Knob Creek Small Batch Review Archives

Hannah’s Knob Creek 09 YR Small Batch Review

Original review written December 7, 2019

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

A Jim Beam product, I don’t know why this isn’t valued as a more premiere bourbon than it’s brother, Basil Hayden’s. If you like wood-forward bourbons, this is for you! 84/100

VITALS:

– Made In: Kentucky, USA
– Distiller: Jim Beam Distillery
– Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; Small Batch
– Age: 9 yrs.
– Mash Bill: Corn=77%; Rye=13%; Malted Barley=10%
– Casks: New charred oak; Char #4
– Barrel Entry Proof: 125
– ABV: 50% (100 proof)
– Price: $29.95 USD in Idaho

Visit knobcreek.com for more information

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

I enjoyed the juice neat from a Glencairn glass with father and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer, Brian.

Check out his review for this bourbon here!

SETTING:

It’s a misty, cloudy day in the Redwood National Forest of California, but the air somehow remains crisp. Trees tower over you and your smallness in the scope of the universe could not be more apparent, and this gives you a warm peace to anchor to.

Photo by Nina Luong on Unsplash

NOSE:

There is vanilla and dried cranberries that greet the nose that mix to an almost biscotti aroma. (YUM). The vanilla has an alcohol bite, lending itself to a fine richness that’s appropriate for the proof. Cloves and rye accompany the sweet for a pleasant balance. I can also find a toffee element on the deeper inhales, lightened up by a dash of vanilla. Mellow and sweet oak blend all of the flavors together in a very inviting way.

PALATE:

– Mouth Feel: Gentle feel, but the proof kicks you back before you get used to it.
– Balance: This is a good blend, but I wish other flavors could bloom a little more.
– Visual: Tawny in color, many legs move quickly to coat the glass and create an uneven crown.

– Taste: Wood-forward on the first sip, coupled with the alcohol burn. However, it’s a soft wood – maybe pine? Other flavors include some rye and a barely-there bread at the back of the palate. Peanuts can be tasted with the bourbon resting in the middle of the tongue – almost to the point of becoming the peanut butter just under the surface of a coating of peanut oil in a fresh jar. It eventually fades back into the wood.

I’m hunting for the fruit component observed on the nose, but it is not distinguishable.

With a Kentucky chew, the wood is a commanding force and not much else can be identified. However, the chew does appear to be where the fruit resides, albeit subtle. If I had to pick a fruit, it could be currants, but not in their raw form.

FINISH:

– Lasting Power: Short. My main complaint of this bourbon.
– Between Sips: There’s maybe a hint of currant, but you’re left with the impression of wood more than anything else.

– No More: No matter how far I get in the glass, the wood stays dominant, and I’m not complaining. This is quite enjoyable.

The empty Glencairn is naturally an overwhelming oak, but there is an alcohol essence that makes a resurgence just at the end.

WORTH THE PRICE?

Definitely. It deserves a spot in the bunker.

RATING: 84/100

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Brian’s Knob Creek 09 Year Small Batch Review:

written on 08-December-2019

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

Knob Creek Small Batch surprised me but it shouldn’t have coming from the long Jim Beam/Booker and Fred Noe lineage of Basil Hayden’s, Baker’s and Booker’s bourbons. I drank it early in my reviewing process and was unimpressed. Not so as I write this update several years later. My nose and palate pick up sensations of bourbon building blocks: corn, rye and oak and the whiskey finishes warm and soothing. There is a lesson to be learned here: Don’t be afraid to re-test and re-tune your palate from time to time. This bottle may deserve shelf space in the bunker.

KNOB CREEK 09 YEAR SMALL BATCH VITAL STATS:

– Category: Kentucky Straight Bourbon
– Region: Clermont, KY, USA
– Distillery: Jim Beam
– Mashbill: 77% Corn, 13% Rye, 10% Malted Barley
– Cask: New charred oak
– Barrel Char: #4
– Barrel entry proof: 125
– Age: 9 years old
– ABV: 50% (100 Proof)
– Price: $29.95 USD in Idaho

https://www.knobcreek.com/

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

For the evaluation, I shared the juice neat from Glencairn glasses with my daughter and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer Hannah.

Check out her review for this bourbon here!

NOSE:

Knob Creek Small Batch offers no alcohol to the nose but a cacophony of fresh and fragrant growing field corn and other grains after a summer rain. Berry nectar is on the nose as well; fresh dark fruit, plump raisins, and ripe plums. Spices of mild allspice, white pepper and rye mix with light vanilla. Sweetness comes in as caramel corn, brown sugar, soft buttery caramel, and maple syrup. But even with all of the above, Knob Creek is simple and gentle with only a hint of spicy barrel char and sweet woodiness: woody like chewing on a bourbon soaked toothpick. When nosing, my mouth salivates readying for the taste.

PALATE:

Each sip has a slight burn which turns warm quite quickly. When swished, chewed and worked with the tongue, there is quite a bite but for a 100 proof whiskey Knob Creek Small Batch is a mellow dram. The juice has an herbal quality, much like growing field corn and other grains employed in the making of bourbon. Concentrated sipping draws out dark dried fruit nectar, plums or currents crushed into a juicy paste. The spices are of black pepper and rye which nearly overshadow subtle vanilla custard and soft buttery caramel. The closing flavors are classic Jim Beam: earthy, musty, peanuts and walnuts, and woody barrel char which fade into dry old seasoned oak.

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
At first sip this juice is soft in the mouth; smooth and creamy … with a nice bourbon tickle. For the price it is solid and well blended. In the Glencairn the tawny liquid coats then breaks into evenly spaced long and fat clinging legs which give way to a well defined inverted crown.

FINISH:

Knob Creek 09 Year Small Batch finishes short on flavor, long on warmth in the throat and gives the nose a nice parting treat. There is a little tickle as each sip is swallowed, but this is a simple bourbon; there are no flavors to savor. However, as the Glencairn empties, seasoned and spicy oak waft to greet the nose.

MY RATING: 86/100

Will I seek out this whiskey in the future? Yes
But it won’t be a must have in the bunker.
_{Click to read Brian’s scoring process.}

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