Knob Creek Twice Barreled Rye Whiskey Review
By Richard Thomas
Rating: A-
(Credit: Beam Suntory)
Double barrel aging, or maturing whiskey in two rounds of new white oak, has become very much a thing in American Whiskey. I like to think of it as distinct from “finishing,” because the point isn’t to derive flavors from outside the traditional profiles of American Whiskey by reaching for Port pipes and Sherry casks. Instead, the idea is to double down on tradition by getting a second infusion from virgin wood.
Knob Creek Twice Barreled Rye is the second go at the double barrel treatment from Jim Beam (the first was Jim Beam Double Oak), and their first with rye whiskey. To my knowledge, this is the third time rye whiskey has gotten the double barrel treatment: the first was Michter’s Toasted Barrel Finished Rye and the second was Sagamore Spirit’s Double Oak Rye. Presumably, it’s the standard Knob Creek Rye given at least several extra months in a fresh set of barrels, bottled at 100 proof.
The Whiskey
A pour of Knob Creek Twice Barreled has a typically rye, coppered look in the glass, while coating the glass leaves behind a curtain of skinny, stunted legs.
The nose leads with dry, charred wood, followed and soon pushed aside by a pair that moves forward elbows locked together. One half of this couple is the spicy side of the whiskey: mint, dill and cardamon. The other half of the pair is the sweet side, given plenty of weight by the second round of new oak aging: brown sugar and vanilla.
The flavor follows in tune with the scent, but mixes things up. It’s sweet and quite minty, with the dill fading to a modest note and the cardamon reduced to a trace. Only on the back end does the charred, dry oak reappear. That is where the finish picks up and carries on, fading steadily.
I rather liked what the double barrel treatment brought out in this whiskey. It’s certainly more barrel-forward than the standard Knob Creek Rye, but without being oaky. Moreover, somehow this whiskey actually comes out as being spicier than the usual Kentucky style Rye. It’s not the robustly spicy creature of, say, a Monongahela Rye, but it’s got more going on in its spice rack for sure.
The Price
Expect to pay $45 a bottle. At that price point, it’s something anyone who likes a nice pour of rye whiskey should strongly consider picking up.
