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Posts Tagged ‘Beam Suntory’

Whiskey Review: Knob Creek Bourbon Whiskey

Posted by Arctic Wolf on September 2, 2023

I’ve been away for a while as I spent August with the family as we travelled to Langley BC to watch my son compete at the Canadian National Track Meet where he took home a bronze medal in the 100M wheelchair finals.

Now that September is here, I have lots to catch up on. I thought I would begin with a look at one of my favourite bourbon whiskeys.

Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey was originally promoted as part of Jim Beam’s Small Batch Bourbon Collection. This collection is composed of Knob Creek, Booker’s, Baker’s  and Basil Hayden’s. Although Jim Beam Distillers no longer promotes the Small Batch Collection, I would like to suggest that this selection of premium bourbon played no small part in the explosion of popularity of the spirit for whiskey enthusiasts. (It certainly has a positive impact on me.)

Knob Creek is the oldest of these small batch whiskeys, and is aged a full nine years in newly charred oak barrels, then bottled at 100 proof or 50 % alcohol by volume. The whiskey brand is owned by Beam Global and is produced at the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky.

I have recently began to revisit this collection of whiskies (see my review of Baker’s Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey here), and I continued this look back with sample of Knob Creek Straight Kentucky Bourbon. Here is a link to my recently revised review:

Review: Knob Creek Bourbon Whiskey

“… As spicy as this is, there is also plenty of vanilla and brown sugary sweetness which gives the whiskey a rum-like feel as flavours of Demerara sugar, rich caramel, and sticky orange marmalade provide a firm counterbalance to the spicy heat and alcohol push. Tasty baking spices (nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves), hints of chocolate and toasted walnuts add to the rich flavour …”

Please enjoy the review, Chimo!

Posted in American Whiskey, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Whiskey Review: Knob Creek Bourbon Whiskey

#7 Booker’s True Barrel Bourbon (Rum Howler Top 100 Spirits)

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 18, 2015

Booker’s True Barrel Bourbon is part of Jim Beam’s Small Batch Bourbon Collection. This collection is composed of Booker’s, and the previously reviewed Baker’s, Knob Creek,and Basil Hayden’s. The whiskey collection is considered by Jim Beam Distillers to be a selection of ‘ultra-premium’ bourbon whiskeys created to establish a high-end category for bourbon, and thus to appeal to the serious whiskey aficionado. The Booker’s Bourbon was named for Booker Noe, who in 1992 began to produce the Booker’s whiskey bottled “straight-from-the-barrel, uncut and unfiltered”.

Booker's SAM_1112Interestingly, Booker’s Bourbon does not carry a consistent age statement from batch to batch as barrels are chosen for character and flavour rather than for being a specific age. For that reason the age of a particular bottle can vary between 6 to 8 years old. Because the whiskey is bottled straight from the barrel the bottling strength can also vary (according to the website) between 59.5 % to 64.55 % per batch.

Here is the review for the #7a Spirit in my Rum Howler Top 100 Spirits Countdown.

#7a – Booker’s True Barrel Bourbon

“… I was treated to even more richness as indications of dry fruit revealed themselves above the glass along with hints of treacle and pan roasted walnuts. There were also delightful aromas of leather chairs and rich pipe tobacco meandering into the breezes with undertones of smoky charcoal and dabbles of licorice mixed in. What I sense only a little of, is any undo astringency from the whopping 64.55 % alcohol within the glass. Maybe I have a bottle from a particularly outstanding batch; but air above my glass represents a masterpiece of whiskey goodness …”

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You may follow my Countdown list of the 100 Best Spirits here: The Rum Howler 2015 – Top 100 Spirits

Note: I admitted earlier in the countdown that I had to place two spirits in the #25 spot because I had inadvertently failed to re-taste one extremely good spirit, and this necessitated a correction and addition of one extra spirit upon my list. 

I have to confess that another minor error  occurred which requires an addition. When I constructed my list, I made a counting error and halfway through the countdown I realized that I had one too many spirits upon the list. Because I felt the number 7 ranking in my Countdown caused me the most anguish, I decided to fix my error and score two spirits (a tie) at number 7.

Posted in Awards, Extras | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #7 Booker’s True Barrel Bourbon (Rum Howler Top 100 Spirits)