Knob Creek Just Released Its Oldest Bourbon Ever. Here's How to Get Your Hands on It for a Limited Time!
Over the past five years, Kentucky’s Knob Creek has been steadily upping the ante on its age-stated bourbons. In 2020, the brand released the inaugural bottling of Knob Creek 15 Year. Two years later, the brand introduced its 18-year-old bourbon. And now, Knob Creek 21-Year-Old is here. Not only is it the oldest whiskey the brand has ever released, but it’s also the oldest whiskey in the history of the James B. Beam Distilling Co. to ever hit store shelves.
In the early 2000s, then-master distiller Fred Noe laid down a batch of Knob Creek bourbon in the company’s warehouses, but letting that bourbon age for over two decades wasn’t originally part of the plan.
"When we first laid this batch to rest, we weren't chasing any specific age statement—we were focused on crafting a great bourbon, just like we always do," Fred’s son and eighth generation master distiller Freddie Noe said in a press release. "After I tasted the whiskey, I knew we had something special. After decades in the rackhouse, the liquid developed a richness and balance we knew Knob Creek fans and whiskey enthusiasts would want to try.”
Related: How Knob Creek Bourbon Changed My Palate—and Life—Forever
It’s worth noting that older doesn’t always mean better in the bourbon world. Due to the fact that the spirit must be aged in charred new oak barrels—and often does so in Kentucky, where swings in temperature and humidity tend to be quite drastic—barrel influence can dominate, rather than amplify, a bourbon’s core flavor profile. However, this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. In the right hands and under the right conditions, aging bourbon for extended periods of time can take the liquid to new heights in terms of depth, richness, and complexity.
Knob Creek 21-Year-Old Tasting Notes
According to the brand, Knob Creek 21-Year-Old is a prime example of just that phenomenon. Each barrel was hand-picked by the brand’s team of master distillers, and the whiskey is said to open with notes of caramelized sugar, oaky spice, and subtle smoke, before robust flavors of caramel, fruit, and further layers of oak reveal themselves on the palate. Every sip culminates in a warm, cozy finish characterized by lingering notes of toffee and charred wood. As Freddie Noe himself says, “It’s bold, full of character, and embodies what Knob Creek stands for."
This limited-edition release is bottled at 100 proof and available now at retailers nationwide for an MSRP of $250 (750 mL). As of now, the brand hasn’t disclosed whether or not it will roll out subsequent batches in the future.