The Stats
- Distillery: James B. Beam Distilling Co.
- Location: Clermont, Kentucky
- Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Age: 12 Years
- Proof: 121.2 (60.6% ABV)
- Mash Bill: Undisclosed
- Barrel: New Charred American White Oak
- Release: Limited
- Price: $90
EXCLUSIVE SOCIAL CLUB VIDEO ↓
Knob Creek 12 at 100 proof has always been one of those bottles we don't need much convincing on. It has age, plenty of flavor, and enough oak to remind you that twelve years actually means something.
Our one complaint? It can feel a little restrained.
So when Knob Creek brought back the 12 Year at cask strength, the appeal was pretty obvious. Take a bourbon we already like and give us roughly 20 more proof points to work with.
Turns out, that does exactly what you would hope. Mostly.
The Whiskey Behind the Bottle
Knob Creek has always made its case with flavor. Even the standard lineup tends to lean richer and more assertive than a lot of bourbon sitting beside it on the shelf. Give that whiskey twelve years in oak and you get the familiar 100-proof Knob Creek 12, which has become one of our favorites in the lineup.
The 2026 Cask Strength release brings back an expression we haven't seen since 2020. Beam selected whiskey from 10 distinct lots in its Clermont rickhouses and bottled the resulting batch at 121.2 proof. It's a limited release rather than a permanent addition to the lineup. Cask strength changes the experience quite a bit.
The core profile is still there. This still tastes unmistakably like Knob Creek. But everything feels turned up: more sweetness, more oak, more weight and considerably more heat. At 121.2 proof, this isn't the relaxed version of Knob Creek 12 anymore.
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