{"id":2127,"date":"2012-02-22T17:30:27","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T00:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/?p=2127"},"modified":"2012-02-21T21:38:04","modified_gmt":"2012-02-22T04:38:04","slug":"review-basil-haydens-and-knob-creek-bourbons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/?p=2127","title":{"rendered":"Review – Basil Hayden’s and Knob Creek Bourbons"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is one iconic cocktail that is truly my constant fall back.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s simple to the point of almost being silly, but in that same breath it’s deep, complex and nuanced.\u00c2\u00a0 If you haven’t guessed already, I’m talking about the Old Fashioned.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the drink I crave when I want simplicity with depth, the drink I make when I travel and the one I make for people new to bourbon.\u00c2\u00a0 Seemed only natural that I’d mix it up when I received samples of Basil Hayden’s and Knob Creek small batch bourbons.\u00c2\u00a0 But before I tell you how they were, let’s talk about the bourbons themselves.<\/p>\n

\"Old<\/a><\/p>\n

You’ll see two terms tossed around with regard to bourbons; single barrel and small batch.\u00c2\u00a0 Single barrel is just that, bourbon bottled from a single barrel, unblended.\u00c2\u00a0 The problem you run into with single barrel bourbon is that, even with careful sampling, there is variation from bottle to bottle.\u00c2\u00a0 Some people really enjoy this.\u00c2\u00a0 They know the general flavor they’re going to get, but each bottle brings a small surprise in flavor.\u00c2\u00a0 The folks at Jim Beam don’t like this variability, so they opt for small batch bourbon instead.<\/p>\n

Small batch bourbons are blends of a small number of barrels to create the flavor profile desired.\u00c2\u00a0 There are a lot of benefits to this method, which Beam has put to good use.\u00c2\u00a0 First, you can smooth out the variability from batch to batch.\u00c2\u00a0 Since you’re blending barrels you can better tweak the exact flavor profile you’re after.\u00c2\u00a0 Second, you can create a small host of labels from the same basic stock of aged bourbon.\u00c2\u00a0 In the case of Beam you end up with Basil Hayden’s, Knob Creek, Baker’s and Booker’s.\u00c2\u00a0 All of these expressions are the product of the same aging stock blended in different ratios to produce different flavor profiles.<\/p>\n

From the Beam site<\/a>, Basil Hayden’s, bottled at a standard 80 proof has the highest rye portion giving it a spicy, peppery quality.\u00c2\u00a0 Knob Creek keeps a relatively high rye portion but bumps the proof up to 100 and the length of aging by a year.\u00c2\u00a0 The product of these tweaks is fruitier, rich and lightly sweet.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Baker’s keeps the higher proof at 107 but drops the aging to 7 years.\u00c2\u00a0 The result is nutty with vanilla notes and a silky body.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, Booker’s is the bourbon created to reflect the bourbons of the past.\u00c2\u00a0 Bottled at whatever the blended proof turns out to be (121 to 127 proof), no water is added and no filtration is done.\u00c2\u00a0 The finished product has a lot more barrel character.\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s what the producers have to say, how about we talk about what I think.<\/p>\n

\"\"Basil Hayden’s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dark straw\/light honey in color.\u00c2\u00a0 Light and sweet with delicate vanilla flavors, this bourbon is tremendously smooth with a very long finish laced with vanilla.\u00c2\u00a0 Definitely an amazing sipping bourbon.<\/p>\n

In an Old Fashioned the smoothness of this bourbon really shines.\u00c2\u00a0 The vanilla and spice character of the rye comes through nicely.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the sort of Old Fashioned that will sneak up on you with a hammer.\u00c2\u00a0 They go down very very quickly and easily.<\/p>\n

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\"\"Knob Creek<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amber honey color with distinct notes of vanilla in the aroma.\u00c2\u00a0 This bourbon is spicier and slightly hot with more spice (think Christmas) character.\u00c2\u00a0 The finish is crisp, clean and short.\u00c2\u00a0 Another great sipper if you like bourbons with rye character.<\/p>\n

In an Old Fashioned my initial thoughts sum it up nicely, “So tasty”.\u00c2\u00a0 The bourbon shines through with spice notes and a bit of that characteristic rye fire.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a complex, slow sipping Old Fashioned to be sure.<\/p>\n

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It’s always easy for me to see why I like a simple Old Fashioned when I have bourbons like these to mix them with.\u00c2\u00a0 The character of the spirit is preserved while adding complexity and depth at the same time.\u00c2\u00a0 You truly can’t go wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 And, I have to say, I’m really excited to try one with some Booker’s.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll keep you posted.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a0 The product reviewed here was provided to me as a free sample. If you’re wondering what that means check out my sample policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is one iconic cocktail that is truly my constant fall back.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s simple to the point of almost being silly, but in that same breath it’s deep, complex and nuanced.\u00c2\u00a0 If you haven’t guessed already, I’m talking about the Old Fashioned.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the drink I crave when I want simplicity with depth, the drink […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[46,207],"class_list":["post-2127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-bourbon","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2127"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2133,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127\/revisions\/2133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}