Tastes

Nose: Burnt sugar, vanilla custard, caramelized bananas, rich oak Palate: vanilla, butterscotch, drying oak with slight barrel spice and cinnamon Finish: Long and warm, cinnamon spice mixing with black pepper and welcomed oakiness

Nose: Honey, cinnamon, nutmeg (like a graham cracker), punchy spearmint amplifying the ethanol Palate: Cinnamon, plums, blackberries, mint on the back of my tongue Finish: Medium with lingering plums, spearmint, and clove

Nose: Ethanol, caramel, oak char, cinnamon Palate: caramel, cinnamon, fell relatively flat Finish: light honey, honeysuckle, dusting of baking spice

Nose: Roasted, salted peanuts, dry hay or grass, slight ethanol character, reminds me of a hayride on Halloween. Palate: Peanuts, peanuts and more peanuts. Slightly sweet caramel twinge, like a light Payday bar. Finish: Medium, drying and slightly hotter than the rest. Consistent with the peanuts.

Nose: Caramel, molasses, nutmeg and allspice Palate: Baked bread, syrup, baking spices Finish: Short, mellow but sweet and slightly tingly.

Nose: Vanilla, maple syrup, chocolate Palate: Vanilla ice cream with a butterscotch drizzle (butterscotch, not caramel according to the gf), rich oily complexity, chocolate molten lava cake Finish: Long and robust, giving a Kentucky hug that trails with syrupy sweetness

Nose: Vanilla, Sugar-coated waffle cone, light caramel, light ethanol Palate: Oily mouthfeel, salted caramel, oak, creme brûlée Finish: Relatively long and dry, some oak and black pepper that sits on the middle of the tongue This pour always catches my eye when I walk past the shelf. Made of 95% American Winter Wheat and 5% malted barley, this mashbill is trickier to perfect than most. However, the rich oils and dessert-like smells confirm that this was handled well. These bottles carry an age statement of about 5-6 years, so it is relatively young, but they leave it at cask strength so you can really ascertain the complexity. The nose of sweet waffle cone and vanilla jumps out of the glass with salt, caramel, and creme brûlée enveloping the palate with rich, oily character upon first sip. The experience shifts to some barrel character on the finish, with some oak and black pepper that dries your mouth and keeps you coming back for the sweetness. My particular bottle is a selection for Corks Wine and Spirits and is 115.8 proof, not 112.

Nose: Peanut butter mixed with powdered sugar (like the center of a Reese’s), medicinal cherry, dry oak, slightly grassy at times Palate: Roasted, salted peanuts, slight ethanol tingle, oak spice Finish: Light honey and oak spice into a tannin heavy drying bitterness Such a sweet and intriguing nose that has offered some familiar aromas both to Jim Beam and to bourbon in general. The palate follows with more of a savory feel, heavy in spice and bitterness from the age on this barrel. I am extremely impressed with the oily character of this bourbon, just coating the glass as I swirled it around. However, the drying bitter finish on this bourbon just leaves a little to be desired. Although I will admit, the tingle lasts a long time and the sensation is quite fun. I would definitely recommend picking up a store pick of Knob Creek from your local store if it’s available, so many 14 and 15 year old barrels going for $45 a bottle.