Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/26650
BOURBON KNOB CREEK’S MASTER DISTILLER CREATES THE BRAND’S FIRST SINGLE BARREL PRODUCT When It Comes to Bourbon, story and photos by Fred Minnick TASTING PANEL’S Fred Minnick was among the first to see and taste the new Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve. He selected one of the barrels that was later bottled. —Ed. Surrounded by rustic bourbon barrels, Knob Creek Master Distiller Fred Noe, the great-grandson of Jim Beam himself, points toward the ceiling of warehouse K. He explains that the higher the barrel, the more alcohol proof. “We lose about four percent a year in evaporation to what we call the ‘angel’s share.’ But since my daddy [Booker Noe] passed away seven years ago, we’ve been calling them Booker’s angels—and we’re probably losing about six to seven percent a year for as much alcohol as Daddy drank!” Noe jokes. Following Daddy’s Footsteps Booker Noe made bourbon history in 1987, when he perfected the small-batch technique, and in 1992, when his Booker’s brand became the first bourbon bottled straight from the barrel, uncut and unfiltered. His son added to the Noe bourbon legacy, creating Jim Beam’s first single barrel. The Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve hit shelves in February for about $40 a bottle. It is aged nine years in the same number-four char barrels as regular Knob Creek, but there will be inconsistency from bottle to bottle. And, Noe says, that’s the point. “With Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve, you may get bottles from different barrels, and there could be a little variation in flavor, nose and aroma,” Noe says. “The barrels age differently. Even barrels side by side won’t taste exactly the same. This variation is to bring out some inconsistencies, so every time you open that bottle it will be a little bit different.” This single barrel notion had been an idea of Noe’s for several years, because people kept asking him, “Why doesn’t Knob Creek have a single barrel product?” Now, with the proper equipment, all Jim Beam products have the capability for single barrel batches, Noe says. He has no idea how the market will first react to the new product, but hopes in time it will sell 15,000 cases a year. “Who knows where this may go? The market has changed a lot since 1987, when Daddy perfected the small-batch technique,” Noe says. “This has been a neat little adventure” . . . one that would surely make his daddy proud. 102 / the tasting panel / march 201 1 Just Say New Knob Creek Single Barrel had been an idea of Noe’s for several years.