The Brand Longhorn Steakhouse Partnered With For Its Exclusive Bourbon

Steak and bourbon are a classic pairing, but it's not every day that a steakhouse can brag about having its own single-barrel bourbon — let alone one from a beloved distillery like Knob Creek. Since 2019, Longhorn Steakhouse, the popular chain restaurant, has been working with the small-batch bourbon maker that's one of the essential whiskey brands you should know. Jim Beam's former master distiller (and grandson of Jim Beam), Booker Noe, created Knob Creek in 1992 before his passing in 2004. Since 2018, Longhorn Steakhouse has been working with the brand's distillery team, which bottles branded bourbon for the restaurant chain.

What they've chosen for the steakhouse are single-barrel bourbons, meaning they come from a single barrel as opposed to being blended or going through a second barreling. The distillery team has honed in on the unique flavor profile that the folks over at Longhorn are looking for, opting for whiskey with lots of caramel and oak and a nuanced undertone of smoke for its Longhorn Single-Barrel Bourbon. Made from 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley, it's aged for at least nine years and up to 14 years and bottled at 120 proof.

Knob Creek and Longhorn Steakhouse chose 200 casks from the distillery's Rackhouse L for this series. Since each cask typically produces around 220 750-ml bottles, that's an estimated 44,000 bottles. Although these are single-barrel bourbons, which have their own distinctive taste profiles due to where in the warehouse they're stored and even the quirks of the individual barrels, in general what you'll be getting (based on reviews, mostly of the 14-year-old expressions) is a bourbon with tasting notes of caramel, oak, vanilla, orange peel, and black pepper.

It's a bourbon worth sipping on its own, or if that's not your thing, Longhorn suggests having it in the company's signature old fashioned. Either way, you'll probably have to go to Longhorn Steakhouse to try it (though a few bottles have turned up at liquor stores). Apparently there really is a connection between steak and bourbon. Longhorn customers are 42% more likely to drink bourbon than the average consumer, the company told the Dayton Daily News. Customers can continue to enjoy a special Knob Creek while they do it, and if we may be so bold, we'd recommend doing so with the best steak we've found at Longhorn, the Outlaw Ribeye.