Knob Creek’s New Release Adds to a Weird Whiskey Trend

Many view rye and bourbon interchangeably, especially in the context of cocktails. The ambivalence is somewhat understandable given their production similarities and even mash bills (i.e., recipes) in some cases.

However, seasoned American whiskey drinkers know that rye whiskeys usually feature bolder, peppery flavor profiles and drier finishes. Bourbons, conversely, are stereotypically sweeter, often with notes of vanilla and caramel, with a thicker, oilier mouthfeel. 

But what if you could craft a spirit that merged the best qualities of both American whiskeys into a single pour? 

A cadre of distillers have tried. In 2013, Wild Turkey Forgiven claimed to be “the first nationally-available, 91-proof, small-batch Bourbon and Rye whiskey.” Since then, a litany of smaller whiskey-makers, including High West, Jefferson’s, Lost Monarch, Breckenridge and Stoll and Wolfe, have all offered bourbon rye blends on at least a limited basis.

Few of these releases could be considered a home run success in experimentation, though, at least by reviewers’ standards, with perhaps Wild Turkey’s more recent Master’s Keep Unforgotten Bottle being the lone exception. 

Now that Knob Creek has joined the fray with the launch of its own Knob Creek Bourbon X Rye Kentucky Blended Straight Whiskey, awareness and appreciation for the slow-simmering American whiskey trend could finally reach a tipping point, assuming the brand got the balance right. 

What is Knob Creek Bourbon X Rye Kentucky Blended Straight Whiskey?

Knob Creek

As the name suggests, Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye combines Knob Creek’s 9 Year Old Bourbon, which we’ve recommended for years as our Just Get This bourbon pick, and Knob Creek 7 Year Old Rye whiskey.

While the company’s official press materials don’t reveal the proportions of the blend, a little sleuthing reveals a few online retailers listing the mix as 30% bourbon and 70% rye. At first blush, those proportions would suggest the whiskey’s flavor profile leans overwhelming toward rye if accurate. But examining the underlying mash bills of each spirit paints a slightly different picture.

Knob Creek 9 Year Old Bourbon is widely pegged to be 77% corn, 13% rye and 10% malted barley. Knob Creek’s rye mash bill, on the other hand, is known to be 55% rye, 35% corn, and 10% malt. In other words, the new limited edition release seems a lot like a high-corn version of Knob Creek Rye, at least on paper. 

The resulting blend is also a hotter, 113-proof whiskey, compared to its bourbon and rye components, each bottled at 100-proof. And according to Knob Creek’s notes, the final product supposedly tastes exactly as you’d imagine, bolstering the trademark vanilla sweetness of bourbon with strong undertones of black pepper and lingering spice from the rye.

While labeled as a limited edition, Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye will be available nationwide for a price of $45. 

It’s also worth noting that this isn’t the first time Knob Creek’s parent company, Suntory Global Spirits – formally known as Beam Suntory and one of the largest whiskey-making conglomerates in the world, has launched a bourbon rye blend. Another one of its brands, Basil Hayden, launched its own limited bourbon and rye blend, dubbed Two by Two, back in 2018, which wasn’t particularly well executed in the mind of reviewers. 

Given the solid reputation Knob Creek has built with previous releases, maybe Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye will break through in a way others couldn’t, and even motivate other Suntory Group-owned American whiskey brands like Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark to join the bandwagon in the years ahead.

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