Not Sissy Whiskey, Sippin' Whiskey!
Written: Apr 29 '08 (Updated Aug 27 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: complex, long finish just what you need for sippin' whiskey
Cons: fiery and slightly rough around the edges
The Bottom Line: Knob Creek is testament to the art of small batch bourbons: a complex distillation that separates the whiskey lovers for the posers.
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| scmrak's Full Review: Knob Creek Bourbon 100 proof |
In another life, the Ms was known as "the Bourbon Lady" by one member of my now long-disbanded softball team. The moniker was bestowed on her for her fondness (at the time) for the occasional slug of the straight stuff: nothing between her and Kentucky except for the tax stamp on the bottle cap. You gotta respect that...
These days except for the occasional manhattan, yours truly is the bourbon drinker (the Ms likes her Tanqueray Ten, mind you). I keep a bottle of "house brand" whiskey for mixing (Jack or Jim, somebody like that), but right now there's a bottle of Knob Creek 9 in the cupboard just for sippin'. I come by it naturally, you see: Mama's a Kentucky girl.
Knob Creek 9 Year Old is straight, 100-proof Kentucky bourbon whiskey that has been sitting around getting older for nine long years (compare that to four or five years for most Kentucky and Tennessee bourbons). It's one of the smallbatch whiskey family created by Jim Beam's retired legend, the late master distiller Booker Noe. Knob Creek's named for the water used in the mash process, which is taken from a brook near Abe Lincoln's childhood home. It's made in the old style, meaning "Like bourbon was made before Prohibition: with character." Uhuh...
Tasting notes: (poured neat in a cut crystal tumbler with a couple drops of water).
Color: a rich, mid-range amber tinged by copper.
Nose: Toasted nuts - hickory or pecan - and a touch of oak; faint scents of vanilla and fruit esters.
Taste: Very full-bodied and decidedly alcoholic. Faintly sweet, a wee tingle on the tongue accompanies the powerful bite at the back of the throat. Fiery, and yet smooth - a novice bourbon drinker might think it "raw," and might not have the patience to separate the whiskey flavor from the burn. Complex, while still slightly rough around the edges.
Finish: long-lasting, deep-chested and smoky, reminiscent of some of the peatier scotch whiskies.
Its high alcohol content (50% ABV) gives Knob Creek a tad more fire than whiskies like Jim Beam and Jack Daniels Black. Though almost syrupy on the tongue, this is a whiskey whose sweetness is far more subtle than the well-known "large-batch" bourbons; much in the same sense dark chocolate differs from a Snickers bar.
This is not a whiskey for making sours - it's a whiskey to be consumed carefully, treasured on the tongue: it's sippin' whiskey. You can find gentler whiskeys on the shelf - Gentleman Jack comes to mind - but you'd be hard-pressed to find a more authentic bourbon. Highly recommended for those who prefer their bourbon unadulterated.
Want a lighter, mellower taste? then try another one of Beam's small batch bourbons, Basil Hayden's 8-Year-Old.
Recommended:
Yes
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