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About Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Year

The original that started it all, Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is made to exacting standards and aged 9 years to fully draw out the natural sugars from its charred white oak barrels. Created to reflect the flavor, strength, care, and patience that defined whiskey before Prohibition, this exceptional full-bodied bourbon delivers an oak aroma, a sweet, woody, almost fruity taste, and a long, rich finish.

Expert Reviews

Wine Enthusiast 92 Points | Delicious but fiery, this nine-year-old small-batch Bourbon offers deep toffee aromatics and bold flavor. On the palate, look for relatively dry flavors: leather, cedar, dried orange peel. A splash of water softens the profile to bring out more vanilla, honey, even a touch of chocolate.

Whisky Advocate 90 Points | No-nonsense, flint-hard nose: slickly-polished oak furniture, cinnamon stick, cracked rye, wet cornmeal, hard candies. A lean whiskey that gets in your mouth and explodes with rye spice and cinnamon candy. The finish echoes: oak, a dying fire, clean and almost crisp. Emphatic, bright, and swift. Value Pick.

Serve & Enjoy

Perfect neat or on the rocks with one or two ice cubes. Also excellent in an Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour, or Manhattan.

Product Details

Bottle Size: 1.0L
Age: 9 Years
Style: Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Region: Kentucky, USA
Producer: Knob Creek (Beam Suntory)
ABV: 50% (100 Proof)
Aging: Charred White Oak Barrels

Producer Description

Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey is crafted with the same patient, small-batch philosophy that defines the brand — 100 proof, aged in charred American oak, and built for those who want their rye to mean something. Rich, spicy, and full-bodied, it works equally well neat, on the rocks, or as the backbone of a classic Manhattan or Old Fashioned.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Rich caramel, bright ginger, and lingering menthol, with herbaceous rye notes and a good core of oak spice.
Palate: Traditional rye spiciness, rich and mouth-coating, with vanilla, brown sugar, and soft butter developing alongside the rye.
Finish: Drying oak, white pepper, and rye spice linger long on the finish.

Cocktail Pairings

The high proof and bold rye character make this an ideal cocktail whiskey. Use it in a Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour, or Sazerac. Equally rewarding neat or over a large ice cube.

About Knob Creek

Knob Creek is part of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection, named after the creek near Abraham Lincoln’s childhood home in Kentucky. The brand is defined by its commitment to pre-Prohibition-style whiskey — higher proof, longer aging, and uncompromising flavor. Master Distiller Fred Noe carries on the tradition with patience and craft.

Product Details

• Producer: Knob Creek (Beam Suntory)
• Style: Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
• Origin: Kentucky, USA
• Proof: 100 (50% ABV)
• Aging: Charred American oak barrels
• Format: 750ml

Producer Description 

Aged twice as long as its flagship bourbon and bottled at 100 proof, Knob Creek 18 Year Old offers a complex, yet balanced, liquid due to its mature age. Extensive aging in Kentucky rackhouses give this bourbon its rich copper color and unique flavor profile, delivering notes of caramelized oak and sweet vanilla with a warm finish; further demonstrating how great things take time and patience - yielding remarkable results.

Color: Rich copper tones with auburn hues

 Aroma: Brown sugar and aged oak, with notes of char and caramel

 Taste: Full-bodied with notes of caramelized oak and hints of sweet vanilla and baking spices

 Finish: Warm finished with spice and slight floral and fruit notes

Winemaker Description 

Cherry, pomegranate, and floral notes of lavender and violets. Dried cranberry, black raspberry, cocoa, vanilla, and black pepper spice.

Intense, vibrant red fruit—black cherry, cranberry, pomegranate—mixed with darker flavors of currant, plum, and hints of chocolate and vanilla. Nice acidity, making the wine balanced and sweet, but not at all cloying—an ideal dessert wine.

Dashe Cellars has made Late Harvest Zinfandels since 1997, and this luscious and balanced dessert wine has always been a favorite. This particular Late Harvest Zinfandel is made from grapes grown on the Louvau Vineyard in Dry Creek Valley. One of the reasons that we love this vineyard is the wonderful acidity of the grapes. The resulting wine is focused and clear—it’s never cloying, and always finishes with a crisp, clean, sweet-spicy note.

We create the conditions for making Late Harvest Zinfandel by allowing the grapes to hang on the vine approximately 3--4 weeks after they normally would be picked for a dry wine. These grapes were picked on October 30th on a beautiful Fall day, and the grapes arrived at the winery at 40° Brix of sugar. We crushed the grapes into a small 1,500-gallon tank and as is our tradition at Dashe Cellars, we fermented the grapes naturally, using the native yeasts that naturally live on the skins of the grapes. We let the grapes macerate to gain color and flavor, and then allowed the tank to warm. The fermentation took off quickly, and then naturally halted when the alcohol had reached about 15.5% and the sugar level was about 9%. We always allow the wine to achieve its balance of sweetness and alcohol naturally, by letting the fermentation finish on its own. The wine was aged in older French oak barrels so as to not overpower the intensity of the fruit. We bottled the wine as soon as possible to maintain its fresh fruit flavors and conserve its sweet concentration and purity. The wine is unfined and received minimal handling to the bottle.

Technical Description 

• Practicing Sustainable
• 100% Zinfandel
• Lily Hill Vineyard (Dry Creek Valley AVA)
• Originally planted in 1915, replanted in 2001
• 800 – 1,000 ft. elevation
• Harvested 3-4 weeks after normal picking for dry wines
• Crushed into stainless steel tanks
• Native yeast fermentation
• Aged in older French barrels
• R.S. 90 g/L or 9% by volume
• 381 cases produced
• 14.5% abv

#3 Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2025 | #71 James Suckling Top 100 Wines of the USA 2025

California Zinfandel That Stands Among the Greatest in the World

Ridge Vineyards has been one of California's most celebrated estates since the 1960s, and Lytton Springs — an estate vineyard in Dry Creek Valley purchased in 1972 — is among their most iconic bottlings. The 2023 vintage blends 76% Zinfandel, 14% Petite Sirah, 7% Carignane, 2% Alicante Bouschet, and 1% Mataro, aged in 100% air-dried American oak. A cooler growing season delayed harvest by a month, delivering a wine of remarkable restraint, freshness, and structural elegance — built to drink beautifully now and evolve through 2035 and beyond.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2023 

• Jeb Dunnuck — 98 pts: "Initial chewiness leads to fine tannins, with good heft and underlying acidity. Well-woven oak supports a moderately ripe, medium-bodied frame of structured elegance. Enjoy now through 2033."
• Decanter — 96 pts: "Fresh aromas of herbs from a bouquet garni mix with earthy tones and subtle sweet notes from baking spices. The fruit profile oscillates between ripe red and black berries, with a touch of plums and ripe cherries. Tannins are firm yet polished, with a soft creaminess to the palate. Balanced and enjoyable now, with many years to evolve."
• Wine Spectator — 95 pts: "Deeply structured and full of tension, this polished red displays a distinctive personality, offering bold blackberry flavors accented with savory anise, black pepper, and dark Asian spices. Ends with big but refined tannins. Drink now through 2035."
• James Suckling — 95 pts: "A lovely release with lots of freshness from a cooler vintage. Bright and perfumed aromas of red cherries, raspberry coulis, confit plums, licorice, and spice. Full-bodied with finely tuned tannins and vibrant, crunchy acidity."
• Vinous — 95 pts: "Powerfully aromatic and expressive from the jump. Explodes from the glass with dark blue fruit, lavender, and blood orange peel, framed by mocha-like richness and a wave of exotic spice. The texture is pure silk. Remarkable persistence and poise — clearly built for the long haul."

Winemaker Notes

Nose of raspberry, pepper, licorice, and a hint of vanilla. Black cherry and plum on the palate with supple tannins, minerality, and present acidity. Long, layered finish with notes of garrigue and black tea.

Vineyard & Provenance

• Blend: 76% Zinfandel, 14% Petite Sirah, 7% Carignane, 2% Alicante Bouschet, 1% Mataro
• Vineyard: Lytton Springs Estate, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County
• Appellation: Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California
• Producer: Ridge Vineyards
• Vintage: 2023
• Aging: 100% air-dried American oak
• Drink: Now through 2035+
• Size: 750ml

Food Pairings

A natural match for bold, rustic fare — exceptional with BBQ brisket, lamb chops, wild boar sausage, aged cheddar, and wood-fired pizza.