Caramel | Roasted peanuts | Hickory syrup | Fresh cut firewood | Leather | Powdered sugar

Vanilla | Caramel | Brown sugar | Cherry jam | Orange rind | Sweet oak

Seasoned oak | Maple glazed walnut | Cola | Black peppercorn | Barrel char | Lingering spice

Is Knob Creek Blender’s Edition one of the first signs of the bourbon glut, or a forward-thinking whiskey by Jim Beam - or perhaps both? Its stat line is impressive: 10 year age statement, 106 proof, $45. Of course, this is also from the same distillery that puts out the excellent 100 proof, value-packed Knob Creek 12 Year for $60. But it’s the Blender’s Edition’s sub-$50 price point that catches the eye the most, as it feels so unusual for any new release to come out less than $100 nowadays.

The company states that Knob Creek Blender’s Edition is named after “...one of the most skilled and nuanced crafts in whiskey making: blending.” For Edition 01, eighth generation master distiller Freddie Noe and team set out to create a sweeter tasting Knob Creek. Though many Knob Creek releases tend to lean sweet already, Blender’s Edition 01 truly pushes the boundaries of what it means to be a sweet Knob Creek bourbon.

The aroma starts with hefty amounts of caramel, before the company’s trademarked peanut notes roll in. Sweet hickory syrup, combined with fresh cut firewood, along with leather, add heft before ending on confectionery sweetness of powdered sugar. The palate is the bourbon’s sweetest part with loads of vanilla, caramel, and brown sugar, before cherry jam and orange rind reel it in and take the first steps to ground it. The finish is also sweet, but noticeably less so, thanks to hefty amounts of seasoned oak and charred oak. Maple glazed walnut and cola reintroduce some sweet notes to the end of the sip before strong black peppercorn spice takes over and lingers.

There’s no doubt that Knob Creek Blender’s Edition 01 is a sweet tasting bourbon. Though vanilla and caramel are plentiful, the bourbon doesn’t lean hard on any one flavor to reach this level of sweetness. It spreads the field with many different sweet flavors that help add more complexity to its broad sweetness than you’d expect for any $45 bourbon. But it isn’t all sweet; there is a hearty amount of black peppercorn spice on the finish that can be rather dominating at times.

There isn’t just one aspect of Knob Creek Blender’s Edition 01 that makes it successful, but it's the combination of age, price, proof, and a sweet flavor spice that works together to form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Fans of sweet bourbons that get their sweetness not from fruit but classic bourbon flavors such as vanilla, caramel, and brown sugar will find their zen-like place with Knob Creek Blender’s Edition 01.