A couple of months ago, I did a review comparing a 2016 bottle of Knob Creek 9-year-old to the then-current Non-Age Stated version of the product.
Well, I thought it was only a couple of months ago. I went back to look at it and it was actually over a year ago on July 2, 2019, that I wrote that post. You know what they say about time moving faster as you get older, don’t you? Well, it seems I am getting older. Because I could have sworn an oath that it had only been a few months.
Well, when I wrote that, I promised that when I got my hands on one of the new age-stated bottles that I would do a comparison. And here it is. Besides, if I don’t then why did I sit on this bottle of Knob Creek for four years?
Knob Creek Nine-Year-Old (2016) vs Knob Creek Nine-Year-Old (2019)
Purchase Info: $33.99 at Village Liquor, Prior Lake, MN for the 2020 version. It’s been four years, I have no clue for the 2016 version.
Nose: Very similar. 2020 is richer on the nose showing more caramel/vanilla.
Mouth: 2016 shows a good hit of dry oak, but is feeling a bit flat when compared to 2020. 2020 is richer and sweeter, with the oak notes better integrated.
Finish: Both are very similar on the finish with 2020 following the trend of being a bit sweeter.
Thoughts: I was honestly not sure there was going to be much of a difference between these two. I mean, Beam has the resources to be really consistent about hitting a flavor profile. Though if there was going to be a difference, I would have expected that the old, discontinued version would be the one I preferred. (I’m a bit of a pessimist that way.) I'm very glad that the one I can buy now is the better of the two.
Is it possible that because stocks were running low, that maybe they ran low enough that the quality of the product was suffering slightly? Or maybe the stocks were particularly good for this batch? In any case, I'm very happy that an old favorite somehow seems to have gotten even better.
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