Corner Creek

Corner Creek Reserve Bourbon Whiskey is a product of Corner Creek Distilling Company and bottled by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd. KBD, Ltd was formerly the Willett Distilling Company until Even Kulsveen bought it in 1984. This bourbon is stated to contain all four major whiskey grains: corn, rye, wheat and barley. This is my fourth sampling from the reviewed bottle in about one year.

Nose: caramel, vanilla, honey, and a little spice

Taste: caramel, much more rye spice than in the nose, moderate oak, vanilla. Any wheat flavours are rather indistinct and muddled in the ensemble. This is rather sweet and rather light in body.

Finish: the spice elements exit fairly early, leaving mostly wood and caramel

Balance: The first two times I tried this, when the bottle was first opened, I thought, "This whiskey badly wants to say something, but I am not sure what." I wasn't very favourably impressed. Trying it now, a year later, I can see that there has been some opening of the flavours, which allows the sweet quality to be more greatly enjoyed, if you are in a mood to enjoy sweet. I still don't see any real advantage here in combining the wheat and the rye. Wheat, rather predictably, gets drowned out or muddled by the more strongly flavoured rye. Maybe someone knows a better proportion for the mashbill for this in order to taste both grains, but this one doesn't harmonise well in my book. In summary, I like some KBD products a very great deal, but this one requires just the right frame of mind to get excited about. Maybe the idea of a "dessert bourbon" isn't too far off. You can have a good time with Corner Creek Reserve if you don't ask too many questions or ask for it to give you what it cannot give you.

Corner Creek Reserve Bourbon Whiskey is produced by the Corner Creek Distilling Company of Bardstown, KY, one of Even Kulsveen’s ventures. Kulsveen’s other products include Rowan’s Creek, Noah’s Mill, and the Vintage Bourbon that AboutChoice endorsed so highly in his excellent review (connosr.com/reviews/vintage/…).

The contents of the bottle are perhaps not what struck me first, as the bottle itself is peculiar. With deep, sloping shoulders, one could easily take Corner Creek for a wine bottle—indeed, this was the very mistake made by the cashier when I bought it. Uncorking the green bottle and pouring a dram, the color is a lovely honey-gold, though it seems a touch translucent.

Dill is initially prominent on the nose, subsiding only to be overtaken by an intemperate mix of rye, sawdust, and shredded wheat. Persistent notes of menthol (alongside the green bottle) trick the nose into believing that it is an Irish whiskey, not a bourbon, swirling in the glass. Faint hints of lime, dates, corn, vanilla, and brown sugar eventually come through, but make little impression. All in all, it’s a bit thin and waxy.

On the palate are notes of vanilla and banana, but little of the characteristic bourbon sweetness one might expect; instead, there is considerable rye spice that dominates the finish. And yet, it altogether seems plain and thin, with a decidedly waxy mouthfeel. With far more interesting bourbons at the same price point, I’m afraid Corner Creek Reserve leaves little to rave about.