Knob Creek Released a Bourbon to Celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary
There have been a lot of whiskeys released over the past couple of months to celebrate the America’s 250th birthday this 4th of July. The latest comes from one of the bigger bourbon brands in the game—Knob Creek—which announced the release of a limited-edition semiquincentennial bourbon that comes with a blue wax topper instead of the regular black one.
What’s in a wax topper anyway? For some whiskey brands, a lot. Maker’s Mark, for example, trademarked its red wax topper in 1985, a design flourish that was created by founder Bill Samuels Sr.’s wife, Margie, back in the 1950s. In 2003, Maker’s filed a lawsuit against Jose Cuervo International and won that battle. Knob Creek also has a wax topper, but the style and color are different from Maker’s Mark, and it probably doesn’t hurt that the both brands are owned by the same parent company, Suntory Global Spirits.
Maker’s Mark is produced at its own distillery in Loretto, Kentucky. But Knob Creek is part of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection (which also includes Booker’s, Baker’s, and Basil Hayden) and is distilled and aged in Clermont, Kentucky at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. The lineup consists of bourbon and rye whiskey bottled at 100 proof, along with some higher-proof single barrels and a few special editions like the Bourbon x Rye and Blender’s Edition. The core bourbon bears a 9-year age statement, but over the years the brand has also released older expressions aged for 12, 15, 18, and most recently 21 years.
The new Independence Edition contains Knob Creek’s core 9-year-old bourbon, so the only changes you will find here are the blue wax topper instead of the black one, and a red, white, and blue label at the bottom of the bottle to mark the occasion. As mentioned before, this is just one of several 250th anniversary releases currently on the market. Maker’s Mark released its own limited-edition bottle in May with the same red wax topper and a blue wax seal on the front, and proceeds from sales of this bottle are going to benefit the nonprofit group Farmer Veteran Coalition. Heaven Hill’s Evan Williams bourbon brand also released a trio of bottles this spring, including commemorative editions of Black Label and 1783 Small Batch, as well as a special release of its Single Barrel bourbon bottled at 117.76 proof.
Knob Creek 9 Year Old: Independence Edition is available starting this month at retailers around the country (SRP $37).
