Jim Beam | Whisky Den

Bought: Tesco, 8^th October 2015

Ratings:
83.25/100 – Whiskybase (average from 4 member votes)

With my collector’s hat on, I do like bottles with wax seals! I have this uneducated idea that they’re difficult to fake, unless you’re a pirate from the 16^th century, or related to Captain Jack Sparrow. Not that it really matters because this bottle of bourbon by Jim Beam only set me back £16.33 in a Tesco half-price sale. It’s hardly a collector’s item where experts will be carbon dating the wax when I sell it in 2036.

So why Knob Creek? Because I first stumbled across it in the book ‘101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die’ by Ian Buxton. Unfortunately he was talking about the 9-year-old but this NAS (non-aged statement) is as close as I’m bothering to get. Both are 50% bourbon so that’s near enough for me! Ian Buxton says about the name “mildly titillating for UK drinkers in a smutty sort of way”. Oow-er-madam! I will be getting out my box set of Carry On movies when I crack this bottle open and reshaping the seal into an erotic candle! That’s my Saturday night arranged.

Knob Creek Small Batch NAS 70cl

Bought: Tesco, 12^th June 2015

Ratings:
8.5/10 – Whisky Wednesday (video review below)
76.11/100 – Whiskybase (average from 49 member votes)

A new bourbon to add to my collection for £20 from Tesco?! Oh, go on, if I must! I’d heard of the Angel’s Share but the Devil’s Cut was new to me. This is the spirit that gets absorbed into the cask. I can imagine that would have quite an intense, concentrated flavour. Jim Beam manage to extract it with a process of steaming/sweating. However it’s done it can’t be too laborious or the whisky would be over £100 per bottle!

Although 76/100 on Whiskybase is a fairly hmmm score the experienced whisky reviewer Mark Dermul gives the Devil’s Cut a healthy 82/100 with a closing remark of “it is indeed significantly better than the standard Jim Beam bourbon, available for around 30 EUR, which is fair. Goes down very well in a tumbler with a cube of ice. Oh, blasphemy!” I wouldn’t worry Mark because I tend to have cheap bourbon with coke – shocking!

I’ve added an excellent video review below by Jo of Whisky Wednesday on You Tube, which gives some background about the creation process and insight into the taste experience for this interesting bourbon: