Knob Creek Single Barrel Select, Kelly Liquors store pick

SOMEHOW, THE REVIEW THAT I WROTE HERE BACK ON THE 11TH DISAPPEARED - OR THE TEXT DID, ANYWAY. NOW THAT I'VE REALIZED THAT I'M COPYING AND PASTING THE TEXT OF THE REVIEW I DID IN THE BOURBON AFICIONADOS GROUP ON MEWE, WHICH ISN'T TOO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I WROTE HERE ORIGINALLY. This is a store pick from the Kelly Liquors store in the Mountain Run Shopping Center here in Albuquerque. It's 120 proof (the manager told me that they tempered it down from 124 proof), just slightly over 9 years old (going by the dates on the strip at the bottom of the bottle), and cost me $56.99. In the glass the color is a deep copper. The mash bill is, of course, the standard Knob Creek - 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% sprouted barley. NOSE: Honey - this is the first thing you notice, even in a plastic sample cup. Next comes oak, which I don't believe I've ever gotten on the nose before, and which I really enjoy there, I find. There are also notes of butter, caramel, a faint note of barrel char, autumn leaves, something earthy, sweet corn, a little cinnamon, and pecan pie. MOUTHFEEL: Viscous, oily, buttery. TASTE: Honey again, butter, cinnamon, black pepper, sweet corn, and brown sugar. FINISH: A very definite note of oak, the strongest I've ever encountered, and right at the edge, perhaps, of being too much. Then come black pepper, butter, and barrel char. It's a long finish, which thoroughly coats the mouth. SUMMARY: Though this whisky isn't as complex as I'd expected it to be, it's fantastic stuff. The aromas and flavors are deep, dark, and intense, and the proof sustains them wonderfully well. This just may be my favorite whisky of all time, which is saying something, since its competition for the spot is Balcones Texas Pot Still Bourbon - another deep, dark, and intense whisky. Since this is a store pick it'll eventually run out, and it's beyond what I can usually afford, but if it were a regular shelf whisky within my range, I absolutely would buy it over and over and over again. RATING: Mighty fine = 5 stars = 100/100 = 10/10