Knob Creek 7 Year Old Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Jim Beam has been making it easy for me to be a contrarian these last few years, because in the midst of whiskeydom’s own Big Lie — the so-called “Bourbon Shortage — they keep slapping age statements onto things, as well as introducing new middle-aged expressions. The latest example was giving an age statement to Knob Creek Rye. Introduced in 2012, the small batch expression has never had an age statement before, so 11 years in, it’s getting one. Another interesting point buttressing my contrarianism is the price tag, which I’ll delve into at the end.

The Whiskey
This is a Kentucky style rye, which is to say it’s barely a rye whiskey (slightly above 51% rye mash), with high corn content. As such, the pour is more amber than copper, and the nose leans out of bourbon’s turf rather than into it. The scent smacks of an apple pie, if you could dip it in caramel like a caramel apple; alternately, a caramel apple with a thick shell and an infusion of pie spice.

Again, the flavor is sweet and deeply imbued with vanilla. The fruity aspect drops to mere suggestion, while the spicy side picks up some black pepper atop the pie spice. Leathery oak rises on the back end, and rolls off into the finish for a mellow, fairly short conclusion.

For a decade, since its introduction really, Knob Creek Rye has occupied a spot as an affordable rye that was very good, albeit not great. Adding the age statement doesn’t change that, but doubles down on it.

The Price
When Knob Creek Rye first came out, it was going for about $38 to $40. That would be $50 to $53 today, adjusted for inflation. Yet the official price on this whiskey has actually gone down in absolute terms, to $37. Tell me again how we’re in the midst of a terrible shortage, when a good bottle like this one gains an age statement while going down in price?