Knob Creek Cask Strength Straight Rye (2018 Release)

Singular in taste, strong, no finesse or complexity

Works well straight and with couple drops of water

I think the expert nailed this at an 85/100, and let me tell you why. I first drank this about 2 weeks ago and i couldn’t put my finger on where i wanted to rank this. Don’t get me wrong, i liked it, but in a world where whiskey is full of gimmicks and prices just keep rising, i feel the need to really share an accurate rating. So i drank more another night, still i was undecided. So 2 nights in a row, i put this bottle up against some of my favorites in back to back tastings: Thomas Handy, Pikesville, Peerless. Now handy and Peerless are a much higher price point but the key here is that they are all bbl proof ryes. The result, it can’t hang with the big guys, but if Handy is MLB baseball, this bottle is a starter in AAA, almost there. But this bottle is at the same price point as pikesville, and pikesville has a richness this bottle doesn’t. That along with the turpentine smell from the glass. So, i ended up at a solid 3.75 stars.