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
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.
Click 86/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
To access other whiskies from this brand, click Knob Creek.
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