Knob Creek Rye: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

Knob Creek Rye

We haven't featured much Rye Whiskey here on the Whisk(e)y Wednesday but it makes an appearance every now and then. Today is actually a special day because tonight at the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar you can taste this whiskey and several more bourbons from the small batch collection of the Jim Beam distillery including Booker's, Baker's, and Basil Hayden's. The event starts at 6:30.

As for the Knob Creek Rye, we really enjoyed it. The nose is robust and mighty. You can nearly smell it from across the bar. Cinnamon combines with floral notes an a bit of honey sweetness. I caught a whiff of bubble gum on the nose which quickly turned into Big Red chewing gum. The 100 proof whiskey doesn't play around on the tongue either. Right up front you are hit with pepper and other spices. It is a cornucopia of chewy whiskey as the oily texture coats your entire mouth and is surprisingly smooth compared to what the proof and aroma would suggest. With a little water it opens up with some oak and floral notes. The finish is strong and sticks with you. All in all, this is a pretty darn good rye. I'd gladly use it in cocktails and could drink it straight again if I had to!

Knob Creek Rye
Average Score: 76.0

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar. Lock & Key has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys available for on premise consumption. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote from Bite and Booze, Arthur Lauck from Lock & Key, Charlies Pierce, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.