As big players in the world of American whiskey fish around in search of the next hot thing, you can understand why fusions of bourbon and rye would have such appeal. “Bourye,” as it’s often referred to, a term first coined by Utah’s High West with its popular annual release, brings together two styles of whiskey that most of the bigger American distilleries have already been making for a long time. It requires no big R&D expenditure, experimentation or lead time. Sure, you can make a bourbon-rye blend more complex by doing something like further aging it after the blend has been brought together, but you can also simply blend complete batches of bourbon and rye, yielding an entirely new SKU for the shelves. Ideally, that product would reveal some new truth about your own bourbon or rye distillate, but that’s probably too much to ask in every case. And Jim Beam’s new Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye Whiskey feels like one of those times where the two products have mostly been brought together just because the company could, rather than because they work as some beautifully harmonious duo.
That is not to say that I would have been against the idea of a bourye from Jim Beam in the first place. I think that could be quite a fun idea, but I’m not sure that attaching it to specific Knob Creek flagships was the best idea from a creative sense. Rest assured, it was no doubt an easy call from a business and marketing sense–it’s just the flagship Knob Creek Small Batch (9 Year) Bourbon and the flagship Knob Creek (7 Year) Straight Rye. But I think there’s something inherently a little dissatisfying in releasing a blend that the consumer could easily replicate at home by combining two flagship products that are already on the shelf. Something about it evokes Smucker’s Goober Grape, the OG combination of peanut butter and jelly in the same jar. I think there could be a bit more imagination here.
I feel like these are perhaps unfair expectations on my part, and I’m not exactly giving the company enough credit, but that’s the gut reaction that Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye triggers in me–I wish that it was two forms of Beam bourbon and rye whiskey that didn’t reflect the stuff already on the shelf. With that said, this actually isn’t quite just the liquid from the Small Batch releases, thanks to one key detail: Its 56.5% ABV (113 proof) strength, which is curiously higher than the rounded 100 proof so associated with most Knob Creek expressions. Perhaps this suggests that the bourbon component (30% of the blend) was added at something more like cask strength? Regardless, it ultimately carries a $45 MSRP, reflecting the high value that is always a major plus of the Knob Creek lineup. For my money, the Knob Creek 12 Year Bourbon in particular remains one of the best pure values in the American whiskey world today.
So with that said, let’s get to tasting this fusion of Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye Whiskey.
On the nose, a greater herbal character seems to be the signature here–when I first tasted this, I hadn’t read that rye whiskey makes up 70% of the blend, but I would quickly have started to suspect it regardless. I’m getting a lot of bright citrus and lighter candied nuts, with honey, traces of roasted oak and a little bit of red fruitiness more evocative of mature Beam bourbon. Quite prominent is more earthy spice tones of fennel or anise, along with considerable pepper. Ethanol is a little on the forward side, stinging slightly as you try to pull out individual notes.
On the palate, the citrus in particular returns again, flanked by a melange of mixed peppercorns, light honey and caramel. The older bourbon influence pops up here and there with impressions of leather and more savory herbal notes, with flashes of that red fruit and a little singed firewood. The proof makes itself felt here, particularly in the long, trailing finish of spice–lots of cinnamon red hots. I find myself wondering if I would actually like to see this at the more typical Knob Creek 100 proof mark, though I would probably be in the minority there among American whiskey geeks, many of whom want these releases to be as aggressive as they can be. With the increased rye presence in particular, though, this is reading as a little bit hot to me.
Here’s the thing: There’s nothing objectively wrong with any of this. You can’t point at Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye bottle and say that it hasn’t been made with quality components. But at the same time, it seems a little incongruous to me, and I think that I might find either the bourbon or the rye more satisfying presented on its own. I don’t know that this clears the bar that a collaboration should, which is “Does this reveal anything illuminating we didn’t already know about either brand?” Ideally, it would tease out some element that makes a couple of familiar profiles feel fresh or exotic. Instead, it mostly calls attention to how very solid Knob Creek’s core brands are on their own. But at a mere $45 for a “limited edition” release, there’s very little to risk here–if you’re a fan of Knob Creek expressions, you can easily choose to experience this twist for yourself without too much of an investment.
Distillery: Jim Beam
City: Clermont, KY
Style: Kentucky straight blended whiskey
ABV: 56.5% (113 proof)
Availability: 750 ml bottles, $45 MSRP
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.