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I've had a bottle of Knob Creek Smoked Maple on my shelf for around two years. In my review, I found it to be very sweet with plenty of candy-like, artificial maple flavor but lacking any sort of smokiness or char. To put it plainly, I did not care for it. For this ill-advised Whiskey Frankenstein (home whiskey blending) experiment we will be combining Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon and Costco's Kirkland Islay Single Malt Scotch to try and make something that is actually smoke adjacent. Why the Kirkland? It's cheap, it's on my shelf, and I won't be sad to have used it when this turns out terrible.
Vámonos!For the uninitiated, Whiskey Frankenstein is the practice of whiskey blending at home to create improved or interesting combos.
🧪Preparation
I will make three 60ml samples for a total of just under two shots of each whiskey consumed. We will give the best of the three an appropriately zany name.
Samples & Ratios:
- A: 50/50 "Half and Half"
- B: 75/25 Majority Knob Smoked Maple
- C: 75/25 Majority Kirkland Islay
Whiskies are measured using a 100ml lab-quality graduated cylinder wielded with questionable skill. Mechanical agitation (stirring/shaking) is applied at the time of blending and prior to consumption. Blends marry for five days before tasting, and will be rested in an open mini Glencairn for 15 minutes.
Edit: I was putting this one off so they've had the pleasure of each other's company for a full three weeks.
👅The Tasting
- 75% Knob - From the get-go, you really can only smell the Kirkland maybe with some additional sweetness. For me, that's promising! Sweet on the palate, some maple still there for sure, green tea and honey, then more of the Islay Iodine and peat smoke towards the end. A clean three movement palate. Mouthfeel is still strangely syrupy and there is not much of a finish, really just a caramel flatulence. All in all, I think it's worth a 4-Superior. It's probably above the half way point between the Kirkland and Knob Maple, still well below the Islay single malt on it's own though.
- 50/50 - In line with what you would expect: more smoke, more medicinal, more Kirkland. I think at this ratio the maple is actually more of a detractor. Didn't expect that but there is not enough sweetness or presence, so it comes through as funk. 2 - Inferior
- 75% Kirkland - A further step removed. Uses too much of the Kirkland for no improvement. The knob is hidden but dilutes the Islay and blows up some of the nuance. 2 - Inferior
🏆Verdict
I'm honestly very surprised by these results. I expected the higher percentage Knob Maple to do very poorly and to be very saddened by all of the blends. Overall, they were all drinkable though the 50/50 and majority Islay were probably a waste of that named juice. I'm thankfully almost out of the Knob Maple, but this attempt to create a profile that actually has some smoke is a success.
Now that the hard work is over, time for a real quality PHD (pretty huge drink). Thanks for reading!
💀Scoring Reference
1 - Abysmal - Maybe I'm the monster? This is a war crime.
2 - Inferior - So preoccupied with the knowledge that we could, we didn't stop to think if we should.
3 - Neutral - A simple average of its parts. At least we did no real harm.
4 - Superior - "Jinkies Gang", we might be on to something here. Target whiskey is improved.
5 - Genius - Mad Science does have it's perks; this is a breakthrough. Better than all inputs.