What you see above *should* be nearly identical whiskeys as both are distilled, aged, and bottled by Jim Beam in Clermont, Kentucky. Both were distilled and bottled to the same proof from the same mash bill, fermented with the same yeast for the same amount of time, and finally run through the same column still at the same temperature. Both were put into effectively identical barrels that were charred to the same degree. Both were rolled into one of Beam's many rickhouses and here is where their journey deviated.
Before we continue, let's summarize what we know of each. On the left, Jim Beam Distiller's Cut. Its label proclaims it is 100 proof, aged 5-6 years, and is non-chill filtered. On the right, Knob Creek Small Batch. Its label proclaims it is 100 proof, reveals no age statement, nor any filtration statement. In years past, Knob Creek Small Batch was labeled as 9 years old. Jim Beam have stated in both verbal and printed interviews that Knob Creek Small Batch is chill-filtered while the Single Barrel and special-edition versions of Knob Creek are not chill-filtered.
Both are 'batched' bourbons meaning that multiple barrels of bourbon are dumped and mingled to create what is ultimately bottled. There is no publicly available resource that tells us how many barrels comprise a 'small batch' at Jim Beam. I have read wildly variant speculation through the years that a batch of Knob Creek is comprised of 40 to 100 barrels. To date, there is no speculation regarding how many barrels comprise a batch of Distiller's Cut.
Up to this point, on paper, the Distiller's Cut is the clear winner simply because more of that whiskey's provenance is known thanks to the information printed on its label. Conversely, Knob Creek leaves much more to the speculative imagination. But things become complicated when we get to the final bit of information we can concretely state about each whiskey - their respective prices. Distiller's Cut retails for $18.99 while Knob Creek Small Batch retails for $27.99, nearly $10 more.
So if you are Jim Beam and you have two products that are nearly identical metric-wise, how do you ensure a 47% price difference is justified between the two? The answer, ignoring blind consumer loyalty, lies in the idea that Knob Creek Small Batch is comprised of quality aspects that are not disclosed on its label. Looking at the picture above, we know Distiller's Cut is 5-6 years old, yet the Knob Creek is noticeably darker. Because bourbon by law cannot be artificially colored, this leads us to the safe assumption that the Knob Creek contains older, perhaps even much older, whiskey than the Distiller's Cut.
In the glass, the differentiation continues. While the Distiller's Cut smells and tastes of a quintessential bourbon, tasting it alongside the Knob Creek is eye opening. Distiller's Cut smells of wood, char, and vanilla. Knob Creek smells of all the same but adds brown sugar, baking spices, and maple syrup. The finish of the Knob Creek yields that much more flavor lasting that much longer. Most surprisingly, the alcohol punch is noticeably less sharp in both smell and taste in the Knob Creek compared to the Distiller's Cut which again allows us to safely speculate that the whiskey comprising the Knob Creek spent more time in the barrel smoothing over its ethanol.
The cliched way to summarize the two is to claim the Knob Creek is more complex, has greater depth and character when compared to the Distiller's Cut. Of course, these differences are really only prevalent when you sip the two side by side. If I were to pour a glass of one to enjoy alone, I assure you, I would enjoy it just as much as the other.
And this brings us to the tasting panel. It is the job of the distillery's blenders and tasting panels to pick and blend the appropriate barrels to produce the appropriate product. Returning to where our two whiskeys deviated in their journey, being rolled into the rickhouse, we can really appreciate the task at hand for Jim Beam's team. They need to select and blend barrels that not only produce two exceptionally enjoyable bourbons, but have to do so while simultaneously creating expressions deserving and reflective of their respective price points. Oh and by the way, they need to accomplish this task year in and year out ensuring near-pefect consistency in the bottle despite potentially wildly variant whiskey in the originating barrels.
I am in constant awe at just how good a job the major distilleries do in this area. And this is a major reason why whiskey interests me so. While distillation is pure chemical engineering, maturation and blending are pure art; a perfect example of science and art working together in perfect yin and yang harmony to create and capture a magical genie in a bottle.
