Knob Creek 21 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 100 Proof

Bourbon rarely stays in wood this long and comes out the better for it. Twenty-one years in new charred American oak is a long stretch by any measure, and this Kentucky straight bourbon carries that time in its color, its weight, and the way it coats the mouth.

Caramel and vanilla lead, sweet and thick, the sort of sweetness that only comes from decades against char. Underneath sits dark cherry, and then the whiskey turns older and drier: leather, a curl of tobacco, mature oak that lingers well past the swallow. At 100 proof, it holds its shape without heat getting in the way of the fruit.

This is a bottle for a slow evening rather than a quick pour. A single large cube opens the cherry a little further, though it drinks beautifully as it is, and the tobacco and oak stay with you long after the last sip.