Knob Creek Small Batch
“A respectable amount of bourbon to pour in a glass is about two fingers. Lucky for me, I have big fingers”
Knob Creek small batch was first introduced in 1992 and is part of Jim Beam’s small-batch bourbon collection. Others in the same collection which you will probably be just as familiar with are Booker’s, Basil Hayden, and Baker’s. The original concept of small-batch was to emphasise the skills and artistry of the master blenders when marrying a relatively small number of barrels (typically of older age and higher strength) and the unique flavour profiles which could then be created.
In our opinion, this is a very straight (excuse the pun) and simple drink from the giant producer Jim Beam and for unknown reasons somewhat hides away in the dark crevices of not only our collection but also throughout social media. You see very little of it out there on the world wide web and perhaps this is why the Gents very rarely reach for it regularly from our collections. This review has stirred our interest once more and reminded us of one indisputable fact: there is so much bourbon in the world and so little time to drink it.
It is not obvious that this is a 50% ABV bourbon when immediately presented to the nose. There are huge amounts of oak with peppermint alongside the typical aromas of caramel and vanilla. It is very unusual for Mav not to pull out cherries on the nose for any Jim Beam product, but this was the case for this review. Full-bodied oakiness (9 years’ worth in fact). The vanilla and caramel notes make this delightfully sweet and punchy and then you are hit with the dry spicy burn to a shorter-than-expected finish.
The general consensus among other reviewers, definitely leans towards a lengthy finish but we simply could not concur on this occasion. What we can agree on is this bourbon is a step up on the whiskey ladder from your introductory drink. The increased ABV is not to be taken lightly and will take time to get accustomed to if you are not too familiar.
