Knob Creek Nicholas Single Barrel Reserve Select Bourbon

Selecting barrels during the pandemic has been about as challenging as you would think. This is where relationships with distillers becomes even more important. Now that the bourbon shortage has reached a fever pitch, they turn away 100 requests for single barrels for every one that they accept. Clearly I’ve been in the “one” category. Well that “one” isn’t good enough. You really want to be the first of all the “ones”. What the hell does that mean?

The master distiller will select his favorite 20 or 30 barrels for all of us “one’s” to select from. Obviously the first “one” to select will get the best of the best. This was the exact situation when I selected our Knob Creek single barrel of bourbon with Master Distiller Fred Noe.

All 20 that I tasted were outstanding, but I really think I grabbed the best of the lot before anyone else got a chance to taste .

The barrel I selected was born on 9/28/11 (yep, this is a 10 year old private barrel). It rested in what I call the “heart of the good stuff” in warehouse Z on floor 3. Bottled at 120 proof.

One other benefit of being first is I was the first to beg for a Single barrel of Knob Rye. Stay tuned next month to see how well I begged 😉

Tasting Note:
Nose: Toasted oak, vanilla, caramel and fresh baked banana bread.
Palate: Hints of leather toasted marshmallow, maple and caramelized banana. The finish is long and lingering with just the right amount of burn.