Knob Creek is what Jim Beam turns into with a little massaging, the right aging locations in various warehouses, and some luck from the whiskey angels. The brand is part of Jim Beam’s premium label program alongside Baker’s, Basil Hayden’s, Booker’s, and Little Book. The difference here is that Knob Creek is the same low-rye mash as standard White Label Jim Beam — it’s simply left to age longer and then isn’t cut down with water to quite the same degree before bottling.
In essence, this is Beam at its best.
Before we dive in and rank these bottles, let’s look at the history a bit. Knob Creek started way back in 1992 while the bourbon industry was on the ropes. Legendary distiller Booker Noe and his son, Fred, had a lot of great, old barrels stacking up in the warehouse and nowhere to put them on shelves. So they devised Knob Creek as a high-end, much older expression to both highlight the craft behind Beam and get some attention for bourbon as a quality product and not just rot-gut hooch hidden under your sink.
30 years later and Knob Creek is one of the most revered and easily found whiskeys on the shelf.
For the ranking below, I’m pulling from my tasting notes and calling out which bottles I think you should actually buy for your own bar cart. It’s really that easy. And full disclosure, I’m a big fan of this brand. I always have a 9-year, Rye (for cocktails), and 12-year open for everyday pouring/mixing.
Let’s jump in and rank some whiskey!
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8. Knob Creek Smoked Maple
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $35
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:
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. 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. 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 nice but a little sweet for me. I really prefer using this in cocktails as a solid foundation to build a great cocktail upon. The maple syrup and cherry are good bases for an old fashioned. Overall, this is a good place to start… but there’s a long way to go.
7. Knob Creek 9 Year Bourbon
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $46 (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:
This is classic from the jump. The nose is a balanced mix of bourbon vanilla, cinnamon spice, and fresh popcorn just touched with browned butter all next to a hint of mild cherry. The palate is a soft mix of almond shells, orange oils, and fresh cinnamon rolls cut with plenty of vanilla icing. The mid-palate has an old wicker chair vibe with a hint of must to it next to a touch of old leather that ends up on a dry cherry tobacco leaf.
Bottom Line:
This is pure and classic bourbon. It’s a great gateway bottle in that it’s not overly wrought or too hot. It’s subtle enough to drink neat while still being bold enough to build cocktails around.
6. Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Bourbon
ABV: 60%
Average Price: $72
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:
Based on Total Wine in Louisville, Kentucky, expect a nose full of vanilla oils, salted caramel, and a hint of barrel char. That barrel char pops early on the palate with a bitter and almost smoky feel before dark chocolate-covered almonds and cherry root beer sweeten things up. The finish leans into the bitterness with a mocha espresso vibe before dry cedar planks and cherry tobacco lead to a Red Hot sharp/sweet end.
Bottom Line:
These are worth grabbing once in a while. This is kind of like Knob Creek turned up a little too loud, especially if you’re not used to it. That said, pour this over a single rock and it’ll be great.
5. Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye
ABV: 57.5%
Average Price: $50
The Whiskey:
This is the same as above, just from single barrels of rye whiskey. Those barrels are usually barreled at cask strength or cut down to a consistent 115 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Also based on Total Wine’s pick in Louisville, KY, expect a nose full of green herbs like dill and mint next to a dollop of floral honey and plenty of barrel char. A hint of rye bread crust sneaks in early on the palate before black pepper gives way to dried chili pods, a hint of vanilla pudding with cinnamon, and dark cherries. The barrel builds with the spices on the finish before dark chocolate powder, candied pecans, and creamy vanilla smooth everything out for a soft finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice and complex rye but does have a little “oomph” in the middle with those ABVs. It’s not unbalanced. It’s more just hot and then sweet then hot again then sweet. Lots of ups and downs, ins and outs…
4. Knob Creek Rye
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $29
The Whiskey:
This is a bourbon drinker’s rye with a mash bill that’s believed to be a very low rye. The barrels are batched and proofed at a higher ABV, allowing more of the barrel and rye to shine through than, say, a Basil Hayden’s Rye.
Tasting Notes:
Classic cherry Coke, vanilla, cedar, and peppery spice lead the way on the nose. That matrix of flavors delivers on the palate with the vanilla getting super creamy as the cherry really pops as “ripe” and “vibrant” on the tongue before a hint of dried dill and maybe fennel sneaks in. The spice is more attached to a moist tobacco leaf with a bit of a chew to it that’s also just touched by dark chocolate cherry vibes, a hint of dry porch wicker, and a final note of dry potting soil.
Bottom Line:
This is a killer bottle to have on hand. It makes a fabulous Manhattan, Horse’s Neck, or even just a simple fizzy highball. You can also just pour it over some rocks and take it slow. Dealer’s choice. I nearly ranked this second. It’s that good. But the next two deserve more respect than that.
3. Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve 9 Year Bourbon
ABV: 60%
Average Price: $52
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.
Tasting Notes:
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. 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. 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 always a fun ride from nose to finish. It’s bold and intense but ends up soft and comforting. It’s a hell of a neat trick. And at $50 for a bottle of single barrel nine-year-old bourbon, it’s hard to beat.
This could easily cost twice (or three) times as much and no one would blink.
2. Knob Creek 15 Bourbon
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $140
The Whiskey:
The juice 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:
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. 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, which creates an eggnog-laced pipe tobacco chewiness with a hint of that cedar and leather balancing it all out.
Bottom Line:
I struggled with where to put this one. I really like it but there’s a slight funkiness to it that might be off-putting to some. It feels old and wise in the glass. Plus, I just think the next expression is where the brand peaks.
1. Knob Creek 12 Bourbon
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $66
The Whiskey:
This is the classic Beam whiskey. The juice 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:
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. 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. The very end holds onto that sweetness and layers in a final note of pecan shells and maple candy.
Bottom Line:
This is the one. Leaving aside that this is a 12-year-old whiskey that somehow only costs $65 in 2022, this is truly a well-rounded and deeply-hewn expression. It’s complex, inviting, fun, fresh, engaging, and freakin’ good.
I can confidently say that if you buy one Knob Creek, make it this one. If you buy two, get the rye for mixing up killer cocktails and you’ll be all set.