Talking Bourbon has long been a fan of Knob Creek, one of the first “premium” Bourbons to hit the market in a big way. This, along with Woodford, kind of helped push the huge boom in Bourbon that is still going on. Today we are trying, for the first time, Knob Creek Small Batch 18-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This is a limited edition and the oldest of the Knob Creek whiskeys. From their website “celebrates the time, effort, and commitment to our never-ending pursuit of craft. Aged twice as long as our flagship bourbon.”
Knob Creek 18-year-old is distilled by Jim Beam, is 100 proof, sells for around $150 or more, and comes in the standard squared-off corked bottle as the rest of the Knob Creek lines. The mash bill is 77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley. Seeing as this is a limited-release bottle, we are not sure about its availability.
As stated before, we are fans of Knob Creek, both the standard Bourbon and the standard rye. We are not sure if we have ever had any of their other expressions, like the 12-year-old or any of the single barrel bottles. This Bourbon is more than 3 times the price of the standard Bourbon. Is it worth it? Maybe, maybe not, but it will be fun to find out.
NOSE
Todd: Awesome nose of strong wood in general and oak in particular. Getting caramel and brown sugar sweetness, some leather, and tobacco. Has hints of vanilla, toffee, praline and grain. And behind all this is a musty, oily, almost humidor type of scent. I could sit and smell this stuff and not drink it. I’m just kidding. Ice muted the aromas.
Matt: A somewhat hot nose but a lot of smells are coming through, including very strong oak. Picking up toasted notes, walnuts, vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, and tobacco. A little less prevalent is leather, corn, and rye. Lastly, a hint of black cherries. Ice makes it lighter.
TASTE
Todd: Packs a little punch neat but drinkable. Again, like the nose, strong oak, and caramel. The mustiness also stepped up. Secondary tastes include rye, barley, and leather. Getting a bit of the oiliness on the tongue that I got on the nose.
Matt: A touch hot but not overwhelming with a thick oily mouthfeel. Picking up most things that I got on the nose, oak, toast, vanilla, caramel, leather, and tobacco. I am losing the rye, corn, and butterscotch but adding a nice dark chocolate taste. Ice made it a touch sweeter and brought out more caramel.
FINISH
Todd: Medium long with some heat and milk chocolate.
Matt: Long with heat and spice.
OVERALL
Todd: Hate to say it but, while very good, the taste was a little bit of a letdown after the great nose.
Matt: I would buy this to keep on the shelf for special occasions.
Nose 4.75 out of 5
Taste 8.25 out of 10
Finish 4 out of 5
Total score 17 out of 20 barrels.
Definitely a good Bourbon with a great nose, but the nose doesn’t make the drink. We were both a little underwhelmed with the taste and the finish. To be clear, we really liked this juice, lots of oak and caramel but it just seemed to be missing something when it came to the taste. Now if this was a $60-$80 bottle, we would probably adjust our review a bit. But it isn’t. As mentioned, this is more than 3 times the standard Knob Creek Bourbon, a Bourbon that we both enjoy and have for a long time.
In the end, we both will probably keep a bottle on our shelves as long as it is available. We like to have things that our friends have probably not tried. We also like to have bottles that might get hard to find in the coming years or even months. To be clear, on a lot of these bottles, you are not necessarily paying for the taste but more for the rarity of the Whiskey. If you are like us, we recommend finding and buying a bottle of Knob Creek 18-year-old Bourbon and adding it to your collection. However, if the thought of buying a bottle just because it is hard to find is not your thing, we suggest you pass.