Rye Wars: Are Bulleit & Knob Creek the Coke & Pepsi of Rye?

There's been a big change in the rye market this year. As I've noted previously, some of the old reliable rye whiskeys have been hard to find. Rittenhouse 100 and Sazerac have become scarce. Wild Turkey 101 was "temporarily" discontinued to make for a lower abv 81 proof version. Into this gap have stepped two major contenders from two of the largest spirit companies. First Diageo stepped up with Bulleit, and then Beam with the new Knob Creek Rye that I reviewed last week.

Faced with the shortage, Bulleit seems to already have become the right rye at the right time. I can't find Sazerac or Rittenhouse many places, but Bulleit is everywhere, including Trader Joe's for $19.99. I've seen it on bar and retail shelves across the country. In a matter of just a year, it's managed to fill the void left by the more established ryes and become the most ubiquitous rye whiskey. Clearly seeing this success, Diageo introduced a second rye, George Dickel Rye. While it carries the name George Dickel, the whiskey is distilled in Indiana at LDI, the same distillery that makes their Bulleit Rye. Clearly, Diageo has made a very calculated bid on the rye market.

Beam's Knob Creek rye is just hitting the shelves in California, but I have no doubt that it will also see big sales. Knob Creek is a top selling brand and Beam was smart to reboot their silly (rī)¹ whiskey under a more familiar label (and at a higher proof). The lighter, barely spicy taste of the Knob Creek will appeal to people who aren't ready for the spicy kick of Bulleit. Lots of people who hear about rye and want to try it, but can't handle the spicy LDI profile will undoubtedly become fans of Knob Creek.

Diageo and Beam saw a vacuum and stepped in. The issue for Sazerac, Rittenhouse and Wild Turkey is how much of their sales will be gobbled up by these behemoths before they can increase supply. My guess is that Bulleit and Knob Creek will quickly become the Coke and Pepsi of rye whiskey, with other brands playing to more of a niche role.

Rye Two: Knob Creek Rye

A few years ago, Jim Beam made a play for the high-end rye market with something called (rī)¹ (pronounced "Rye One"). They claimed it would be followed by Rye Two and Three, but that never happened, presumably because sales were not what they imagined. Now, Beam is making another attempt at the premium rye market, this time using its popular and expanding Knob Creek label. Knob Creek Rye carries no age statement and is bottled at 100 proof. We can only assume it includes some of the rye that was previously intended for Rye One...or Two.

I should note that I'm generally not a fan of Beam ryes (or Beam anything really). They tend to be sweet and lacking in spice, which is the note I like most in my rye.


Knob Creek Rye, 50% abv ($37)

The nose on this is typical of Beam ryes, very light with some banana and some soapy notes. The palate is slightly sweet with little rye character. The initial sweetness fades to that slightly banana flavor, which is really more like an artificial banana candy. There's a sort of sweet candy finish.

Well, what can I say? It's a Beam rye. Those banana notes are similar to what I get in Old Overholt, another Beam rye. This does nothing for me. I've always seen Beam ryes as rye for people who don't really like rye, and this one is no different. If you like Overholt or you liked Rye One, give it a try. Otherwise, stay away.

Whiskey Wednesday: Know the New Knob

After busting open the boutique bourbon business in the '90s with their small batch collection, nothing new came out of Jim Beam for a decade or more, save the occasional commemorative bottle of Maker's Mark (a separate, but Beam owned distillery). Suddenly last year, though, the sleeping giant of American whiskey seemed to awake from its slumber.

First, without press or fanfare, Beam released a six grain bourbon for the duty free market. Then came the much publicized Maker's 46. This year, we've already gotten two new Beams on our shelves: Jim Beam Devil's Cut and Knob Creek Single Barrel, a single barrel, high proof version of the popular 9 year old that is the cornerstone of the small batch collection. I recently had a chance to sample the new Knob Creek.


Knob Creek Single Barrel, 9 years old, 60% abv ($40)

This has a big fat candy nose with caramel, chocolate and some honey and maple notes. It smells like a candy bar! Big corny flavor. Yes, this is definitely in the Beam family, no doubt about that. Even at a higher strength, it's got that light, sweet, corny flavor. Oak starts to come out mid-palate and sets in for the finish, though that corn syrup is still there too. I'd say this is a solid step up from the regular Knob; the extra abv gives it some heft, and I'm sure they are picking for barrels with some strong notes, but if you're not generally a fan of the Beam flavor profile, I doubt this will make you into one.

Whiskey Wednesday: Knob Creek and the Greatest Drought That Never Was

It was with great fanfare that Jim Beam announced last week that the great Knob Creek drought of 2009 was finally over. What? You never heard about the Knob Creek drought? How could you possibly have lived through this tragic moment in whiskey without realizing it?

For those of you who are living in a bubble, I will explain. In early July, Beam announced with great fanfare that there was a shortage of its Knob Creek Bourbon. Knob Creek is a popular, nine year old Bourbon made by Beam as part of its overhyped "small batch" collection. In announcing that it had not made enough Knob Creek to meet orders, the company press team sent out T-Shirts saying "I survived the drought" and empty bottles to customers and the press (not to me, I might add). Undoubtedly, the tongue-in-cheek freebies were aimed at encouraging articles about the shortage, to make sure people would, um, know that this dire shortage existed.

If you didn't see one of these articles, chances are, you never knew there was a "shortage" of Knob Creek. Most stores in my area carried healthy quantities of Knob Creek the entire time. Last week, Beam announced that the drought was finally over.

Now, while I appreciate the humor that Beam used in this ploy, it was one of the sillier marketing campaigns I've seen. Admittedly, my own cynicism may be enhanced by the fact that I live in Southern California, and when we hear about droughts, it tends to mean something a bit more serious than a slight production blip in your favorite Bourbon.

Even had there actually been some sign of depleted stocks or limited availability, I highly doubt that there is any person so committed to Knob Creek that they couldn't live with it for two months. After all, most of us Bourbon geeks wait all year just to get our hands on the latest Buffalo Trace antique collection or other limited editions, so a few months gap in a pretty standard Bourbon, just doesn't impress me.

So chalk one up to marketing silliness and let's all hope that the H1N1 vaccine shortage is as artificial as Beam's Knob Creek shortage.