Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve 9 Year Old

@casualtorture, nice review, and I am with you with respect to my own experience of Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve. A good barrel of KCSBR is as good or better than most batches of Booker's, despite the couple of lower %age points of ABV difference, and the decidedly lower price tag. I consider KCSBR to be a best buy in the whisk(e)y market at current pricing. I expect the price to increase, and that it is actually a little underpriced for what you get. For this reason I already have at least 4 unopened bottles of KCSBR socked away (at around $ 35 incl tax each, on sale). The quality control is all about the skill of the distiller who makes the barrel selection, so you never know for sure whether a given barrel/bottle will be just as good as the last one you loved.

Everybody in the industry says that warehouse location is a very big deal and makes a huge difference in the maturation patterns of bourbons. I doubt, though, that any of us aficionados would be able to well assess those differences without a lot of warehouse tasting experience which we are not likely to get.

Nice review. I am very jealous. My bottle is, thus far, less impressive. My KCSB is sitting in the back of my cabinet, 7/8 full, because it's mediocre. Not bad, by any means. Just very "meh". Hopefully it gets better with time. Perhaps the best barrels are sold in 'Merica, whilst we Canuckistanians get the duds. How did you get the warehouse location and such? My bottle did not have any of that information, and I'm a total nerd for information.

@OdysseusUnbound this was a store pick. The retailer went to the warehouse and sampled different barrels and selected a specific one then was kind enough to relay that info to the consumer. Not all KCSB will have that info.

@Victor that's kind of the risk, yet part of the fun, of single barrels. Each one can be a bit different. And yes I may go grab a couple more bottles of this barrel while they still have it.

Your risk is very low when you know that you already greatly like a bottle from the barrel you are purchasing. It is a very good move.

One of the bottles of KCSBR which I own was a gift from my sister. That one was also a "store pick" which happened to have included on the bottle a custom-made attached metal plate 12 year age statement. That's quite a bonus for what is standard as a 9 year old!

@casualtorture nice review, I like the descriptors, I really enjoy when a bourbon has those savory or tobacco notes to balance out the sweetness.

I agree with @Victor concerning the value of Knob Creek SB, to be able to get a 9-10yr old cask strength (or nearly) whisky for under 45$ is incredible and unheard of in Scotch for example. I am constantly amazed at the store picks y'all have available to you. I have often thought that at those prices I would probably bunker a case for rainy days.

Put into the perspective of Beam's overall standard moderate-rye-content mashbill bourbon production, KCSBR is probably not within the top 1% in quality among their barrels, but it is probably withing the top 2 to 5% in quality among their barrels of standard moderate-rye-content mashbill bourbon. It takes a lot of quality for a barrel to be able to hold up well on its own, and it takes a very good barrel to hold up well for 9 years. I think that it is only the massive production at Beam that allows this whiskey to be sold at such a modest price.

But did they select it with their left hand or right hand?

@MadSingleMalt XD I didn't ask.