THE BOURBON RESOURCE: MARCH 2025

The Knob Creek barrel pick was a first-class experience

Mar 06, 2025

THE BOURBON RESOURCE: SPECIAL NEWSLETTER

On February 25 and 26, eight members of the 32 Staves Society went to the Beam Distillery in Clermont, KY to pick a barrel of cask-strength Knob Creek. Here’s everything you need to know about the experience.

THE BOURBON RESOURCE: BARREL DETAILS

This is the first Beam Distillery private pick program and it started with a barrel of Knob Creek. The program has undergone a few (positive) changes since it was announced. Beam first offered Knob Creek 120-proof bourbon or rye at $59.99 per bottle plus tax. Now, visitors pick between cash-strength versions of the bourbon or rye and the price has increased to $69.99 per bottle with tax extra.

Beam requires a non-refundable $1,161 deposit [1] when selecting your private pick date; ours was February 26. The remainder of the balance will be due on pick up, about eight weeks after the pick. You have to pick up the bourbon at the Clermont, KY distillery.

Ours was one of the earliest pick groups, certainly within the first 10, our guide said. Given the newness of the cask strength release, we still don’t know how many bottles the barrel will yield.

THE BOURBON RESOURCE: TRAVEL

The Jim Beam American Outpost (Source: YouTube)

The Beam Distillery is about 30 minutes south of downtown Louisville. Downtown has several hotels, distilleries, speakeasies, dive bars, and restaurants within a 15-minute drive. Among my favorites: Merle’s Whiskey Kitchen, Bourbon’s Bistro, and Veranese. Generally, we drive to Louisville, have a great dinner with amazing bourbon, and spend the night. In other words, we turn it into a nice mini-trip.

The Beam Distillery is easy to find, though some can get lost heading to the main visitor’s center, called the American Outpost. Once you turn into the distillery, follow the winding road until you can’t go any further. You'll see the outpost in front of you.

Inside, you’ll find the impressive gift shop with lots of Beam bourbons like Booker’s. Little Book, and Old Granddad lining the shelves. You can also buy the standard accessories (hats, whiskey glasses, etc) and get certain bottles engraved for $10 each.

FOOD FOR KINGS (and QUEENS)

We didn’t expect THIS.

When Beam said it would provide a light lunch, we were thrilled. Something to coat our stomachs before we tasted. We had no idea our group of eight would be treated to a tasting menu at The Kitchen Table, Beam’s main restaurant. You can see the menu above and a sample of some of the items. I wanted to get photos of the hot honey chicken and the brisket, but as soon as those dishes hit the table, we consumed them with the gusto of kids eating candy. The Brussels sprouts were perfectly charred and the pulled pork empanadas a delightful twist on a classic. The duck poppers were so tasty we ordered a second helping (at an additional cost).

Now, not all groups will get the tasting. Since ours was big it was easier for the busy kitchen —- the place was packed at Noon on a Tuesday. Smaller groups likely will get to order off the ample menu, and that’ll be a problem because you’ll have difficulty ordering, Everything is that good.

When I go back to pick up the bourbon I’m for sure going to eat there.

After lunch, we did a short tour. We’ve been doing barrel picks for 10 years —- our first was Wild Turkey back in 2015 —- so we’ve seen several distilleries. Trey, our guide, took us into a building not generally open to the public. We sat in a massive room for a small taste of bourbon —- I’m sorry, I thought I wrote down what, but I didn’t. The room contained a massive display of whiskeys from the past, including the one pictured above. the Jim Beam from 1911. Not, it’s not for sale.

Beam will offer a longer tour for private pick groups, and you should take advantage of that. There’s a lot of history in those rooms.

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THE TASTING EXPERIENCE

Trey led our group into one of the rick houses with eight tasting stations. Each station had four Glencairn glasses, a water bottle, and a pen and paper to take notes. Beam provides four barrels to taste; most other distilleries provide three.

We tasted each of the four barrels, labeled A, B, C, and D. In the decade we’ve been doing barrel picks, this was the first time that any of the barrels would have made everyone happy, so it was tough to eliminate one. We eliminated D, an excellent pour with just a tad too much oak that was slightly thinner than the others. But at that point, we were comparing a fillet to a Chateaubriand so, yeah, all good.

Trey also did something no one else had done before. He had us leave the rick house so he could rearrange the glasses. and we wouldn’t know what was in each glass. We repeated that exercise until we settled on one barrel —- the highest proof of the bunch, 127 and change. It was set up front with tremendous fruit and caramel with enough heat to let you know it was serious but not enough to make you wince.

The entire experience takes about four hours, from lunch to pick. Beam had morning and afternoon slots. We took the afternoon. I find morning tastings of cask-strength bourbons difficult since my coffee, etc., interferes with the flavors (and I need A LOT of coffee).

We’re excited about the final product, which should be delivered sometime in April, about eight weeks after the tasting.

THE BOURBON RESOURCE FINAL WORD

Each distillery does its tours and tastings differently. I was going to list how and what they do but I’ll leave that for another newsletter. The outstanding Beam experience ranks among the best. Everything —- food, tour, tasting —— was first class.

If you or your group is considering a private pick, make sure to do a deep dive on this one.