Knob Creek Small Batch Bourbon (NAS)

For a 100 proof bourbon, it sure has a strong taste of alcohol. However, when a small quantity of water is added, the flavors really come out. I noticed hints of tobacco and honey are apparent. There are odors that invoke thoughts of corn and maize as well.

I read a very good book, Heather Greene’s Whiskey Distilled, which convinced me that I had gotten unnecessarily hoity-toity about my whiskey too quickly. My thought was “if there’s good whiskey and bad whiskey and average whiskey, why not only drink good whiskey?” This reasoning seems sound, until I consider that many distilleries have their own unique processes not duplicated anywhere and though reviews may not be kind, a unique experience may nevertheless be afoot in giving some of them a chance. I decided to set my biases aside, buy small bottles of the original or core offerings from several bourbon brands and give them a try. I did this in 2 flights: 1. See first of all if I could distinguish between very cheap, poorly reviewed bourbon (Jim Beam original), well reviewed but inexpensive bourbon (Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage) and high end bourbon (Elijah Craig Small Batch Barrel Proof). I started by diluting the ECraig down to roughly the same ABV as the others. 2. Compare 4 similarly priced and similarly reviewed core offerings from different distilleries, all Kentucky Straight Bourbons. These included: Bulleit, Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark. Here’s my review of the very enjoyable second flight (which included non-blind and 3 blind tastings): 1. Bulleit: especially in comparison to the others, a sweet caramel apple throughout, morphing into cinnamony apple pie on the shortish-medium finish. Very nice. 3.75 Stars 2. Knob Creek: a weak nose despite being the highest ABV, but the bitter wood it presented was a nice and surprising note. Apples and dried cherries emerged on the palate and a warm cinnamon on the medium length finish. 3.5 Stars. 3. Woodford Reserve: caramel and fresh pencil shavings on the nose, interesting and pleasant. Sweet honey and oak come out on the palate and mellow hard candies that remind me of perusing the bulk bins in the grocery store as a kid linger on the medium length finish. 3.75 stars. 4. Maker’s Mark, for all its commercial notoriety, emerged as my favorite of the 4. Compared with the others, I got savory beef and salted vanilla on the nose, a more savory than sweet palate and a smooth finish with spice and pancakes. 4 stars. Overall, the Bulleit was the most distinctive, as I picked it out each time in the blind tastings. Next was Maker’s where I only mistaked it once for something else. The other 2 were more comparable in taste and harder to pick out. Each contributed to a very enjoyable evening.

Not for me