Knob Creek, Small Batch, Cask Strength & .........

I’d give it a bash. But these Little Book releases aren’t cheap, and I’m a bit shy about getting a Chapter II or a Chapter III without trying it first.

Should be good, but like anything expensive, I'd want to taste before considering buying.

@OdysseusUnbound believe I gave you a sample of chapter 2...

@paddockjudge and @Victor (and others) please help me get this right. Maybe I am just being cynical. Maybe it is part of marketing. Or maybe I am just missing something.

Don’t Knob Creek, Baker’s and Booker’s all use the same mashbill? The only one that is actually different liquid is Basil Hayden’s with a higher rye content right? So it isn’t that they are using 4 different whiskies but rather mixing three-parts mashbill 1 with one-part mashbill 2?

So basically it is

Mashbill 1 – 9yo, 117.4 proof Mashbill 1 – 12yo, 126.6 proof Mashbill 1 – 11yo, 129.2 proof With Mashbill 2 – 9yo, 123 proof

I guess if you believe that they really do have a barrel program where they designate specific barrels in the rickhouse for particular bottle lines years prior to bottling you might say:

Mashbill 1 (originally designated for Knob Creek) – 9yo, 117.4 proof Mashbill 1 (originally designated for Baker’s) – 12yo, 126.6 proof Mashbill 1 (originally designated for Booker’s) – 11yo, 129.2 proof With Mashbill 2 (originally designated for Basil Hayden’s) – 9yo, 123 proof

But back to answer your question: Yey Of the Little Book offerings so far this one is the first that might actually want to pick it up.
Still, it will be priced at $120 here in Virginia. And for that price . . . given my last bottles of Booker’s, Basil Hayden’s and Baker’s (which I flat out hated) I would seriously need to try it first. Hope that becomes a reality.

@Nock, as far as I’m concerned, you are right on the money with your interpretation of this straight bourbon “blend”.

The component parts are whiskies I would make an effort to try if they were commercially available. Who wouldn’t want to try an older Basil Hayden at barrel proof?! ... or Knob Creek Small Batch at BP or Booker’s at 11 years or Baker’s at 12. It would be a great opportunity to taste these h2h with existing releases.

I’m under the impression a barrel program exists. This is an opportunity to sample a “blend” of cherry picked barrels from each style.

I’ll be revisiting Beam over the next few weeks to get ready for Little Book 3.

@Nozinan I’ll have to dig that up. I have so many samples and they aren’t organized in any way...

@Nock, yes, other than the Old Grand-Dad/Basil Hayden higher rye content line, Beam uses just the one mashbill. The differences in the brands are, I believe, mostly a matter of barrel selection for specific flavour characteristics. Baker's I have always found to be the exception in the Beam line. I've never seen Beam confirm this but I am convinced that they use a different yeast there. Also I once read, without details given or remembered, that they use a different production process with Baker's. So yes, I completely agree with you, that combining these various products together is like marrying your sister. Maybe it will work out, maybe it won't, but don't be surprised when your kids have a strong family resemblance.

I would be very interested in tasting from that bottle of Baker's which you hated, because I have always liked Baker's. Aberlour A'bunadh Batch # 45?

@Victor

I have owned only one bottle of Baker’s Batch No. B-90-001 which I opened in May of 2016. I only scored it 3 times: 78, 79 and 82 at the end. I think I ended up trying to blend it with Booker’s or something else. To me Baker’s is very fruity with cherries apple and lemon. And I really don’t like a lot of sour fruit in my bourbon. I particularly don’t like that “cherry” note. For some reason I get “sour cherries” really strongly in Jim Beam and . . . Pappy 15yo (I know it doesn’t make much sense). I think one of the most brilliant ideas I ever heard (from you by way of ? I can’t remember) was to add a measure of Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve to a “Poor-Man’s-Pappy” blend. It totally adds that cherry note which is missing from Weller 12yo and Weller Antique to my nose. Anyway, this Baker’s bottle is long gone. And I shall not be replacing it. Not at $60 a bottle.

The literature on Baker’s does read that it is 7 years old with a “strain of jug yeast.” So, it looks like you are spot on about it having different yeast from the others.

I have owned one bottle of Booker’s (Bluegrass 2016-01) which was 6yo and 11 months at 63.95. I scored this several times: 83, 84, 87, 83. I sampled from a friend’s bottle Batch No: C06-B-15 which was 7 years and 1 month at 64.45%. Again, very similar to my bottle. I tried one other Booker’s but I didn’t grab a picture. But my memory was it was mid 80’s at best. So, I liked Booker’s more than Baker’s, but not enough to ever re-buy at current prices of $80 here in Virginia. I liked the bigger power, but it always felt like it lacked depth, was overly spirity, with many sharp edges, and with almost some paint varnish. Potential, but it needed more age.

For me I believe it comes down to age. I like my bourbon’s (specifically Jim Beam juice) aged to about 9 years at a minimum . . . but also older! In 7 bottles of Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve 120 with a 9 year age statement I haven’t been disappointed. Mostly they score mid to high 80s occasionally going over the 90 mark. I have had 5 store picks. Several didn’t tell me (and the store didn’t know) the actual age. Two were over 12 years and my newest is 14 years and 9 months. Again, all are scoring between 88 and 92 for me. I honestly don’t love the 14yo as much as the others. I do think that 12 and 14 years is pushing it for Jim Beam. Still being able to buy a 14yo bourbon store pick at 120 Proof for $45?? Totally worth it.

So yes, when I can purchase 120 Proof bourbon at a minimum of 9 years for somewhere around $45 . . . I will buy that every time over another Baker’s or Booker’s gamble-bottle.

But really I am a Heaven Hill fanboy. ECBP is my favorite at 12 years and +130 Proof. I never get cherries, or sour fruit. In fact I don’t think of Heaven Hill as fruity at all. It is all about caramel, brown sugar, cinnamon, and baked crumble cake in cast iron. It is always super dense and deep. That is what I like. But it isn’t Stagg . . . ok, let me start again.

Favorites Bourbon to always drink:

1st choice: George T. Stagg – (I know . . . impossible to get anymore). If this could sit on the shelves all year long at $300 a bottle I would probably buy it once every year and be happy.

When I am not drinking GTS

1st alternate for price and availability: ECBP 12yo +130 Proof– this is my Stagg alternative - which is still hard to get). This is the single greatest value bourbon buy in my opinion. It isn’t a fair comparison to GTS, but it is the best alternative for money I have found. At $60 a bottle, 3 releases a year, I stock up whenever I can.

2nd alternate for price and easy availability: Knob Creek SBR 9yo 120 Proof – I can buy this any day for $43.99.

3rd alternate for price: Old Grand Dad 114 – I can buy this most any day (for now) at $23.00

4th alternate for price: Virgin Bourbon 7yo 101 – I only find this on very rare occasions . . . for about $12.

Dang I get off tread topic. Sorry @paddockjudge

Back to the question of Little Book #3 . . . yes, I am interested. But at $120 . . . I am certain I will like the next release of ECBP more at half the price. I would buy the Little Book #3 only for the sake of variety in my bourbon life. And I am not sure I want the variety that much. I would certainly want a taste first. But I doubt that will happen.

However, I am very curious to hear about your Beam “revisiting”

@Nock I think that you know that I like all of your bourbon faves a lot. When BTAC whiskeys got scarce I piled into Elijah Craig 12 yo Barrel Proof in a big way as the new opportunity when the old opportunity had more or less vanished. I have several batches of ECBP on hand and at least a dozen bottles. But these are drinkers for the long haul. I'll trade off one or two bottles of these once in a while to the @paddockjudge or @Nozinan, but only one or two, and I will want to replace them in my inventory.

I like a lot of other bourbons too, but, surprise to some on here, I don't drink from my scores of bottles of bourbon very often. I don't pick the genre, I pick the whisk(e)y, just as I don't pick the singer I pick the song. More than anything else I like a lot of variety, and the perfect drink to fit the mood. This frequently means tequilas, along with the malts, ryes, and beers. I don't like any of the flavours of the various varieties of hops very much, so I usually go to beer only when I want a simple malted barley experience. I used to drink a lot of stouts and IPAs, but they mostly bore me now. When I drink an IPA anymore I mostly think, "A peated whisky would taste so much better." I don't find the use of hops for the bitter contrast to sweet malt in beer to be very elegant. Actually I find it pretty crude, most of the time. For me, whisky does bitter contrast to sweet much better than does beer. Which is to say that I like the bitterness of peat much better than I like the bitterness of hops.

@Nock, I did the Beam Small Batch Collection "revisiting". Here's what I found. Baker's is a very good bourbon. Basil Hayden (standard NAS) is a mild bourbon, not one I will buy often, if ever. KC 9 YO Small Batch 100 pf is nothing special. KC 9 YO Single Barrel 120 pf is a bruiser, but it doesn't rock my world. I obtained two bottles of Wiser's 23 YO CS Blend 128.6 pf by sending 3 x KC Sm Batch and 2 x KC Si Bbl the other way. I’m in a better pace after this transaction.

@paddockjudge

Very nice to hear about the “revisiting.” I must say that I am not terribly surprised by your findings. Given the differences in our taste I am not shocked that you found the KCSBR 120 a bruiser. I would agree. That I likely why I love it. I would agree with you that the 9yo 100 pf is nothing special, and that the Basil Hayden is a mild not-going-to-buy-again bourbon. And I should have guessed that Baker’s was more in your zone on enjoyment.

For me the big question comes down to: Booker’s vs. KCSBR 120.

In my experience Booker’s has always seemed young and harsh while the KCSBR 120 has been my preferred go-to Beam product.

That said, I am happy for you that you were able to send off some uninteresting bottles in exchange for some highly desirable bottles. That is always the dream. I have a number of desirable bourbons I am hoping to parlay into something I really want (Brora?). Someday.