Knob Creek is Jim Beam turned up. It’s not Jim Beam turned all the way up, that’d be Booker’s. It’s more a vision of what the distillers and blenders at the James B. Beam Distillery can do with classic Kentucky distillate right at the mid-point of proof. There’s of course more to it than that but that’s the most important point — this is a Beam product that hits 50% ABV/100-proof and slightly above without going full-on into full-proof (generally).
Add to that that we’re not talking about a single bottle of bourbon whiskey. We’re talking about nine whiskeys that cover rye and bourbon. While rye and bourbon are two very different beasts, there are throughlines in Knob Creek whiskeys — a cherry/fruit-forward vibe that highlights the yeast in the distillate alongside spiced wood notes and plenty of vanilla.
So which Knob Creek bourbon or rye is the one you need to buy, drink, and love? Since Knob Creek is fairly available nationwide (most versions anyway), I figured it was high time to rank all nine bottles based on taste. Sometimes, a great flavor is all you need to find a whiskey to keep stocked on your home bar cart.
Give my tasting notes a read, find the whiskey that piques your interest, and then hit that price link to get it heading your way. Let’s dive in!
9. Knob Creek Smoked Maple Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey with Natural Flavors
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $34
The Whiskey:
This expression is a blend of straight bourbon and smoked maple syrup “natural flavorings.” It’s Fred Noe’s nod to his dad, Booker, who loved to smoke meat on the weekends and bottled his own maple syrup.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with wet cornmeal next to smoldering hickory from one of those old tin backyard smokers with a hint of maple syrup sweetness rounding things out.
Palate: Smoked brisket fat forms a small line under smoky maple syrup on the palate with a good dose of classic bourbon vanilla, caramel, and dark cherry.
Finish: The finish is soft and full of that cherry vanilla vibe and plenty of dry, smoky hickory with a hint of pepper spice underneath it all.
Bottom Line:
This is easily the least exciting Knob Creek. It’s a flavored whiskey, which is not a bad thing. In fact, this is a pretty damn good flavored whiskey. The reason it’s last here is that it’s sweet and smoky more than it’s bourbon. That said, if you’re looking for an old fashioned with a hint of sweet smoke, this might be the right play for you.
8. Knob Creek Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 9 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $44 (one-liter)
The Whiskey:
This is Jim Beam’s small batch entry point into the wider world of Knob Creek. The juice is the low-rye mash that’s aged for nine years in new oak in Beam’s vast warehouses. The right barrels are then mingled and cut down to 100 proof before being bottled in new, wavy bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this feels classic with a bold sense of rich vanilla pods, cinnamon sharpness, buttered and salted popcorn, and a good dose of cherry syrup with a hint of cotton candy.
Palate: The palate mixes almond, orange, and vanilla into cinnamon sticky buns with a hint of sour cherry soda that leads to a nice Kentucky hug on the mid-palate.
Finish: That warm hug fades toward black cherry root beer, old leather boots, porch wicker, and a sense of dried cherry/cinnamon tobacco packed into an old pine box.
Bottom Line:
This is built for mixing whiskey-forward cocktails. Use it accordingly as it tastes great in a whiskey sour, old fashioned, or Manhattan (and any other concoction).
7. Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 60%
Average Price: $71
The Whiskey:
This single-barrel bourbon is from Beam’s private barrel pick program for retailers. That means your local retailer goes out to Clermont, Kentucky, and picks a single barrel for their store only. Beam then cuts the bourbon to 120 proof (if needed), bottles it, and delivers it to the store. That also means these will vary from store to store ever so slightly.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Expect a nose full of vanilla oils, salted caramel, and a hint of old oak with a clear sense of Cherry Cola, grassy notes, and maybe even a little barrelhouse must.
Palate: That barrel must can pop early on the palate with a bitter and almost smoky feel before dark chocolate-covered almonds and cherry root beer sweeten things up on most of these.
Finish: The finish leans into a creamy mocha espresso vibe before dry cedar planks and cherry tobacco lead to a Red Hot sharp/sweet on most ends.
Bottom Line:
Okay, bear with me here. I think this is a little too hot for a Knob Creek — it’s kind of like Knob Creek for Booker’s fans who can’t find a Booker’s. You really want to pour this over some ice to calm it down and let it bloom to get that creamy and nutty cherry Knob Creek vibe in full effect.
6. Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
ABV: 57.5%
Average Price: $59
The Whiskey:
This is the same as above, just from single barrels of rye whiskey. Those barrels are usually barreled a cut down to a consistent 115 proof for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Expect a nose full of green herbs like dill and mint next to a dollop of floral honey and plenty of old oak on some while others may lean into rich dark cherry and smudging sage with layers of tobacco and creamy nuttiness.
Palate: Some will have a hint of rye bread crust on the palate before black pepper gives way to dried chili pods, a hint of vanilla pudding with cinnamon, and dark cherries while others will be super grassy and dill forward with an almost pickle brine vibe next to roasting herbs.
Finish: The ends usually lean into winter spices with dark chocolate powder, candied pecans, and creamy vanilla (all very Kentucky rye) to smooth everything out for a soft finish.
Bottom Line:
These tend to be really freaking good. Here’s the key though — always ask the people who picked the barrel what the profile is. As you can see from my tasting notes, sometimes these can vary a lot (not always, but enough that it bears mentioning).
5. Knob Creek Small Batch Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Aged 7 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $35
The Whiskey:
This new 2023 rye version from Beam marks the age-statement return of their iconic Knob Creek Rye. The whiskey in this case was aged seven years before batching, slight proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Salted caramel sweetness with a vanilla underbelly drives the nose toward rye bread crusts, a hint of dried savory herbs, apple blossoms, and a whisper of soft leather gardening gloves.
Palate: The spiciness arrives after vanilla cream and salted caramel with a dose of freshly cracked red peppercorns, dried red chili, and sharp winter brown spices next to a spiced oak.
Finish: The sweetness and spiciness coalesce on the finish with a deep sense of fruit orchards full of fall leaves and apple bark.
Bottom Line:
This is a beautiful Kentucky rye with lovely soft fruits, soft earthy notes, and a great balance of sweetness and woody spice. Drink this one however you like to drink your whiskey and you’ll be in for a treat.
4. Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 9 Years
ABV: 60%
Average Price: $55
The Whiskey:
So, this bottle is a single-barrel nine-year Knob Creek that’s picked by the experts at Jim Beam. There’s no blending, no cutting with water, no hiding. Just good ol’ Knob Creek at its single-barrel best. And since this is picked by Beam’s experts, the profile is dialed.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is bold on the nose. It feels like you’re clenching $250 of real vanilla beans in your hand and free-basing them with fire from an old oak stave while someone roasts a marshmallow on the same flame.
Palate: Candied pecans in a waffle follow on the palate as a hint of maple syrup sneaks in before brandy-soaked and dark chocolate-covered cherries pop on the mid-palate.
Finish: That bittersweet mid-point leads to more of that smoldering oak stave, burnt marshmallow, and pecans before a lush vanilla cream and black cherry pipe tobacco arrive and calm everything down on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is where we get into the unassailable versions of Knob Creek. This is an all-day sipper that is a little warm neat but really pops with a single large ice cube. That ice cube adds to the creaminess with a deep sense of Black Forest cake with a rich nuttiness. It’s a dream to sip.
3. Knob Creek Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 15 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $209
The Whiskey:
The whiskey is made from Beam’s standard low-rye bourbon mash. Then it’s left alone for 15 years in the Beam warehouses on specific floors in specific locations. The best barrels are then small batched and proofed down to 100 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Old saddle leather mingles with musty oak cellar beams and dirt cellar floors with an undercurrent of sweet dark fruits and mild caramel. The palate holds onto that caramel as the fruit becomes dried and a cedar note arrives with a rich and almost sweet tobacco.
Palate: The dry cedar woodiness carries on through the end as the tobacco leads towards an almost oatmeal-raisin-cookie-dipped-in-cream vibe with a good dose of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Finish: The end creates an eggnog-laced pipe tobacco chewiness with a hint of that cedar and leather balancing it all out.
Bottom Line:
This is everything you want in a higher-age-statement whiskey. It’s earthy and oaked without being overly so on any of those points. It’s balanced while still telling you it’s both Knob Creek and old. Still, this one needs a rock to let it fully bloom. Neat, it’s a little woody and earthy to the point of being tight and dry by the finish.
2. Knob Creek Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 18 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $224
The Whiskey:
This is a super rare limited release for fall 2023. The whiskey in the bottle is Beam’s standard mash bill that’s distilled at a slightly different temperature and treated with a little more care during aging by placing barrels in very specific locations throughout their vast warehouses. After 18 long years, the best of the best barrels are small batched, and just proofed before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Dark molasses and pecan clusters with salted dark chocolate lead to brown butter, old figs, and salted caramel with a woody sense of cherry and apple bark next to cinnamon-laced cedar sticks with burnt orange.
Palate: The palate is full of lush vanilla notes next to singed cherry bark and apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks, star anise, salted black licorice, and dark chocolate-covered espresso beans with a hint of dried red chili spice turning up the heat on the mid-palate.
Finish: The end has a floral honey sweetness that balances everything toward orange blossoms and bruised peaches, cherry tobacco, and clove tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is deep, dark, and delicious. It’s a beautiful neat sipper as well. There’s a lot of wood here but it’s all attached to spice notes and woody fruits that are almost savory. It’s delightfully dark. That also makes this really feel like a holiday mood pour. I can’t really see sipping this outside of winter months.
1. Knob Creek Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 12 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $74
The Whiskey:
This is the classic Beam whiskey. The whiskey is left alone in the Beam warehouses in Clermont, Kentucky, for 12 long years. The barrels are chosen according to a specific taste and mingled to create this aged expression with a drop or two of that soft Kentucky limestone water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with clear notes of dark rum-soaked cherry, bitter yet creamy dark chocolate, winter spices, a twinge of a sourdough sugar doughnut, and a hint of menthol layered with smudging sage and orchard barks.
Palate: The palate leans into a red berry crumble — brown sugar, butter, and spice — with a hint of dried chili flake, salted caramels covered in dark chocolate, and a spicy/sweet note that leads toward a wet cattail stem and soft brandied cherries dipped in silky dark chocolate sauce.
Finish: The end holds onto that sweetness and layers in a final note of pecan shells and maple candy before leaning into a creamy vanilla cream spiked with tobacco and stewed prunes, dates, and figs.
Bottom Line:
This is perfectly succinct as a neat pour. It’s also unique while still offering a deep Knob Creek vibe. It has everything you want in a sipper — depth, freshness, and lushness. Dare I say that it’s a perfect pour of classic Kentucky bourbon? If not, I know it’s pretty damn close.
