The BourbonGuy.com "Stuck at Home" Bourbon Brackets: Round 1, Knob Creek vs. Johnny Drum and Old Forester vs. Very Old Barton

If you are like most Americans, you are stuck in the house right now. The novel Coronavirus has most of us living under a Stay-at-Home order. If you’re like me, this isn’t a huge change. I mean, I hardly ever leave the house anyway. Mostly what is has meant is that my wife is working from home. But she is in her office in the basement while I’m in my office upstairs. We hardly ever see each other during the day unless I am delivering her a coffee refill.

Huh, starting to sound like working from home has gained her an assistant. I wonder how much that pays…

Anyway, this is the first competition in the Stuck at Home Bourbon Brackets. The brackets created because I can’t leave the house to go whiskey shopping and I don’t want to sit on the phone asking the poor guy on the other end which of the many things I’ve never reviewed that he has on the shelf in order to place a delivery order.

First up, is our division one, number four seed Johnny Drum Private Stock versus number five seed Knob Creek.

Johnny Drum is a product of the Willett distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. Long known for their prowess in sourcing barrels, they started distilling their own juice early on in the last decade. Now that their own distillate has started to come of age, they are using that in some of their brands. Not having followed up with Willett lately, I have no idea if Johnny Drum is one of those.

Knob Creek is a product of the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky. It was a founding member of the Small Batch Collection and one of the first Small Batch bourbons to be advertised as such. It is supposed to regain its nine-year age statement soon, though this particular bottle doesn’t have that yet.

Johnny Drum vs. Knob Creek

Note: These were tasted blind in the following order. The tasting notes may be a bit strange as these were tasted at the same time and may have influenced one another.

Whiskey 1-Knob Creek

Nose: Oak, mint, almond, nutmeg and a hint of brown sugar.

Mouth: Dry and spicy. Nutmeg, cinnamon, mint and dried grains.

Finish: Hot and of medium length. Mint, nutmeg, oak and a hint of fruit.

Whiskey 2-Johnny Drum

Nose: Toffee, strawberry jam, and a hint of oak at the end.

Mouth: Lots of caramel and cinnamon. Ripe red fruit.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium length. Lingering Strawberry jam.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts:

This is an interesting set. Both are good but one is sweeter and fruitier and one is much drier. Usually, when we do these head to head, the sweeter one wins. But in this case, I am enjoying the spicy dryness more than the sweet strawberry jam notes. I'm picking whiskey 1 to move on.

Reveal: Whiskey 1 is #5 Knob Creek. Whiskey 2 is #4 Johnny Drum. Knob Creek wins. I get Knob Creek for $25 and Johnny Drum is almost $10 more for a 750 mL. Neither of these are terribly expensive, but it is interesting to see the lower price come out on top. Though when the lower-priced option is from the largest producer of bourbon on the planet…maybe not so surprising.

Very Old Barton 100 proof vs. Old Forester 100 proof

Note: These were tasted blind in the following order. The tasting notes may be a bit strange as these were tasted at the same time and may have influenced one another.

Whiskey 1-Very Old Barton 100 proof

Nose: Mint, cotton candy, ginger

Mouth: Warm and spicy with cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, and oak

Finish: Warm and of medium length with a pleasant oaky bitterness.

Whiskey 2-Old Forester 100 proof

Nose: Toffee, mint, Cedar, vanilla

Mouth: Thick mouthfeel. Sweet with a lot of caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, cedar

Finish: Warm and medium length with an antiseptic note of mint, caramel, and oak.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts:

The antiseptic notes on whiskey two just aren't sitting right with me today. On another day the thick and sweet mouthfeel might be enough to carry the day. But today at least, Whiskey One is tasting oh-so-good. Whiskey One advances.

Reveal: Whiskey one is Very Old Barton 100 proof. Whiskey two is Old Forester 100 proof. Very Old Barton wins. Talk about an upset! When I travel to Kentucky, Very Old Barton 100 proof is often available for less than $15. When available, it is my “drinking back at the campsite” bourbon while I stay in Kentucky. $12.99 is a whole other level of value. I put it in the brackets because I was originally basing this competition on 100 proof versions of what was in the Bottom-Shelf Brackets, but I really didn’t expect it to hang with the more expensive competition. I should have guessed that this delicious bourbon wouldn’t disappoint.

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The BourbonGuy.com "Stuck at Home" Bourbon Brackets

Wow. It seems like it has been just a moment since we last had a bracket around here. I mean time really flies, doesn't i...

What's that? Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Ok, well.

I've just been informed that it actually was only about a minute since I last had a bracket competition around here. Well, what am I still doing here then?

Oh, that's right. I can't leave at the moment. I, like many of you, are currently living under a Stay-at-Home order due to the pandemic. And though, the liquor stores are deemed an essential business in Minnesota, I'd rather not expose myself any more than I have too. Besides, when it comes to stocking up on liquor, I've been preparing for an extended stay at home for years now. 

To that end, I'm going to take the opportunity to address something that it seemed people were really looking for in the Bottom-Shelf Brackets. Parity. Specifically proof parity (I already had price parity). I had comments on more than one post that stated that certain bourbons were at a competitive disadvantage due to the wide range of proof levels amongst the competition. And while that would usually cause me to explain that the Bottom Shelf Brackets are a "what's best for the price" competition and not a "what's best" competition, this time, I had the thought of: "Well, I'm stuck here anyway." Especially when I realized that if proof was the deciding factor, then I could not only reuse a few of the bottles from the Bottom-Shelf Bracket but that I also had a lot of potential competitors in my bourbon closet.

And so I am pleased to announce the BourbonGuy.com "Stuck at Home" Bourbon Brackets. The qualification rules are simple: Be 100 or 101 proof. Of course, nothing is as easy as it seems. I had 10 qualifying bourbons in the house. I had the tough choice to make between eliminating a couple or adding a couple. When a reader donated $25 to the cause, I knew it had to be to add a couple. I called up my local liquor store and placed a delivery order for a bottle of bourbon. I also decided to let Four Roses Small Batch Select join the competition since it was only a few proof points higher. And once again, to keep it simple, seeding was done on price. The highest price equals the highest seed. After a few swaps to get rid of repeat matchups from last week, we are left with the following. I bracketed these via NFL playoff rules, meaning the top four seeds get a first-round bye. 

• Proving that price was no object in this competition, the number one seed overall is Four Roses Small Batch Select. I got this at Total Wine on my last Kentucky trip for $49.99. 

• Across the bracket from that is Division 2 number one seed Maker's Mark 101 proof. I got this at the Maker's Mark gift shop for $49.99. 

• Division one number two seed is a store pick of 1792 Bottled in Bond. I got this at South Lyndale Liquors in Minneapolis for $44.99. 

• The next one might be a bit controversial since it has been discontinued. I seeded it based on its replacement's current price instead of the price that I paid for it. Division two number two seed is Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond 6 year. I didn't have any of the 7-year around, and honestly, when I reviewed it, I didn't find much difference between the two. You can get the 7-year, when available, for around $40

• The first seed in our "Wildcard round" is division one, 3 seed Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond. I bought this at my closest Total Wine for $33.99. This was also one of the swaps that were made to reduce repetition from last week. They are going up against division one, number six seed JW Dant Bottled in Bond, which I bought at South Lyndale for $16.99. A battle of Heaven Hill Bonded Bourbons.

• Over in division two, we have number three seed Four Roses Single Barrel ($42.99 at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake) going up against Bottom-Shelf Bracket Champion Wild Turkey 101 proof ($18.49 at Total Wine, Burnsville). Let's see how Wild Turkey does against competition where it isn't overwhelming its opponent with proof.

• The final competition in division one is number four seed Johnny Drum Private Select ($33.97 at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake) versus Knob Creek Bourbon ($24.98 at Ace Spirits, Hopkins). 

• And finally, we have division 2 number four seed Old Forester 100 proof ($24.99 at Total Wine, Burnsville) versus Very Old Barton 100 proof (purchased for $12.99 at a Total Wine in Kentucky).

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I think this is going to be a fun competition. Once again, I'd like to thank reader David Brown for helping with the cost. It would have been a much smaller competition without his help as I would have probably made the decision to go down to eight contestants instead of going up to twelve without that support.

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Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2020: The Championship Rounds

Well, here we are folks. We’ve come to the end of the Bottom-Shelf Bourbon Brackets for 2020. We’ve had a lot of good competition to this point and a lot of good discussion in the comments. It has been a fun year…if only we weren’t all stuck at home under Stay-at-Home orders.

I want to thank you for checking in this year. I know that there is a lot going on in the world outside our homes. It is a little scary. The cabin fever sets in easy. I’m pretty sure that my dogs are still not sure why my wife has been staying home. One has taken to following her around and making sure that she is always in sight. I think she is worried. And to be honest I’m guessing that we all are, at least a little bit. So it’s nice to have a bit of diversion.

So let’s get down to business. I hope you’ve been playing along. If not, there is nothing stopping you from going back and seeing if you get the same results. I did my best to try to get bottles that have a good chance of being in most well-stocked bourbon collections.

Round 2a: Wild Turkey 101 vs. Maker’s Mark

Nose: Whiskey Two has a much sweeter nose, almost a caramel bomb, compared to Whiskey One, which is more nuanced.

Mouth: Whiskey One shows more oak on the mouth, whereas Whiskey Two tends toward grain by comparison. Whiskey Two is sweet and minty, while Whiskey One is sweet and spicy.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: This is a hard match-up, and honestly, I keep going back and forth as to which I like better. When I taste Whiskey One first, I get a sharpness that I find just a tad unpleasant. Then when I move to Whiskey Two, I find it's sweetness to be a nice relief. If I taste Whiskey Two first, it feels a tiny bit unimpressive. But when I then move to Whiskey One, the sharpness is gone and I am impressed with the baking spice on display. These two whiskeys complement each other very well. Gah! It's so hard! But I think I'm going to have to go with the spice on Whiskey One.

Reveal: Whiskey One is Wild Turkey. Whiskey Two is Maker's Mark.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: There is a good explanation as to why this was so hard. I'm a Wild Turkey fanboy but also a Maker's Mark Ambassador. I love both of them. In the end, it was the oak and spice that nudged Wild Turkey 101 into advancing to the Championship. The rye bourbon beat the wheated one. I should have seen that coming.

Round 2b: Knob Creek Bourbon vs. Old Forester 100 proof

Nose: Whiskey One is like walking past a Cinnabon, where Whiskey Two is more floral but with a hint of dental antiseptic.

Mouth: Whiskey One is all orange peel and baking spice with some peanut thrown in on the finish. Whiskey Two has an excellent mouthfeel and is full of mint and caramel. Both of these have a nice finish.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: These two are very different experiences. On Whiskey Two, the finish is an extension of the mouth. Rich and minty and lasts a good bit of time after you swallow. With Whiskey One, once you swallow your mouth notes go away to be replaced by the finish notes. And those sets of notes only have a little overlap. It's like "spicy orange peel, swallow, spicy peanut." Whiskey Two wins this one easily.

Reveal: Whiskey One is Knob Creek, Whiskey Two is Old Forester

Post-Reveal Thoughts: I was not shocked by the reveal. The antiseptic note on the nose of Two and the peanut note on the finish of One was pretty much a dead giveaway that Two was Old Forester 100 and that One was Knob Creek. What I didn't expect was how much more I was enjoying the Old Forester than I was the Knob Creek. In my internal ranking of bourbons, I’d always thought of Knob Creek as “Higher End” than Old Forester. But that’s why I do these blind. Old Forester 100 advances to the Championship.

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Championship Round: Wild Turkey 101 proof vs. Old Forester 100 proof

Nose: The noses on these are very similar. Whiskey One is drier, and Whiskey Two is a little richer and is sweeter.

Mouth: Whiskey One shows more oak and has a warmer finish. Whiskey Two has a lot of baking spice and honey. The spice follows along to the finish.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Whiskey Two has a wonderful mouthfeel when compared to Whiskey One. The fact that I am enjoying the flavor more is just icing on the cake. Whiskey Two wins this one easily.

Reveal: Whiskey One is Old Forester 100, Whiskey Two is Wild Turkey 101.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: I'm not going to lie, I was kinda rooting for Old Forester on this one. If only so that we'd get some new blood in the winner's circle. But here we are again, even when we increase the selling price of the competition Wild Turkey 101 is still king of the inexpensive bourbon scene.

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I think it might be time to retire the old bird from competition. But before we do, let's really throw some competition at it. Since I'm stuck in my house until at least Easter, let's raid my closet for as many 100-105 proof bourbons as I can and see how the bird holds up when it can 't overpower the competition with higher proof. Check back next week to see who the competitors are!

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Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2020: Round 1: Knob Creek vs. Very Old Barton 86 proof

Tonight we get a fun one, at least for me. Round 1 of the 2020 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets continues with Division 2 Number 1 seed Knob Creek versus Number 4 seed Very Old Barton 86 proof. This is fun for a couple of reasons. First, this is the first time Knob Creek has been in the competition and it only got the number one seed on the basis of a coin flip. Secondly, it is going up against a former Bottom-Shelf Champion in Very Old Barton.  

So here we go. First up, the formerly (and soon to be again) nine-year-old founding member of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection. Named for the river that Abe Lincoln grew up next to, please welcome to the stage: Knob Creek!

And their opponent is the most widely distributed release in the Very Old Barton family. Winner of the 2016 edition of the Bottom-Shelf Brackets, please welcome one of my favorite inexpensive bourbons: Very Old Barton 86 proof!

We strive to have a clean competition so these were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal and may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and may influence one another.

Whiskey 1 (Knob Creek Bourbon)

Purchase Info: $24.98 for a 750 mL bottle, Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN

Details: 50% ABV.

Nose: Toffee, crisp apple, nutmeg.

Mouth: Spicy and warm. Caramel apple, baking spice, vanilla.

Finish: Medium length. Cinnamon, oak, anise.

Whiskey 2 (Very Old Barton 86 proof)

Purchase Info: $16.99 for a 1L bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 43% ABV.

Nose: Mint, cotton candy, oak.

Mouth: Cinnamon, nutmeg, mint, oak.

Finish: Medium length. Vanilla, cinnamon, hints of oak.

Pre-reveal Thoughts: I like the flavor on #2 slightly more than on #1. But #1 has a better mouth experience due to higher heat. This is much closer than our typical 1 vs 4 matchup. In the end, I think Whiskey #1 is more pleasurable, even though I had to spend way more time than I expected to find out.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: Close one tonight folks. And it might have been even closer if the proofs were equivalent. Knob Creek wins and is moving on to Round 2. The last time Very Old Barton was in the competition, they won it all. Will Knob Creek do the same? Only time will tell.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

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7th Annual BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Brackets: The Not-So-Bottom-Shelf Edition

So, wow. A lot has happened in the last few weeks, huh?

A couple of weeks ago, I got the bright idea that I wanted to up the level of competition this year on the Bottom-Shelf Brackets. At the time it wasn’t for any real reason, I just thought it might be fun. Over the previous six years, we’ve explored the best of worst that bourbon has to offer. And, if we are being honest, some of the worst of the worst as well. This year, I had the idea to do something a little different.

In the past, I’ve had a definition of “bottom-shelf” that ranged from $15-$18 (or under) per 750, $20-$24 per liter and $35 per 1.75 liter. That definition got me a lot of entries by Heaven Hill and Jim Beam but only a couple from any other distilleries. I had one year where half of the entrants were Jim Beam products and another where half were from Heaven Hill. So this year I decided to limit each distillery to one entrant.

Of course, not all distilleries have products that meet the definitions that I had defined for “Bottom-Shelf.” So what was I to do? Well, for this year, I’ve decided to throw out any pretense that this is a competition between “bottom-shelf” bourbons. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to go all-in and jump to the top of the price point. I mean, this is still a contest about being frugal.

That and I have to buy all of these things and I am still a freelancer…

So, here are the new rules:

1. One entry per distillery

2. Purchased for under $25. No matter the size. No matter if it was on sale.

3. Available in the Twin Cities metro area.

That’s it. As a general guideline, I tried to find the “best” offering from each distillery at the price point. Once I purchased all the entrants, I needed to seed them into brackets. For that, I usually use proof and stated age, but since all of these are non-age stated, I went by proof and then flipped a coin when two were the same proof. In order to maintain balanced divisions, I alternated which division chooses first, so Division One got to chose first on the first round, but Division Two got to choose first on the second round, then One on the third and back to Two on the fourth.

So let’s meet the competition in this “Not-So-Bottom-Shelf” Bracket, shall we? It should come as no surprise that I was able to find entrants from Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Wild Turkey, and Barton 1792. Each of these has produced winners in the past. In fact, some of those past winners are represented this year in Division Two, number four seed Very Old Barton 86 proof and Division One, number one seed Wild Turkey 101 proof. But I was a bit shocked to find that the Heaven Hill entry was Division One, number two seed Elijah Craig and that the Jim Beam entry was Division Two, number one seed Knob Creek. Though I’ve been able to find Knob Creek for about $25 for a while now, so it really shouldn’t have been that surprising. Rounding out the rest of our entrants from Division One are number three seed Makers Mark and number four seed Four Roses. In Division Two are number two seed Old Forester 100 proof and number three seed Buffalo Trace.

I can’t wait for this one. It should be fun!

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Baker's Single Barrel

It has been one thousand, nine hundred, and thirty four days since I last reviewed Baker’s Bourbon. In that time the brand has gone through some changes. It got a new bottle design, which I LOVE! But more importantly, it was revamped to be a single barrel product.

I’ve always liked Baker’s. If Knob Creek wasn’t super cheap a short walk from my house, it would be my go to product from Beam. When I first heard of it last year, I was a little nervous about the switch to Single Barrel, but also excited. Would they change it? Would it be better? Worse?

Of course, the roll out to the new product was super slow in my neck of the woods. I’m guessing that retailers were looking to sell out of the old Baker’s before they put the new one on the shelves. And this past weekend, I walked into the liquor store and finally saw it on the shelf.

I immediately noticed a couple things about it. One was the word “minimum” in the age statement. The other was that this particular bottle was aged over 8 years. My nervousness evaporated and my excitement took over. Unlike most producers, not only did Beam keep the age statement, in the case of this bottle they actually increased it.

Baker's Single Barrel Bourbon

Purchase Info: $46.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.13

Details: 8 years, 3 months old. Barreled in 10/2011. Aged in warehouse CL-Z. 53.5% ABV

Nose: Dusty oak, peanuts, brown sugar,

Mouth: Sweet and spicy with peanut, cinnamon, honey and oak

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Lingering notes of peanut, honey, mint and cinnamon red hots.

Thoughts: I really like this. I've always found Baker's to be sweet, but I've never gotten such pronounced honey notes on it before. This is great.

But you might be asking yourself how it compares to the Small Batch? Well, when I heard that Baker’s was changing to Single Barrel, I poured off a healthy sample so that I could answer that very question.

Comparison to Small Batch: The noses are very similar with the Small Batch being a touch fruitier. The Small Batch is mintier and doesn't show as much peanut. The finishes are also very similar. Over all not much has changed and that's great news.

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Knob Creek Quarter Oak

Hey Bourbon Lovers,

It’s a holiday week so I thought I’d dispense with the anecdotes and just take a moment to wish you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving! I know some of you will be visiting with family and, for some of you, that will be a wondrous thing. But I also know that family can be…frustrating for some people. I have had my fair share of “grin and bear it” holiday gatherings so I know what it can be like. Just remember, we all have something or someone that we can be thankful for and that you are loved no matter how those who should accept you unconditionally act or what they think. My trick is to concentrate on those who do love and accept me and ignore those who don’t.

I also want to say that I am thankful for each and every one of you. And I love each and every one of you just how you are. Thank you for spending a little time with me each week.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

To avoid ruining the mood I’ll just let Jim Beam speak for itself on this one:

With its latest release, Knob Creek explores and deepens the influence of oak on its flagship bourbon. Knob Creek Quarter Oak takes the brand's Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, crafted in the pre-prohibition style fans expect from Knob Creek, and finishes it for a minimum of four years in quarter cask, American oak barrels to increase the amount of contact between the whiskey and wood. A small amount of this unique, secondarily finished whiskey – which delivers richer notes of oak – is then mingled with Knob Creek® Kentucky Straight Bourbon to create the final product that boasts a harmonious balance of oak influence and traditional, sweeter notes.

Knob Creek Quarter Oak

Purchase Info: $50.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50mL): $3.40

Details: 50% ABV. Some of the bourbon in this blend was finished in a 13-gallon barrel for at least 4 years before being blended back in.

Nose: Spearmint, vanilla custard, and cinnamon red hots

Mouth: Sweet with a strong initial hit of vanilla. After the vanilla fades cinnamon and oak appear.

Finish: Medium length with fairly gentle heat. It starts with oak and cinnamon. After they fade there is a bloom of peanut.

Thoughts: This isn't bad, though I like standard Knob Creek a lot better. If you can, I’d see if your store pours samples of it before buying a full bottle. I wish I had, it just doesn’t hit right for me. I’ll give this a like, but it’s on the border between a like and a meh.

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Knob Creek (2019) vs Knob Creek 9-year-old (2016)

Last month, news broke that Knob Creek Bourbon, which had lost its age statement a few years back, would be regaining its nine year old age statement “sometime early next year.” In honor of this very welcome news, I've decided to pull out my last bottle of nine-year-old Knob Creek to compare to with the current release.

So, first things first, why do I have a bottle of Knob Creek with an age statement just hanging around? Honestly, just for this. If I see a significant change to any particular bourbon, I try to pick up a bottle so that a few years down the line, we can all see what, if anything has changed in the flavor. I also do this for the first batch of things that might be interesting down the line. This is the reason why there is a bottle of the first batch of Willett-distilled Old Bardstown Bonded, the first release of Maker's Cask Strength, one of the last bottles of Elijah Craig before they removed the age statement, and others on the top shelf of my whiskey closet. I figure I'll give each of them a few years and go back to see if anything has changed.

Ordinarily, I would still be sitting on this bottle of Knob Creek as I've had it less than three years (according to the dates for the contest on the neck tag that I apparently never took off). But since the reason I was keeping it is going away soon, why not pull it out. Maybe we'll see a glimpse of what is to come and what we've been missing.

I did the comparison blind, hopefully, I don’t catch too much flack if I end up liking the non-age stated one better.

Knob Creek NAS (2019) vs Knob Creek Nine-Year-Old (2016)

Purchase Info: $24.99 at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN for the non-age stated one. After almost three years, I have no clue for the nine-year-old.

Details: Both are 50% ABV.

Bourbon A:

Nose: Dusty oak, caramel, ripe fruit, nutmeg, hints of mint

Mouth: Caramel, mint, cinnamon

Finish: Dry and warm, medium length. Lingering oak and caramel

Bourbon B:

Nose: Mint, bubblegum, nutmeg, oak

Mouth: Spicy, dry, cinnamon, vanilla, oak

Finish: Warm and spicy with lingering chocolate and dried grains

Thoughts: These are both very similar. I guess that is a testament to the blending skills of Jim Beam. Bourbon A is softer in the mouth while B is drier and spicier. That said the underlying flavors are close enough that I don't know if I'd notice too much of a difference if someone blindly handed me a glass of one versus the other. Bourbon A has more flavor while it is in the mouth, while B is spicier and the flavor really kicks in at the finish. Personally, I'd choose A over B, but it's pretty close.

Reveal: Whiskey A is the 2016 nine-year-old. Whiskey B is the 2019 NAS. I guess I dodged a bullet on that one. But seriously, I found this super interesting. There were differences, but they were not as big as I would have assumed. They aren't as big as the differences between Elijah Craig's 12-year-old versus their current NAS bottling.

I can't wait to compare both of these Knob Creek bottles to my first bottle of 2020's new nine-year-old.

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products and bourbon-related craft supplies I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And hey, if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!