Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Knob Creek 15 year old bourbon, batch KC002

After a 5+ year hiatus, BARD Friday returns! As with all my reviews, I give you no promises regarding the BARD whiskies' relevance, though it's still cheaper and easier to buy contemporary bourbons and ryes compared to single malt scotch, especially here in The Midwest.

Let's start the fun with the KC002 batch of Knob Creek 15, which was released either in 2021 or 2022. As I'm sure I've written many times, Knob Creek and I have a weird relationship. In general, I almost always prefer rye over bourbon in everything from sippin' to mixin'. But I like the Knob Creek brand's bourbon a lot more than its rye, to the point that I'm unmotivated to ever try another KC rye. On the positive side, yay KC bourbon! Here's the oldest one I've had.

pic source

Owner: Beam Suntory
Brand: Knob Creek
Distillery: Jim Beam Distillery
Location: Clermont, Kentucky
Mash Bill: 77% Corn, 13% Rye, 10% Malted Barley (I think)
Age: minimum 15 years
Batch: KC002
ABV: 50% ABV

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Pretty fruit notes arrive early in the nose, with pineapple, lemon zest, and cherry jello ringing the loudest. A hint of honey drifts towards flower blossoms with time. Soft whiffs of confections. And, yes, plenty of earthy char.

An intense burst of cherry candy meets almost-smoky levels of barrel char in the palate. Cinnamon, mint leaf, and salt rest in the middle, lemon and honey in the back.

Tannins fill the finish, yet do not wreck the tongue. Smaller touches of salt, lemon, blossoms, and mint leaf cower beneath.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

The adorable nose wins, of course. Though quite good, the palate is prevented from ascending further by the brutality of charred white oak, something I frequently find in >12yo bourbons. It's like the leveling-off of a mountain. We never see the top, just an early plateau. This whiskey still works very well though, and may be one of the best contemporary 15yo bourbons I've had, though that's not saying much.

I would absolutely drink this again! And if you don't mind tannin aggression, I hope you find Knob Creek 15 year old at its SRP.

Availability - USA
Pricing - anywhere from $100 to $300
Rating - 84

Eigashima 12 year old, cask 5113

Somehow I've gotten this far without reviewing an Eigashima / White Oak / Akashi single malt. That ends now!

Eigashima Shuzo allegedly became the first officially licensed Japanese whisky distiller when they picked up their license in 1919 (four years before Yamazaki), but I'm not sure until the family-run company really invested in production until the 1980s, once the current distillery opened. Nonetheless, I'm still going to root for this wee producer, because I'm really hoping that as the smaller Japanese whisky-makers (Chichibu, Mars, Eigashima, Kanosuke, Shizuoka, Okayama, Kurayokshi, and on and on and on) release high quality age-stated single malts SOMETHING will inspire the two majors (Suntory and Nikka) to do the same, damn it.

So far Eigashima's ≥12yo releases number in the single digits. And here's one of them, a single sherry butt of 12 year old stuff flexing a 60%abv.

Distillery: Eigashima

Location: Akashi, Hyōgo, Japan (between Himeji and Kobe)
Ownership: Eigashima Shuzo, Co. Ltd.
Age: 12 years (???? - ????)
Maturation: sherry butt
Cask #: 5113
Alcohol by Volume: 60%

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Oh nice, 'twas a gentle butt. The nose shows citrons and limes, as well as their blossoms. Almond extract and candied pecans. Clover honey and cinnamon red hots. Hints of anise and maple in the background. But then there's the palate. First comes a mix of soil, black peppercorns, and green peppercorns. But really it's like you forgot about the ribs on the grill and burned them to shit but then took a bite just to find out what carcinogens taste like. I think there are some sweet oranges in the back, but my palate is murdered. It finishes with nothing but savory ash.

Time to go Full Ralfy on the dilution.

DILUTED to 45%abv, or 2 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose remains very pretty with honey, anise, citrus blossoms, and a whiff of delicate smoke. The palate isn't as pushy, but it's still mostly bitter smoke with a touch of lemon candy in the background. It finishes with bitter ash and lemon peel.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This is the sort of "smoke" that feels like an accident. The nose and palates come from two different planets, or rather two different multiverses (since that's what kids are told to be into these days). It smells lovely. It tastes......like an oops. An interesting oops, but still an oops.

Dram Dracula, a nice reliable fellow who I've come across in online whisky groups, gives it an 85, but qualifies it with "Not something I would want to drink again, if I may super honest." I'm currently using it as a smoky rinse for my Ginza cocktails. Next time around I'll seek out a bourbon cask from Eigashima at a lower abv. Hopefully that delivers better results.

Availability - ???
Pricing - ???
Rating - 78 (saved by the nose)

Things I Really Drink: Chichibu 2015, cask 5262 for TWE

I am not in the habit of spending this kind of money on a single bottle of whisky, and I am not in the habit of entering bottle lotteries. But I do love me some Chichibu, and when The Whisky Exchange announced a lottery for an exclusive single bourbon cask of this Japanese single malt, I thought, "What the hell, LOL."

I entered. I "won". I paid the money. I got the bottle. I am fortune's fool. (That's what the Montague kid meant, right?)

The label is pretty sweet, with its Sportflix-style 3D karate action. There was no creepy giant wooden casket and pillow for the bottle to lay upon, thank goodness. They kept the kanji minimal too.

Secondary market FOMO for this bottle has been bizarre. During the month of its release, the bottle was flipped in auctions for more than thrice its price. But four months later it gavelled for twice its original price. Maybe that isn't bizarre. Perhaps FOMO's half life is evaporating in real time.

Anyhoo, I chose to open the bottle for New Year's Eve 2023 because OMG this planet. Then I did an official tasting on my half-birthday (the 24th of February, in case you've forgotten). Kanpai!

Distillery: Chichibu #1

Location: Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Ownership: Venture Whisky
Range: Martial Arts Trilogy
Age: 5 or 6 years (2015 - 2021)
Maturation: bourbon cask
Outturn: 233 bottles
Exclusive to: The Whisky Exchange
Alcohol by Volume: 59.5%

(from my silly bottle!)

For this tasting, I tried the whisky diluted first, but I'm listing the notes in my usual order.

NEAT

The nose has at least three levels. Mangoes, guavas, and a honey-lemon syrup sits on top. Moss, dried herbs, and paprika fill the middle. Pastry dough stays on the bottom. The palate is hot AF. I needed to let it sit for 30 minutes in order to approach it properly. THEN: lychee, lemons, apricots, and yellow plums. The long finish has those apricots and yellow plums, but also a slight floral side. It gets tarter with time.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Oh, yeah. Kiwis, mangoes, gingerbread, molasses, and citrons hit the nose first. Then guava juice and orange oil, followed by new jasmine blossoms. The palate is gloriously fruity. Guavas, grapefruits, raspberries, and lemons. But there's also a distinct barley characteristic that turns into a digestive biscuit note with a gentle floral hint underneath. The fruits' tartness keeps the sweetness in check. The fruit basket continues into the finish: limes, lemons, grapefruits, raspberries, and Kasugai yuzu gummies (sorry, one Japanese reference).

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This is kind of fabulous. (The TIRD luck continues.) The fruit juice style is tailored to my current palate, though it demands dilution. When the whisky is neat, the nose needs a long time to wake up, and the palate is much too sharp. But at 46%abv, it's all lovely, every bit of it. As I've said before, I have no idea how they've achieved this quality this quickly and consistently. So far, Chichibu is the real deal, holding up better than any other aggressively-hyped new distillery.

But is this whisky worth the $1100 or $700 secondary prices? Is it worth $300? I don't know anymore. But it will very likely be the only bottle of Chichibu I'll ever own, and it continues to be an excellent whisky. And that's as much as I can sort out. If you have this bottle, I hope you open it and share it with friends.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - It's up to The Furies and Whims of the marketplace
Rating - 90 (diluted)

Things I Really Drink: Dalmore 14 year old PX Cask (USA Exclusive)

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a bottle of Dalmore open. Correction, I have a half bottle. Dr. Springbank and I went halfsies on the Dalmore 14 year old PX Cask which was released exclusively for US Americans.

The Whisky Advocate has the full scoop: "It is aged in bourbon barrels, then 40-60% of the liquid is transferred to Pedro Ximénez sherry casks from Gonzalez Byass in Jerez, Spain for approximately 2 years while the balance remains in bourbon barrels. The two parcels are then blended."

That sounds exactly like the Port Wood Reserve, but with PX casks and more age. And it's priced lower than the Port Wood Reserve because it doesn't have "Reserve" in its name.

Distillery: Dalmore

Region: Highlands (Northern)

Ownership: Emperador Distillers Inc (via White & Mackay)

Range: The Principal Collection

Age: minimum 14 years

Maturation: see notes above

Alcohol by Volume: 43.8%

Chillfiltered? ???

Colorant Added? ???

NOTES

Though vanilla appears early in the nose, none of the 12yo Sherry Select's outright barrel char shows up. Broken stones, rope, and a hint of mushrooms highlight the foreground, with florals in the midground, and grapes and cherries in the back. With time it picks up lemon juice, and the vanilla extract turns into almond extract.

The least sweet and woody of this week's Dalmore palates, this 14yo leads with figs, carob, and menthol. Hints of golden raisins and tart limes drift around sides.

It finishes with dried cranberries and dried cherries (minus all the sugar), and mix of tart and bitter citrus.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I like this more than the Kilkerran 8yo CS Port Cask that I also split with Dr. Springbank. Life is weird. There have been times I have chosen to drink this. I would buy my own bottle, were Dalmore 14 half its actual price. (See, I'm not entirely crazy.) The PX casketry feels more like a second maturation than a polish or a "finesse", the fruit elements work, and its conclusion sticks around for a while. My new Dalmore champion! How about that?

Availability - USA
Pricing - $90ish
Rating - 85

Dalmore 12 year old Sherry Cask Select

Dalmore 12 year old Sherry Cask Select has three more alcohol percentage points and "twice the Sherry influence as the traditional 12 Year Old." The latter quote is from the official site which makes no effort to explain it. Luckily, Mr. Theakson at Drinkhacker reveals that the Select is finished for two years in Oloroso and PX casks.

That a whisky company which prides itself on its fancy sherry casks uses them only to finish all of their standard releases (save some of the oldies) feels very contemporary. Of course, not all finishes are the same, but I'm hoping those two years offer up more than just lip pigmentation.

Yes, you're welcome.

pic pilfered from
Whiskybase

Distillery: Dalmore

Region: Highlands (Northern)
Ownership: Emperador Distillers Inc (via White & Mackay)

Range: The Principal Collection

Age: minimum 12 years
Maturation: Round 1: ten years in American oak. Round 2: two years in Oloroso and PX sherry casks
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Chillfiltered? Yes
Colorant Added? Yes

(thank you to Dr. Springbank for this sample from his bottle!)

NOTES

Orange peel, yuzu juice, toasted almonds fill the nose's foreground, with barrel char, dark chocolate, and stones in the middle, and cherry lollipops in the back. It gets prettier and more floral with time in the glass.

The palate starts on tart cherries, then switches to sugar and tannins. Flower kiss candy appears after 20 minutes, as do small notes of bitterness and smoke.

Though it finishes sweetly, there are fewer tannins here. Blueberries and ginger, then a mellow bitterness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Like Monday's Port Wood, the nose wins, but here the palate survives the oak, then finishes nicely, resulting in a reliable anytime pour. I have no idea why Dalmore priced this lower than the Port Wood, but it still ain't cheap for a 43%abv 12 year old that wouldn't stand out in a crowd. Then again, is $80 the going rate for daily drinkers now? I hope not. Anyway, this is the best contemporary Dalmore I've tried. So far.

Availability - North America, Europe, and Asia
Pricing - $80ish
Rating - 83

Dalmore Port Wood Reserve (US release)

Here are the top three reasons that the name "Dalmore" has rarely been mentioned on this blog during the 11.5 years I've reviewed spirits here:

1. Their bottling plant suffers from an dangerously excessive water supply. I mean, that's why their whiskies are so aggressively diluted, right?
2. As single malt sales began warming up 10 years ago, Dalmore declared itself a luxury brand, boosting prices on its age-stated malts higher than any other brand, save (maybe) Macallan. Meanwhile Dalmore single malt offers nothing quality-wise that every other sherry cask whisky doesn't. So it was luxury-because-we-say-so, which is my least favorite thing next to......
3. Richard Paterson ostentatiously dumping whisky on the floor is the douchiest whisky thing ever recorded on video, which is saying something considering the competition. You gonna get down on the floor and clean that up yourself, Dick? Didn't think so.

Anyway, I have two good friends who like(d) Dalmore's single malt, and they graciously provided me with samples from their bottles. So I'm going to do one week of Dalmore reviews then avoid them forever, unless more bourbon cask indie releases appear.

I'll start off with Dalmore's standard Port Wood Reserve release. Ah yes, "Reserve". That's Scotch for "three to five years old". So of course it costs $100.

Pro: It's bottled at the very-un-Dalmore strength of 46.5%abv!

Started out a Pro but turned into a ???: Its contents started out in American oak, yay! Then half stayed in American oak, yay! The other half spent an unspecified amount of time in tawny port casks, and was then blended with the American oak portion.

Distillery: Dalmore

Region: Highlands (Northern)
Ownership: Emperador Distillers Inc (via White & Mackay)

Range: The Principal Collection

Age: ???
Maturation: Step 1 - Matured in American oak. Step 2 - Half re-casked into tawny port casks. Step 3 - Marry both halves together.
Alcohol by Volume: 46.5%

Chillfiltered? I don't know
Colorant Added? Probably

(thank you to BR for this sample from his bottle!)

NOTES

Whew, the nose starts off fusty like a dusty, which I kinda like. Even after that characteristic wanes, it leaves behind a nice dirty edge. Beyond the fust lies fudge, roses, raspberries and lemon peel.

Less of the dusty fusty on the palate, though here it reads more like Loch Lomond funk, and it dissipates quickly. Unfortunately it's replaced by tannins. On the hand, its sweetness is well moderated by tangy berries and tart citrus.

Berry jam leads the finish, though it's not too sweet. Bitter oak lingers in the background.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

The nose wins by a good length, a common occurrence with cask-heavy spirits, but the palate is better than I'd expected. The finish was not. I'm not sure if everyone will find that same quirky character in the nose and palate (Serge's notes suggest something sulfuric), so this might be a Rorschach test for some. I think it could have been an interesting competitor for Glenmo's Quinta Ruban, had the Reserve been priced more realistically. But alas, Dalmore.

Availability - North America, Europe, and Asia
Pricing - $100+
Rating - 80

Royal Lochnagar 19 year old Cadenhead Small Batch, 56.6%abv

On Wednesday I reviewed my third-ever Cardhu. Today I'll review my third-ever Royal Lochnagar. Truly, it is a week of milestones.

Diageo's smallest distillery, Royal Lochnagar has historically been one of Johnnie Walker Blue Label's main malts, while also making appearances in the Pinch and Windsor blends. Cadenhead bottled a number of 1996 vintage Lochnagars, and this may well be one of them, but I'm not sure. Just to add to the confusion, there is a 56.3%abv batch and a 56.6%abv batch. This, the oldest RL single malt I've had, is the latter.

Distillery: Royal Lochnagar

Region: Middle Eastern Highlands
Owner: Diageo

Independent Bottler: Cadenhead
Range: Small Batch

Age: minimum 19 years

Maturation: ???

Outturn: ???

Alcohol by Volume: 56.6%
Chillfiltered: No
Colored: No

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose starts off well, with a mix of dried currants, figs, and hint of industrial smoke. Small notes of white chocolate macadamia cookies and kiwis fill in around the edges. Orange liqueur, tart lemons, and pencil shavings lead the palate. Hints of almond extract and peaches show up occasionally. It's also VERY tannic. The finish gets oakier with time. Tart citrus and eucalyptus struggle to be heard.

DILUTED to 46%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose becomes slightly farmy, with the industrial character retreated to the back. A little bit of oak spice drifts around. Sadly the palate gets oakier and papery. Oranges, limes, and almond extract can't push through. It finishes bitterly. Such is life.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Quite a quality split between the nose and palate. I really enjoyed the breadth of the former, but struggled with the narrowness of the latter. I'm not sure what the maturation vessel was other than a capital 'C' Cask. Neither water nor time helped relieve the tannins. Had the flavors paralleled the scents, this would have been a heck of a whisky. Alas no. I doubt I'll chase after other Royal Lochnagar samples/splits in the future.

Availability - Sold out?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 81