Knob Creek 9 Year Old

Have you tried the expression bottled at 60%? It's pretty good. But if you are an infrequent bourbon sipper, stick with Baker's or Booker's from Beam

Not yet, but I've read good reviews about it. Its not available where I live, so I'll have to look out for it on my travels. Regarding the regular 9 year old, there are better bourbons out there for the price, including FRsmB, WR, and Larceny.

@jack09, I've seen a lot of batch variation in standard Knob Creek. It goes anywhere from 'meh' to excellent. Overall, I wouldn't trust to buy a bottle of it without sampling first from that particular batch. I would, however, recommend that you give the 60% abv Knob Creek Single Barrel a try.

I'm quite fond of this as a mixer for a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned for example. Not for sipping though.

@Victor, the 60% abv barrel proof is a single barrel expression, so I would expect it to be better, with a clearer character. As for the regular 9 year small batch, something gets lost in the batching. We don't know how small the batch is. 50 barrels, 100, 200? The bigger the batching, the less character the bourbon has. I guess we can call the small batch 9 year a mass produced whisky.

@jack09, while I definitely agree with you that standard Knob Creek has the occasional 'off' batch, I cannot agree that a batch whiskey lacks character, by nature. Blending the barrels together gives the potential for some excellent combinations. Probably 95% of whiskies worldwide are 'batch' whiskies, blended from multiple barrels/casks. I have also tasted some excellent standard Knob Creek batches. And I say that as someone who is very partial to the single barrel expressions.

I think the broader observation I would make here is that with the endeavor of tasting a lot of whisk(e)y comes the experience that there is an enormous amount of variability in even the products with the same names and labels. So, for me, with standard Knob Creek Small Batch Bourbon, 1) I've had great Knob Creek, 2) I've had OK Knob Creek, and 3) I've had some shitty Knob Creek. My bottom line is the same as I wrote earlier: I wouldn't buy a bottle of it unless I tasted first from the same batch before buying it. Don't be too surprised if, someday, someone offers you a drink of Knob Creek and it is much better than your current bottle. I've had that exact experience with a lot of whiskies, including Knob Creek.