It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 15, 2020 When I was at Jim Beam, before I really had fallen in love with bourbon, the tour led us into a room where I could pull some levers and press some buttons. A KC bottle with my sticker on it got filled up and corked by machine. I grabbed it on the other end, dipped it in hot wax, and put my thumbprint in the top. It was then shipped to the gift shop, where I had my name and a date laser etched onto the bottle. Now, I have an entire shelf devoted specifically to Knob Creek bottles and swag, including this personalized bottle, 5 distinct KC variants, a bar mat, and 4 different KC glasses. And after all this: I think Knob Creek is okay. The only other product line that gets this much love on my shelf is Angel’s Envy, who (incidentally) allowed me to bottle my own AE that same summer. Hey Four Roses. Hey Boone County. Hey EH Taylor. Just sayin. Random thought: I always enjoy the process of cracking a Knob Creek more than any other bottle out there. That wax pull tab is joy. What’s your favorite bottle to pop? This nose is amazing, and I wouldn’t have pulled it out of a lineup as KC juice. If anything, it reminds me heavily of Weller or Hancock’s, with a dusty Jim Beam influence. This nose has whipped cream, vanilla, green apple, caramel, and leather, in that order for me. The body does not stray away from the Knob Creek wheelhouse, and that’s not a bad thing to me. It’s comically gentle. Thick caramel hits your tongue first, and then the sugar transitions you to vanilla. It turns slightly bitter in the backend with oak and dusty leather, that Jim Beam fingerprint. The finish is also really gentle, and oily too. There’s mild cinnamon, honey, slight brine. This one leaves your lips buzzing nicely. I dig it. As a 9 year product, Knob Creek has always struggled to keep me invested. There’s just too much to drink. But once you cross that 12-year threshold, KC juice begins to do some really special stuff. To me, this is as good as Knob Creek can get at the 100 proof mark. Due to the flavors they go for, I don’t think Knob Creek has the ability to be my favorite juice, which is funny given the aforementioned achievement of their marketing team with respect to my basement. Still, I can respect greatness even in bourbons that aren’t optimized for me, and Knob Creek fans owe it to themselves to try this. It’s a worthy celebration of Knob Creek potential. Edit: I always check Knob Creek on the rocks too, as this juice tends to excel that way. This bottle is no exception. The Jim Bean dustiness and leather notes are toned down. The remaining sweet notes blend to a crème brûlée desert profile. Genuinely good. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!