🥃 Review #36: Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon

Knob Creek Smoked Maple Flavored Bourbon on a table in in a mini glencairn

An oddity in Suntory's Knob Creek lineup, Knob Creek Smoked Maple is the brand's only flavored bourbon liqueur. Fred Noe created it to pay homage to his father, the legendary distiller Booker Noe, who loved to smoke meat on the weekends and bottled his own maple syrup from trees on the family farm. It is produced at the same Jim Beam distillery as Booker's, Barker's, and Basil Hayden's. This flavored whiskey stands in contrast to the age stated and higher proof rye and bourbon offerings. Knob Creek recommends drinking it neat or as a cocktail component.

🛒Sourced: $39.99 - Local Vine, Smyrna, GA 750ml

🧪Proof: 90 Proof, 45% Alcohol by Volume

🎨Color: R3 - a light syrup color with some copper. Thicker on the glass than I expected.

🥔Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Barley - Distilled to 130 Proof and barreled at 125 proof. No Age Statement though we know the whiskey is at least four years old as straight whiskey with no marked age. Knob Creek uses a number four alligator char on their barrels.

Additional "natural flavors" have been added, though it is unlikely that the addition is simply smoked maple syrup (natural flavors are chemicals derived from natural sources though they may or may not come from the thing you would expect and can often include additional enzymes and stabilizers).

👃Nose: Straight up maple syrup, the think corn syrup based kind from a diner. Breathing deeply, I can barely detect any ethanol. The wood odors blend to evoke a butterscotch candy effect.

😜Palate: A flash of oak at fist, woody with a bit of the standard Jim Beam Funk. Quickly transitions into the sticky maple sweetness. Very sweet, some ethanol in the shift to the finish.

💦Finish: Super Short, a brief and passing flare of wood that quickly subsides.

🏆 Overall: 3/10 - Struggle to get through the bottle - As a neat pour, I'm not a fan. If there was a smoke component, it blew away during the bottling process. Maple is on the money, albeit in excess and that of a hard candy. I feel like I'm drinking out of the table syrup at IHOP. Knob Creek Smoked Maple is crushingly sweet solo, and is better served as a cocktail component. If you are find with candy flavors and enjoy those from the Jim Beam or Bird Dog flavored lineups, then you may enjoy this pour, but for the majority I would instead pick up the redoubtable Knob Creek 9.

💵Would buy again? Probably not unless I have a themed event cocktail to put together, and then I would explore using actual maple syrup and stronger whiskey before coming here.

🍳Bonus - Cocktail Recipe - Smoked Maple Old Fashioned - Since I'm definitely more in the cocktail camp on this bottle, here is a quick recipe for a smoked Maple Old Fashioned. For extra smoke, try tipping in a bit of medium peat scotch or add actual maple syrup for additional sweetness.

2 parts Smoked Maple Bourbon Whiskey
2 Dashes bitters
Splash of club soda
Small pinch of raw sugar (can substitute .5oz of maple syrup)
(optional) 1 part Smokey Monkey Shoulder or other mild peat scotch (Famous Grouse, Kirkland Blended Scotch, JW Red/Black)
Garnish with Orange slice

⚖️Rating Scale:

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