Tastes

Second edition. My understanding is these were 900+ USD retail, but likely poor sales due to the NAS statement has lead to far more favorable pricing for me. As a result I have two bottles! Color is a really deep rich golden, super oily, super thick body, long slow legs. Nose is honey, citrus, I'm getting a touch of apple pie crust. I can get apples, pears, and maybe even a touch of a dry white grape. Water sweetness the nose and makes it much more approachable and more inviting. This is one of the hardest whiskies I've had to review. It will start at one point, jumps over there, and then the high abv comes on like a wall. Opening is sweat fruits, with a touch of a waxy note that keeps things from the citrus bite. The whisky then turns to oily and lightly savory. Water brings out some of those sour fruit notes and pushes the oily waxy notes to the back. There's a touch of herbal bitterness and mineral water. The finish is long, sweat, mineral notes, perhaps some kind of light smoke. So what's the verdict? Well this is really good stuff. It's complex, nuanced, it lingers, and really keeps with you. The high abv is a delightful addition as well. I bought 2 bottle at just under 300, but I can't say that this is a must buy at this price point.

Lets open with laughing at whatever idiot gave this a 95 on distillers. Anyway, after the massive failure that was the 25th anniversary I thought it would be fun to go ahead and try the 2001. As we all know Knob Creek has become really well known for the insanely good store picks that are coming out often with 14-15 year age statements. This 14 year at 100 proof however is likely going to be a huge failure. It's bourbon so looks don't matter. Nose is classic bourbon. Slightly nutty, vanilla, oak, light fruits, and maybe a touch of a custard. The flavor brings a lot of oak, not the old rich leather oak but just a lot of fresh cut oak, vanilla of course, it's a really good quality bourbon. Finish is medium, nothing special again. More or less this is knob creek 9 year old with a touch more oak and quality. It's nothing more than that though. The standard single barrels are often better, not even the older store picks. That said unlike the 25th, this is very good bourbon. It's just 120 bucks which is a joke.

So this is my 4th pour of this one. I'll just say it here because others will ask, yes I got this at an insane deal. Ohio just gives whisky away if it doesn't sell. I'm not well read on what is actually in this bottle, so i'm not sure the driver of the color. It's actually a really lovely amber but I can't tell if that's from 37 years in oak or if there's more wine finishing. Legs are well slow forming and long lasting. The nose is super citrus at first. However as it sits I start to get dusty wood notes, the kinds of notes I never get in scotch, but only REALLY old bourbon. The nose is oily, viscous, rich... Please note you'll need this one to open up at least 30 minutes but an hour is best. Still even open it's rich, oily, citrus, there's a touch of white chocolate and even some creme. The flavor is complex bringing out that citrus, long lingering vanillas, spices, buttery. This is outstanding scotch, I can't imagine paying over 1,000 dollars for an whisky, but this is truly special stuff. I'm scoring it a 4.5 but only given that I think others will be able to find this for under the retail prices. I'm honestly not even sure how to score something with a price that high.

I don't know much about wine so this is all about just the flavors I get on here. As with all the red's I've seen it adds a touch of color to the normal golden colors of longrow. Lovely color, nice legs. Nose - I love that springbank BBQ peat notes. There is a sweatness from the wine, but just that general sweat longrow notes are there. The end of the nose dries out from the wine notes. Taste- sweat, overly sweat grape notes from the wine. Finish is that spingbank bbq peat. There's a vanilla cookie vanilla waffer finish. Not a lot to write here on this one for me. It's a very well made whisky but I don't think the Malbec was a good wine choice here. it gives off more of a weird sweetness than i prefer. Still outstanding and I'd get a bottle if I could.

Decided to get around to reviewing this one. This bottle has been open at least 6 months. The first impressions I have had were VERY bad so lets see how about 1/4 of the bottle consumed (much of that given away) where this one is. Nose - Fruity notes, dry almost astringently dry oak, varnish, cherry, and alcohol. Taste - cherry, light spice, wood. That's all I'm getting here. Then just boring old bourbon. Adding water. Ok now i'm getting more cherry a touch of maybe chocolate, and the oak which when this bottle first opened up was funky and was almost like a wet blanket over the flavor has left but now I just get too much oak and not that good finished dusty oak that we want. Adding more water can i get citrus, almost grape fruit or perhaps watered down tangerines...it's subtle but there. Finish is mostly the wood, and some vanilla. Nothing special I was really hoping this one had opened up in the bottle and was now a wonderful dram but sadly it's changed but it's still a pretty disappointing bottle of bourbon. I'm still scoring it 2 stars as there's a lot of complexity in the wood notes and this is not a simple daily drinker. It really does force you to take your time which I think is of value. If it weren't nearly 250 (it's 250 if you don't find it in a store like I did), I'd consider moving this up to closer to 3.0 which is for normal priced whisky where I say go buy it if you like the style and the price is in your normal range. This is just so expensive and it doesn't deliver at all. I will note I do wonder if perhaps there were better bottles out there as I've seen some good reviews from those I respect and the group I was with who bought these at retail have been disappointed.

Pours a bit of a pink color, or at least it's a pink hue within the traditional golden color here. Legs are there..it's 46%, nothing special. On the nose i get toasted wood, a bit of jam, some light spiced bread. There's nothing intense or interesting here at all. A lot of muted spice and tannin from both likely bourbon barrels and perhaps some port. The flavor is a bit more interesting. It had a nice body that they call velvety and I'll agree with them. It has rich sweetness and I can get a touch of mint and orange as they note on the box. There is a good amount of rather mellow and yet spiced oak in here, I don't recall this much oak from the 12 year. I also don't recall this much mouth feel. Finish is medium, it doesn't last forever and it becomes a touch spicy and dry. A good 45 dollar bottle, but nothing special and all and all uneventful.

Perhaps I'm cheating but I've chosen to review a 2015 release, old black box. I have a newer release at 57+% vs this one at 53.8, but I must say this one simply blows the newer bottlings away. The first thing you'll note on these older bottles is how dark the whisky is. There's a good amount of sherry finishing here. Very slow forming legs, incredible viscous look. The nose is BBQ sauce, old aged sherry, bright sparky alcohol, light fruits in the alcohol, dark fruits at the finish, sugar cookie sweetness, and perhaps a white bread toast like note. The flavor is that sugar cookie base, a touch of medicinal or aspartame sweetness, BBQ, some kind of savor bready something, really old sherry with younger oak notes. I even get the start of what could have been a port note until it swings back into the sherry realm. The finish is more of a pallet overload of abv, spice, sherry, and oak. Here is where you can tell you're drinking high proof only 12 year old scotch vs the more refined and older whisky. At about 110 bucks this was a really lucky find and I only wish I could have afforded to buy all their bottles. No, this isn't a top shelf high end scotch, but these so much wonderful flavor here. The low proof and the higher sherry content really makes this one shine. For me a 3 is an outstanding whisky that if it is in your budget you need to have. I save the 4's and 5's for truly special bottles. This is great stuff but it's still a 12 year old scotch. FYI the newer bottling would be either a 2.75 or 3. Likely would do 2.75 and say it's maybe not a must try if you have any reservation.

We shall get the jazz out of the way. This is possibly my favorite compass box bottle design of all time. The simple gold marker on a black nearly but not opaque glass. The cheap box with the rather nice use of gold foil, the inner lining of the box making more snide remarks. It's just perfect. The whisky goes on to play with the chidlish "malt" drinkers who feel some kind of superiority for malt over grains...most of whom have never had quality aged grain whisky. It's a near perfect slap to the face of the snobbery of whisky's past. All and all cheers on a quality product without the stupidity! OK on to the nose. This is starting on its way to being sherry bomb territory. Spices, dark fruits, underlying custard and vanilla. You can get just on the nose oils and a touch of waxy notes, I'm down right shocked this isn't a clynelish blend, it checks all their traditional boxes. Though I certainly am not surprised that there's Caol Ila here. On the pallet the waxy fruity oily notes shine through. There's a complex sweetness overlapped in baking spices. Perhaps some notes of corn candy which I could see turning a few away, but it quickly builds back up to those fruity sherry notes that everyone buying this bottle I'd hope were coming for. The finish is long, spicy, and savory with a long underlying candy sweatness. Another just outstanding bottle from Compassbox. I was lucky to find a dusty bottle still in the wild. This bottle very much holds up with some of John's much more expensive bottles. Completely worth it and the marketing jabs just add to the fun. Imagine someone drinking this and still thinking grain whisky is somehow inferior...blasphemy to the highest order.

Peerless is an interesting brand. All indications are they're doing everything "the right way". And for that I was willing to pay 65 dollars for what I believe to be a 4 year old bourbon (I have heard some people claim 3). Color is golden amber. For the age it is darker than most thanks to the higher abv. Legs are decent. On the nose I get clay putty. This reminds me of the worst bourbon I've never had in Garrison Brothers, but lets not go there yet. A splash (that's more than a drop) of water brings back out the more typical bourbon notes. Vanilla, oak (though there's some kind of putty note still on that oak), and maybe a touch of fruits way back in there. The flavor has a muted sweetness with I am sticking with a clay/putty note but perhaps it is almost giving off some savory flavors without the salty notes you might get in a savory scotch. Water really doesn't seem to change much here either. The finish is fine. A bit of spicy burn and it lingers. I get a bit more vanilla on the finish. Look this is ultra-young bourbon, it's clearly been made in a more expensive fashion and I'm wishing these guys luck. It's not offensive. That said I'm not sure I'd think bourbon if you gave me this. It's also not that enjoyable. I will say this is my second pour and my first one was more favorable. That might be a factor here, but honestly, I'd avoid this one at over 30 a bottle.

I've been drinking bourbon longer than I've been allowed to drink it. My first pour was in middle school and it was a Pappy 20 year. I've been drinking regularly for at least 14 years and I like to think I've had some pretty good bourbons over the years. Folks - there's a new king! One look at the glass and you instantly know you're in for a high proof old bourbon. It's dark with slow lingering legs. The nose is that rich wood-soaked leather nose that I never get on bourbons under 12 and generally not until 15 or even 20+ years. You can smell the rickhouse where this sat for 15 years like you were on a tour of brown-forman's. However, there's that wonderful sweat bourbon nose that when mixed with the leathers and oaks creates an almost red fruit like note. Perhaps over ripe apples and even dare I say a touch of pear. It is almost candy like element, almost a red apple drizzled in caramel. Then there's vanilla just wafting over everything else, soft, mellowing, and subtle enough to now overwhelm but strong enough to be unmistakable. The alcohol is there but it never comes out and bites your nose, instead it almost plays with the floral and citrus fruit notes and brings them out. A drop of water completely ends that alcohol note (not ideal) and brings out the mellow sweetness with a perfect balance with the oak. A second drop of water and I get an almost bubble gum (bubble yum) like note. Very nice shift in how the sweat notes come out and at the very very finish a touch of mint. The taste is leather, old rich antique like oak notes, crème brûlée, fruity esters that seem so connected with the oak I can't pull them apart but that combination is absolutely perfect. A drop of water brings out cream, the whole mouth becomes creamy and rich. Heavy oak...but not that young cheap oak you'll so often find on 5 and even 10-year-old bourbons. This is that oak you can almost taste when smelling a 100-year-old oak table. The water starts to bring together a spice and perhaps a touch of chocolate (I didn't get that the first time I had a pour or even second). Adding a second drop of water I get something that is a less sour or less citrus apple cinnamon pie like flavor. And of course, vanilla all throughout is stepping in. As I keep bringing it down to try and explore, I start to pick up on nutty notes, not a peanut for sure. Perhaps walnut or maybe a touch of almond. Oh, almost done and now I'm getting some kind of shoe varnish remover like note...hard to explain it but it's absolutely everything I dream of in truly old bourbon. The finish on this one lasts and lasts and lasts. It leaves a bourbon burn and coats the tongue with leather and oak and spice. I'm sure there will be those who find this one over oaked. I'm sure some will find it a bit dry. I myself do tend towards heavy oak, but I want a sweat balance with that oak. This is a bit drier than where I tend to go, but the king has found a unique and wonderful place. This is a dram that requires hours of your time. I'm writing this review a bit quickly as I wanted to get as many notes out as possible, but this one can take upward of an hour to fully open up in the glass and water does amazing and special things with each drop bringing out unique flavors. As these are single barrels my barrel might be completely unique vs yours. With the heat cycle aging I'm told one of the barrels only yielded 6 bottles, meanwhile this one produced 90. I expect there will be some really special variance bottle to bottle so be aware they may not all be like this one. If you are a lover of older bourbon, if 12 years if where you think a bourbon should start. This is your bourbon. If you like younger bourbon, I strongly recommend you look elsewhere as this is both expensive, hard to find, and frankly it wasn't made for you. Cheer. And long live the king.