Round 2! Knob Creek 9y Single Barrel Reserve with Virginia

Knob Creek, purveyors of fine Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This is their Single Barrel Reserve, aged nine years and bottle at 60%. It’s not often a distiller can pull off a high-powered whiskey without a lot of collateral damage in the flavour and face burning departments, but Knob Creek manages to do it and still come in under sixty bucks for one of the oldest bourbons easily available.

This Round 2! is a little interesting – this whiskey has gone up about four bucks since the last time we reviewed it and judging from the notes, it has also gotten better. Single Barrel means the whole contents of this bottle come from – gasp – one barrel, which lends itself to a lot more variety, especially over time. No blending towards a product mean, right? Here’s what we thought:

nose
Virginia – ginger, spicy, cherry fruitcake, maraschino
Simon – grape/cherry soda, wood, high proof, almost rum like

neat
Virginia – feel it in the sinuses, breathes like a fireball, cherry
Simon – big bag, cherry maple

finish
Virginia – long heat in the throat, makes you want a cigarette
Simon – long chest warmth, sweet

splash
Virginia – n/a
Simon – smoother, sweeter, burns more

overall
Virginia – 10/10!
Simon – 8/10

Knob Creek 9y Single Barrel Reserve – 60% 750ml – $58.25 – Kentucky

Try it? Yes. Buy it? Yes.