Freddie Noe, the eight-generation master distiller at the James B. Beam Distilling Company, said something a few years ago that stuck with me during every booze tasting I’ve ever done since. “Everybody thinks there’s a lot of science involved with whiskey making,” he said. “We do have a lot of scientists and chemical engineers on staff, but if you’re gonna pick up a whiskey…I’ve never seen anyone buy into something based on a chemical equation on a chalkboard. You have to taste it and smell it.”
And the best way to taste and smell whiskey is straight from a barrel. Which is why Knob Creek’s new barrel picks program is a real pleasure for whiskey fans, particularly those of us who are longtime fans of the brand’s bourbon and rye.
Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Cask Strength is a bit of a mouthful of a name, but it marks the first time the brand’s products are available to retailers uncut and unfiltered. The proofs for the new Single Barrel Select bottles range from 110 to 130 for the bourbon and 100 to 120 for the rye. With no water added, you’re tasting this whiskey in its purest form.
Revisiting the Classics: Knob Creek 12 Is an Ideal Bourbon
Kicking off a new series that provides a fresh perspective on classic spiritsFirst, a little history. Knob Creek is the original offering of The Small Batch Bourbon Collection (which also includes Basil Hayden, Baker’s and Booker’s) from the James B. Beam Distilling Co. Created by Booker Noe in 1992, it’s a pre-Prohibition-style bourbon aged in heavily-charred barrels for nine years or longer at a high proof (with one exception, that proof is 100 or higher). Their rye, meanwhile, starts at seven years but also offers a high ABV.
So why go single barrel? “When my grandfather created Knob Creek, he set out to make a whiskey that stood out — bold, robust and no shortcuts,” said Freddie Noe in a statement. “With our Single Barrel Select Program, we pay tribute to that legacy by offering fans the chance to experience Knob Creek in its most authentic form — uncut and unfiltered, creating the most unadulterated single barrel selection in Knob Creek’s history.” (It’s here we should point out that Freddie Noe is the son of Master Distiller Fred Noe, who is the son of former master distiller and Knob Creek creator Booker Noe, who coined the phrase “small batch.”)
This new single-barrel experience, open to retailers and select whiskey groups, includes a visit to the Beam property in Clermont, KY. There, customers make a barrel selection inside warehouse K, thieving whiskey from four barrels before making a final decision. It concludes with a curated dining experience at The Kitchen Table (there are also remote selection sample kits for people unable to come to Kentucky in person).
While you’ll be able to find bottles of these products on the shelf, the experience of picking a barrel of uncut, unfiltered Knob Creek isn’t open to the everyday consmer. Thankfully, a small media group (including this writer) was able to experience the Single Barrel Select Cask Strength program in Clermont in late May.
Interestingly, not everyone should be trying Knob Creek at cask strength. “When dad created Knob Creek, he was drinking a lot of Bottled-in-Bond whiskey — 100 proof was always the sweet spot and his measuring stick,” Fred Noe told me a few years ago when we discussed the then-just-released Knob Creek 15.
But for those who like their whiskey uncompromised and with a real kick, testing samples straight from the barrel is ideal. “You’ll select from four barrels,” says Sam Cato, a brand ambassador at Beam who led us during the barrel-picking process. “The hope is to offer a full range of proofs and a good range of barrel locations across our property. Our warehouses are spread across hundreds of acres — some shaded by trees, some with a different airflow, some at different elevations. So even within our property, our barrels are getting a different aging experience.”
You can already get a Knob Creek single barrel bottle, but it’s always going to be sold at 120-proof (as Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve, which is still available). But by not proofing down with this new cask-strength program, there’s a chance a customer could leave with a bourbon or rye below that 120 number, given the varied angel’s share loss of whiskey in each barrel. “With this new program, we’ve opened up our proof range,” Cato says. “Before, we had to pick barrels anywhere starting from 120 proof up to 135. Now, we can go lower than 120. We have a range from 113 up to about 128. And I’ve already seen bars and restaurants pick barrels lower than 120. It’s a lower proof but still single-barrel and cask-strength.”
Only about 1% of the 3.3 million barrels on the Beam property become single-barrel products. And those special 1% barrels may offer something more than just an elevated ABV. As Cato notes, some groups may be looking for something different from the typical Knob Creek profile, a perk of personalized barrel and store picks. “Some of the barrels that we roll out do taste like a typical Knob Creek single barrel, and some of them taste like it’s not even under the brand Knob Creek,” she says.
In the end, our group picked a 128.6-proof barrel that sat on the eighth floor of a warehouse (the exact warehouse, admittedly, escaping my memory and notes). It was robust with nice hints of butterscotch, nutmeg and cloves and offered a rounder profile than the three other barrel samples we tried. It wasn’t a unanimous selection, and the process (and good-natured arguments) took about 25 minutes. For some groups, that’d be long, but others have taken up to two hours to decide.
If you are ever part of a barrel-pick program, at Knob Creek or another distillery, here are a few suggestions to follow: Jump around your tasting board (aka don’t just drink and compare the samples in order). Drink water and, if you want, add a drop or two to your extremely high-ABV liquid. Smell something “familiar” (like your skin or clothing) between tastes to reset your senses. And decide if you’re going into the tasting blind — with no notes on proof, barrel location, etc. — or want to know all the details in advance.
Most importantly, just soak in the atmosphere of the warehouse and enjoy the taste and aroma of an uncut, unfiltered whiskey. Even if Booker Noe thought 100-proof was a sweet spot, he did like his product in its purest form. “Booker’s favorite thing to do was to taste liquid raw, right from the barrel,” Cato says. “He said it’s some of the best liquid you’ll ever try.”
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