Maker: Jim Beam, Clermont, Kentucky, USA (Beam Suntory)
Age: 9 y/o
Proof: 120 (60% ABV)
Barrel #3026, hand selected by the Georgia Bourbon Society
Appearance: Burnt (not Burt) orange with thick irregular legs.
Nose: Charred oak, caramel, leather, cinnamon, dried Thai peppers, earth.
Palate: Hot, but still drinkable neat. Roast corn on the cob, hard toffee, sage, alcohol.
Finish: Alcohol, oak, black licorice.
Parting words: Our timing was very poor this Spring. For the first time in years, my wife and I weren’t able to go to Kentucky on the last weekend of April. That was because my wife was due to give birth on April 28. I was excited at the prospect of having my son born at the fabled Gazebo in Bardstown but my wife wasn’t so keen on the idea. So we had to skip this year.
As a result of that and of living over 700 miles from Marietta, Georgia, I didn’t get my bottles of the Georgia Bourbon Society Knob Creek until just a week or so ago. My post about how we selected them has been one of the most popular posts on this blog. It’s here.
This bourbon lives up to its promise. The cinnamon notes I got at the barrel selection aren’t nearly as pronounced now as they were then, but they’re still present. This is a great bottle from a great barrel, if I do say so myself, and the fact that my friends and I helped pick it out makes drinking it an even greater experience. Highly recommended.
Sipology 