Taste Test: Knob Creek’s Latest Bourbon Is the Oldest Jim Beam to Date—and It’s Stellar

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

When I first heard that Knob Creek was going to release a 21-year-old bourbon, I was more than a little bit dubious. It seemed like age-statement chasing, a marketing gimmick, an attempt to give the people what they think they want despite the fact that bourbon over 20 years old is often just not that good. Well, I finally got to try the whiskey and I’m happy to admit I was wrong—Knob Creek 21, the oldest age statement to date from Jim Beam, is actually a really good bourbon (provided you don’t mind the flavors that come with more than two decades aging in barrels).

Knob Creek is seventh-generation master distiller Fred Noe’s baby, according to Beam global ambassador Tim Heuisler, who said that he believes a picture of a bottle should show up when you type the word “bourbon” into Wikipedia. And it does tick all the right boxes: The whiskey is bottled at 100 proof (aside from the single barrel releases); the core bourbon has a 9-year-old age statement; the core rye a 7-year-old statement; and, overall, Knob Creek is one of the best values you can find in terms of flavor and quality.

After trying the 21-year-old version of the bourbon, I have to say that it’s better than the 18-year-old, something that came as a surprise to me. Three extra years in wood has somehow softened the tannic sting that the younger bourbon brings to the palate instead of amplifying it. (The 18 is my least favorite of the three age statements that joined the lineup a few years ago, which also includes 12 and 15-year-old expressions—the latter is my go-to of the bunch.)

These older expressions are a modern marketing maneuver, and historically might not even be something that Fred or his father, the late master distiller Booker Noe, might have reached for. The elder Noe created the Knob Creek brand back in 1992 as part of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection, which also included Booker’s, Basil Hayden, and Baker’s. But most reports refer to Booker preferring his whiskey around six to seven years old, which is the age that his namesake brand is bottled at to this day. Even Fred has gone on the record as saying that he thinks most bourbon aged over 15 years is just too woody, and the demand for extra-aged bourbon is mostly due to its scarcity and not necessarily its flavor.

Still, Fred and his son, eighth-generation master distiller Freddie Noe, clearly believe the Knob Creek lineup is the place for these ultra-aged bourbons, and the good news is that this new release defies expectations and is actually pretty damn good. According to Heuisler, after 21 years in barrels the whiskey stood at about 110 proof, and only about a quarter of the liquid actually remained after decades of the angels drinking their share. I suspect that at a lower strength the palate would be limp and more like sucking on wet wood, but at 100 proof there’s still enough heat to cut through with some spice and heft. Yes, this still tastes like a very old bourbon, but the tannic oak flavors are soft and not overpowering. There’s still some of that classic Beam peanut flavor as you sip, but it’s surrounded by notes of dark chocolate, blackberry, maple, leather, tobacco, bruleed vanilla, and toasted coconut.

Will there be an even older Knob Creek release somewhere down the road? Beam reps are pretty coy about this, and their non-answer seems to verify that this is indeed a distinct possibility. Personally, I think we’re probably at the upper limits of flavor quality with this whiskey, not to mention what you can charge. (This bottle retails for $250, and thankfully it looks like that’s what it is actually selling for from secondary retailers at the moment.) If you are not a fan of extra oaky-ness in your bourbon, steer clear. But if you’re up for a little bit of tannic temptation, Knob Creek 21 is a really excellent example of an older bourbon that actually tastes good and isn’t just an age-statement flex.

Score: 93