-to. Having said that, it’s another offering from Heaven Hill so it it should be similar to those products if somewhat more widely available outside Kentucky than the others.

Nose: Slight pepper spice notes and a little bit of sourness like the JTS Brown.

Taste: Sweet up front, decent amount of oak, a little smoky bitter char on the back.

Thoughts: Like most other products in this roundup it’s not overly complex but it doesn’t really need to be. A well rounded, solid budget pour.

Rating: C+

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9th: Old Grand-Dad Bonded

No Age Statement, $17, Distilled by Beam

When the subject of a good value whiskey comes up, Old Grand-Dad is usually a popular suggestion. It has a higher rye content than all the other Bonded bourbons available so it serves a dual purpose as being good for cocktail duty as well.

Nose: Maple syrup and a fair amount of wood. A bit on the young side but not nearly as youthful as the standard Beam Bonded. Despite the high rye content I’m only getting a touch of spice notes.

Taste: Sweet, woody, and slightly spicy. Tastes a little young. There are some peanutty notes that are pretty common in Beam bourbons and sometimes referred to as Beam “funk”. The rye content is doing a good job of masking that funk with some nice spiciness.

Thoughts: I’m slowly coming around on some of the products in the Beam lineup and this is one of them. A fine pour and makes for a great base in a cocktail like an old fashioned.

Rating: C / C+

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10th: Jim Beam Bonded

No Age Statement, $22; Distilled by Beam

Jim Beam Bonded is a relatively new offering in the Beam lineup. It’s essentially a 100 proof version of the standard Beam white label.

Nose: Corn, decent amount of oak, sweet young fruits. Smells like it’s younger than four years old as there lots of young new make fruity mash flavors present.

Taste: Tastes a lot like it smells. It’s got a lot of youth to it like the raw mashed corn flavors haven’t smoothed out enough yet. It does have a sweetness to it and surprisingly I get less of the typical funky Beam nutty yeast notes than I expected. The finish has hints of a darker malty sweetness but it’s pretty faint.

Thoughts: I’m having a hard time getting past how young it tastes. Combine that with the higher price point compared to the rest of the lineup and this one is a hard sell if you have access to others in this list. If not this is still a decent enough whiskey and certainly a step up from the regular white label.

Rating: C

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11th: Mellow Corn

No Age Statement, $9; Distilled by Heaven Hill

Straight corn whiskey is interesting in that it has no requirement for aging in new oak barrels. As such, Mellow corn is aged for at least 4 years in second use barrels. This is immediately obvious from the color as it looks like a month old bourbon.

Nose: Mostly rubbing alcohol with a little bit of dried corn. Pretty thin on scents. Not much in the way of wood sugars / oak.

Taste: Tastes a little better than it smells. As expected the corn flavors are very dominate and the rubbing alcohol notes are still there, especially on the finish. There is some sweetness in the back of the palate, kind of like a corn taffy.

Thoughts: Really felt like I was taking one for the team including this in the roundup. It’s perhaps the most one dimensional whiskey I think I’ve ever tasted. It certainly is unique but I don’t know in a good way. On the flipside, it’s hard to be that negative when you consider a 750 will set you back less than $10.

Rating: D

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As you can see there’s a lot of value to be had in these pours. Price isn’t really an indication of quality as the cheapest bourbon here actually ended up being my favorite. The middle of pack was really close - I would put JW Dant, Old Heaven Hill, and JTS Brown all about even. The only real downside about a lot of these is they are rather hard to find outside of the Kentucky area. Dant, Rittenhouse, and Old Grand-Dad are the exceptions to that and I think all fine offerings.

I hope I was able to do these great whiskeys some justice and convince anyone on the fence about them and give them a shot. Forget Pappy, save your money on a $14 bottle of Dant and enjoy other things beside chasing after insanely overhyped whiskey.

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-

Booker's 25th Review

Booker’s is barrel strength bourbon conceived in the late 80’s by the grandson of Jim Beam, master distiller Booker Noe. It was initially only offered to friends and family as a single barrel product but due to popularity it became publicly available as a small batch in the early 90’s. While the standard offering of Booker’s is typically aged 6-7 years, the commemorative release comes in around 10 years old. Per Fred Noe, current master distiller and son of Booker, the 25th anniversary release contains some of the last whiskey to be barreled under his father’s watch before his death in 2004.

Aged 10 years 3 months; 65.4% ABV; $100

Glencairns make for great pictures but they are a terrible idea for nosing this whiskey as it breaths far too hot. Clear bottles also make for better pictures when they are full but the fill level here is not where I am writing this review. The majority of my notes will be coming for the tail end of this bottle which is a vast improvement over the beginning.

On the nose from a regular rocks glass you’ll get some sweet candy nuttiness like roasted honey peanuts but it’s hard for even a proof junkie like myself to get past the heat. The taste is heavy on the sweet side with lots of warm caramel, nutty fudge, and also a little spicy cinnamon. If you look deep enough you’ll find more complex flavors of leather and tobacco notes alongside the sweet and spice but those notes are minor. Normally with standard Booker’s I get a lot of young wood upfront but here the oak comes in more at the finish and is deeper with more of a tannic quality.

Thoughts: The first and last pour out of this bottle were dramatically different. The first was an absolute mess - overbearing classic Beam nuttyness and hot alcohol which I would describe as molten peanut butter. About midway through it took a turn for the better but I was still struggling to justify how much better it was than the standard release. Now that it’s in the bottom 1/3 I’m seeing a remarkable improvement over standard Booker’s. It’s still got remnants of the standard profile but it also has more oak complexity, less heat, less harshness, better sweetness, and less of the nuttiness that I don’t usually like in Beam products. It’s pretty apparent the extra few years in the wood have helped smooth out what is usually a younger more savage pour. I don’t know that I would consider it in my top 5 whiskeys from 2014 but it is pretty good.

Rating: A- / B+