The Rickhouse Rant, Vol. 3 – Knob Creek 9 Year: The Blue-Collar Brawler of Bourbon

Jun 8

Let’s talk about a bottle that’s been quietly hanging around the middle shelf like a bourbon journeyman — just waiting for its comeback fight. Knob Creek 9 Year is the Chuck Norris of whiskey: dependable, tough, and always ready to roundhouse kick your palate back to Kentucky.

In a market more saturated than a Bourbon Street hurricane, this one’s easy to overlook. It’s not new, not rare, not finished in cabernet or calamansi barrels. But here’s the truth — this 100-proof bruiser from Jim Beam still shows up with a lunch pail and does the damn work.

It’s aged 9 full years. Not “technically 4 but we called it special” years. Nine. And in today’s world, that’s practically a senior citizen.

📜 Stats & Specs

Distillery: Jim Beam (Clermont, KY)
Age Statement: 9 years
Proof: 100 (50% ABV)
Mash Bill: 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley
MSRP: ~$40 (actual bourbon math: age ÷ dollars = insane value)

👃 Nose

Caramel apple at a state fair. Toasted oak and peanut shells (hi, Beam). There’s a whiff of vanilla cigar box and cinnamon bark — nothing exotic, just solid and warming, like granddad’s aftershave and a flannel shirt.

👅 Palate

This is where it throws a few jabs:

Toffee. Roasted nuts. Dark cherry. A blast of oak that’s loud but not obnoxious. It’s not silky — it’s gritty, in a good way. Like a Southern blues riff playing out of a busted speaker on a rainy night.

🔥 Finish

Warm, steady, classic. Spice and wood linger like a good story — just enough heat to remind you this isn’t kid stuff, but not so much you’ll regret pouring a second glass.

🤔 Final Thought

Let’s be honest. It’s not Baker’s 7. That bottle — also from Beam — is single-barrel swagger with a broader flavor arc. Baker’s has leather-bound books and smells of rich mahogany.

Knob Creek 9? It’s the guy who built the damn library.

This isn’t a bottle for flexing. It’s a bottle for pouring. For sharing. For drinking. It’s a gateway bourbon into the real Kentucky profile — nutty, oaky, toasty — before your palate gets high-maintenance and starts demanding finished unicorns.

So yeah, it’s overlooked. But maybe that’s a good thing. Because while everyone else is chasing bottle lotteries and double-oaked TikTok magic, Knob Creek 9 Year just keeps showing up, punching in, and pouring out.

And honestly? We could use more bourbons like that.