Dark caramel color. A very thick and oily look. It adheres to the sides of the glass like a sticky mountain range. The nose is alternately sweet and spicy. There is a sugary sweetness that starts it off: cherry, toffee, maple syrup. Vanilla?: it's just the hype man here. With a longer draw, the spices poke out: black pepper, rye, and red pepper flakes. A little bit of dry cinnamon. When you really jam your beak in there, you get something approximating the plastic white bucket we used to use when I painted dorms in college. The first sips of the palate is very brown: cinnamon, oak, caramel. It's very apropos for the first month of autumn. I swear I'm getting brown leaves. The rye profile comes off as bitter caraway seeds. Which opens up the portal so some spicy business: red pepper flakes, smoldering matchsticks. Even though it's only 100-proof it brings the heat like Josh Allen on 3rd-and-12 out of the shotgun. (Trips left, McKenzie in the slot running a drag; Diggs running a post; Gabriel Davis in the seam; Dawson Knox sitting down just past the sticks. Sorry folks: Go Bills.) The finish is a beautiful array of spices: pepper flakes, spent matches, rye bread. Blunted by a those caramel candies from the bulk food section. (With the little white part in the middle.) Peanut shells without the peanut. Knob Creek 9, man. It's the best of both worlds: it's affordable, some might say a bargain. But it's chock full of flavor that can stand tall in any glass. It's great neat, in a cocktail, in a rocks glass or a Glencairn. It's the Platonic ideal of Bourbon for the workin' man. This should be a staple on every bourbon aficionado's shelf, just in case.