BOTM, 6/05: Knob Creek

[BourbonJoe]

I agree with you Hedmans, I love Makers Mark.
Joe

[angelshare]

I've been toying with buying a bottle of this stuff for over a year having had quite a few pours of it in a local pub. Nice but it's got that Jim Beam licorice edge, which puts me off ever so slightly. It's on the to 'get list' but not high up.

In the UK 'Knob' is slang for a man's 'little guy', which makes ordering a 'large Knob Creek' nigh on impossible

How much is KC in the UK?

I'm glad you clarified the "knob" reference. I remember reading an interview with Ewan McGregor (Scottish, yes? But probably same slang?) in which he commented about the rudeness of the brand name "Knob Creek" - in jest, of course. I think the interview took place in a bar, which prompted the comment. Where were the overseas marketing guys when they were naming the brand? Speaking of marketing...thought it was kind of interesting how the "Knob Creek Network" sort of replaced the "KY Bourbon Circle." Obviously, the marketing push for this brand is big within Beam.

Where is Knob Creek anyway? The KC propaganda I have seen says it's the childhood home of Abraham Lincoln. Can you visit it?

As for the whiskey itself, it was a better buy when it was a little more reasonably priced in VA. The quotes I see of ~$20 elsewhere would be more in line with current WT, EWSB and VG 90 prices here. At that price, I like it a little more.

Prompted by its selection as BOTM, I am drinking it right now - thus making this post straddle two threads! I get a combination of floral and leather aromas, some mint and licorice on the palate and a lingering finish. Somehow unique in the small batch collection yet still quintessentially Beam.

BOTM - this is a great idea, Jeff!

[ratcheer]

I agree with you, Fred.

Tim

[TNbourbon]

...Where is Knob Creek anyway? The KC propaganda I have seen says it's the childhood home of Abraham Lincoln. Can you visit it?...

Lincoln's Boyhood Home, an historical site with some period (though not original) buildings, a picnic area, and a nice split-railed meadow on the site where the Lincolns lived, is between Hodgenville (where Lincoln was born) and New Haven. I stop every time I go by it -- there's just something about communing awhile with a location so closely related to such a towering figure. The Knob Creek homestead was the earliest one Lincoln remembered, by his own account. And, it was from Knob Creek itself that his boyhood friend Austin Gollaher saved 7yo Abe from drowning.

edited to avoid looking any more ridiculous for not looking at the map.

[bobbyc]

between Harrodsburg (where Lincoln was born) and New Haven.

Actually Knob Creek is where Lincoln was born and Hodgenville is the site of the birthplace park. It was a farm Tom Lincoln bought when young Abe was 9 or so. The cabin on display there is thought to be a model of a cabin from Abe's boyhood period that saw it's days moved about in carnivals, maybe. But certainly no one claims it to be the actual cabin.

[TNbourbon]

Yeah -- that's what I meant, but I'm not local, and didn't have my map in front of me. I can drive there, even without knowing where I'm going.
Hodgenville. Go where I mean, not where I say.

[Bamber]

Hi Dave and Tina,



[/QUOTE]
How much is KC in the UK?


[/QUOTE]

It's between £20 and £25, ($36 - $46), but remember a bottle JB white label is around £15 ($27), so it's not too bad.

I just bought a bottle (literally 10 minutes ago !). I've also got some Rock Hill Farms, WT Rye and Henrt McKenna 10YO on the way. I plan to crack one open a week, starting with the KC tonight. I'll let you know.

I concur that BOTM is a great idea.

[boone]

Abraham Lincoln's Boyhood home is located right beside Knob Creek in LaRue County, Kentucky. There is a very small one room log cabin on the site and a very large log cabin, that was used for refreshments/bar/souvenirs/ and lots of historical facts about Lincoln...I have always called that area Knob Creek and the large log cabin, Lincoln's Tavern

For official records, I talked to the folks at the Lincoln Museum in Hodgenville...I asked them, what is the actual location, is it Athertonville or Knob Creek?...I was told, neither...and given the location as being between Hodgenville and Athertonville. She said Knob Creek is the name of the creek that runs nearly right beside his boyhood home. The actual mailing address is Hodgenville, Kentucky.

Bobby stated, the old log cabin is not the actual home that young Abe spoke about----Abe has said that his happiest days of is life were at Knob Creek---There are two log cabin's on this 200+ acre farm. The other log cabin was the party place for years and years. That's how it was tagged "Lincoln's Tavern" by all the local's...In the 40's, 50's and 60's you could go there and dance, and party all the time. It was "the place" to have a good time.

It was privately owned by the Howard family from Hogenville for years. Several years ago, it was purchased by the State of Kentucky and now is a official "State Park"

We have had many "Beam Reunions" at that park. I have waded thru Knob Creek many times catching crawdads and tadpoles". I leaned to swim not far from that place The local "Boy Scouts" used the farm quite often for camping.

Young Abe's Daddy worked at a Distillery (Boone Brother's) just a few miles north (Athertonville) from their Knob Creek log cabin. It's states in "The Nelson County Record" (1896) by Sam Elliot, that young Abe would walk to that distillery to bring his father his lunch...Young Abe worked for the Boone Brother's Distillery for a short time

I know this is drifting abit but it still relates to Knob Creek (the subject) and Bourbon This story of Abe and Lincoln's Tavern is one of my favorites ...

Bettye Jo

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

Before it is too late I want to get my two cents in. I like Knob Creek. Sometimes it burns a bit going down but that is more a function of my palate that day than the whiskey, I think. Tonight it is smooth with just a bit of bite. This is only my second bottle of KC, I have a lot of open bottles competing for any one nights drinking, so that means I am getting round to it fairly frequently since I started drinking whiskey seriously. When I think about it and try to pick out the flavors that others find in it I see that they are all there, the maple/honey sweetness, the hints of what I think of as cookie spices, cinnamon, etc. Maybe a little a little orange peel. Sometimes licorice, sometimes not. Today not so much. Somehow the hint of orange peel is switching back and forth with the hint of licorice like one of those pictures that is either a vase or two people about to kiss. The time I was really hit with licorice was when I had been drinking one or another of the Wild Turkey expressions, probably Rare Breed. I think I will have a very small pour of that and see if that happens again. Well, the Rare Breed is tasting pretty nice! A little, not much more, licorice tonight. More maple if anything. My finally rating, for tonight anyway, is it makes my 'Have a bottle around though it probably won't get drunk a quickly as some others' list.
Ed

Oh, and thanks for the pictures and info about the local Knob Creek. And as to price, here in Sapporo, Japan, at the discount it is something like $25 US. Nearly $50 in some other places. Not worth the later, worth the former.

[BobA]

I haven't had KC in a bit, and probably won't by the end of the month, but I largely agree with you, Ed. Pretty much everything's in there; lots of flavor, maybe on the sweet side, but spiciness makes itself obvious too. Smooth enough, but with some kick always there. Obviously, marketing has helped its success, but so has a good, middle-type profile.

And I don't know that I will be "real-time" tasting next month's BOTM either; I just closed out bottles of OF 86 and 100. Y'all have me bringing so much into the house that I can't get to, I'm running out of room.

Actually, I guess in the spirit of BOTM, I need to be working on the bottle at the time. So maybe I need to hit the store.

Bob