Review #1350 – Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve 15yr Barrel Seekers First Selection

This is a well aged Knob Creek Single Barrel selection done by a good friend of mine, for himself. One day, I hope to be this great. This bottling is 15 years old and bottled at 60% ABV. These have become a favorite of mine, over the last 40 single barrels i’ve tried or so, so let’s see how this stacks up. Time to dive in.

Review #1350 | Bourbon Review #602

Distiller: Beam

Bottler: Beam

Brand: Beam

Selection: Barrel Seekers

ABV: 60% ABV

Age: 15 Years

Nose: Powerful oak, toffee, some faint cinnamon and some nice musty tobacco. Rich, loads of vanilla, and some pepper.

Taste: Thick, and rich mouth feel. The heat is there, but well behaved for 60% ABV, not over bearing at all. Toffee is big and up front, with some pepper, a good deal of oak and a touch of cinnamon. This has a lot of musty, sweet tobacco that I’m a fan of, and is well balanced by some faint pepper.

Finish: Long, rich, warming. The heat is not an issue here, and the oak is well behaved, also. Rich toffee, the tobacco is back, along with the vanilla from the nose. Clean, dry finish, without being bitter.

Overall: This is really nice, and walks the line of being powerfully flavorful and oaky extremely well. When these are this old, I always wonder if it’ll be a bitter bomb loaded with tannins, but this wasn’t the case. Really nice cask on this one.

Thanks for reading!

Rank: 8

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Decoded:

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.

2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.

3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.

4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I’d rather have.

5 | Good | Good, just fine.

6 | Very Good | A cut above.

7 | Great | Well above average

8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.

9 | Incredible | An all time favorite

10 | Perfect | Perfect