Little Book Chapter IV

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The 4th release of Little Book has been bottled at a cask strength of 61.4%. Called "Lessons Honored" it is a tribute to Freddie Noe's father and 7th generation Family Master Distiller Fred Noe.It is a mariage of 4 year old Straight Brown Rice Bourbon, 8 year old Straight High Rye Whiskey and 7 year Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

Producer Description

"With “Lessons Honored” I wanted to pay homage to my father, Fred, and the lessons he passed down about bourbon and life. A lot of the lessons Dad taught me go back to honesty and integrity. Being true to yourself is something that’s very important in our family and that carries over into our whiskey brands. Each liquid was chosen because of a connection to my dad and a lesson he taught me.

"The base of the blend is a Kentucky Straight Brown Rice Bourbon which reminds me of the first project I ever really handled on my own at the distillery. The “high rye” rye whiskey is an ode to Booker’s Rye, an award-winning product created in 2017 and one of the first that Dad and I tasted together. It was a legendary release in honor of my granddaddy Booker Noe, and it was very special to play a small part in selecting and bottling the liquid with my dad. The last liquid Dad actually helped pick, though he didn’t know it at the time. I brought him samples of a few liquids at different ages, and he ultimately picked this 7-year old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, which is representative of our Small Batch Collection.

"Crafting this bourbon wasn’t as difficult as previous years, because I had such a strong vision for the blend going into the liquid selection. In total, we tested 22 different blends in comparison to previous chapters where we tested more than 40. I spent most of my time perfecting the blend itself to balance the flavors and taste profile to create the final product. This year’s blue neck tag is also an ode to my dad’s favorite sports team."

750ml ml

Region:USA > Kentucky

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Producer Tasting Note

Nose: Welcoming aroma of a barrel rickhouse, with vanilla, oak, and a hint of cereals/grain.

Palate: Full-bodied, with sweetness of brown sugar, followed by charred wood, and dried cherries.

Finish: Warm caramel, dry.

Jim Beam is probably the most famous and recognized brand when it comes to Bourbon. Well, other than Jack Daniel’s. Okay, let go with this: Jim Beam is probably the most famous and recognized brand when it comes to Kentucky Bourbon. The Jim Beam Distillery traces its history back to 1795, with a hiccup in the early 20th century caused by prohibition. The surname Beam plays a major role not only in this distillery but also in a few other distilleries around Kentucky, including Heaven Hill. Jim Beam was actually James B. Beam, and he was the person that got the business going again after prohibition ended.

The Knob Creek brand was originally introduced with this bottle: the 100 Proof Small Batch back in 1992. The 120 Proof Knob Creek Single Barrel joined the ranks in 2010, and the Knob Creek Rye joined the duo to make it a trio in 2012. In the past two years, we have seen a few special releases hit the shelves at our shop as well, mostly focusing on the Rye side of things. But this one is a Bourbon, so let’s stick to talking about that.

Jim Beam as a distillery and as a company (now part of Beam Suntory) makes many different brands of Bourbon. Knob Creek is one of its four Premium Small Batch Brands, the others being Booker’s, Baker’s, and Basil Hayden’s.

What separates Knob Creek from the rest is an oakier, fuller flavoured, bolder and more spice-driven style than its compatriots. It also is the only one of the four that has bottlings at 50 and 60% ABV. Baker’s - which in 2020/2021 switched from a Small Batch to a Single Barrel release is bottled at 53.5% ABV and Booker’s is usually above 60% ABV and varies from batch to batch.

As with all Bourbon, Knob Creek is made from a mash bill of at least 51% Corn and aged in heavily charred virgin oak barrels. Once upon a time, Knob Creek Small Batch carried a 9-Year-Old age statement on its label. In 2016, Beam Suntory announced that the age statement would be removed due to the current Bourbon Boom and a shortage of older stock to use. However, on June 13th of this year 2019, it was announced that the 9-year-old age statement would return to Knob Creek Small Batch, and it indeed now has.

As for the mash bill used for Knob Creek Bourbon – there are a few conflicting numbers to be found when trying to find this out. The good news all the different ratios I could find come within 3-4% of each other. For the sake of argument (or perhaps agreement? let’s just go with what seems to be the most widely referred to ratio and say this: Knob Creeks Mash Bill is somewhere around 75% Corn, 13% Rye, and 12% Malted Barley. This is considered a ‘Low Rye’ mash bill and it would be the same used at the Jim Beam distillery for Baker’s and Booker’s as well. Basil Hayden’s uses the Old Grand-Dad mash bill, which is ‘High-Rye, with a touch less corn and rye making up 25-30% of the mash.