Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon

By Barry Bradford on December 5, 2017 • ( Leave a comment )

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon (47%, OB, 2017)

Category: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Origin: Heaven Hill Distillery
Bottling: Heaven Hill
ABV: 47%
Cost: £36.83

What They Say

Small Batch

The signature Bourbon bearing the name of Rev. Elijah Craig, a Bourbon pioneer who is credited with being the first distiller to age his whiskey in charred oak barrels.

Long before the term Small Batch even existed, our Master Distillers were hand-selecting just the right number of barrels to make Elijah Craig. This expertise and attention to detail give Elijah Craig Small Batch the right balance of rich flavor and full body. Each small batch carries a signature warm spice and subtle smoke flavor. A combination that belongs in any Bourbon fan’s regular rotation.

Official tasting notes:

Color: Burnished copper
Nose: Delightfully complex with notes of vanilla bean, sweet fruit, and fresh mint
Taste: Smooth and warm; pleasantly woody with accents of spice, smoke, and nutmeg
Finish: Long, sweet, and slightly toasty

What I Say

The replacement for the previous much-loved Elijah Craig 12 Years Old Small Batch Bourbon. Reportedly due to pressures on stock the 12 years old age statement was dropped, also the mention that a maximum 100 barrels per batch also?

My tasting notes:

Appearance: Copper bronze (12/20) medium-large tears leave thick legs
Nose: Sweet, vanilla-rich, vanilla seed pod, caramel, some fruits, stewed apples, lemon citrus fruit and mint leaf
Taste: Light & sweet, caramel or runny honey, vanilla, spiced cinnamon, nutmeg and white pepper, sweet corn grains, syrupy in texture with woody oak that becomes a little ascerbic and spirity
Finish: Medium, drying oak wood, pepper spice and polished highland toffee

Overall

Oddly we sampled this completely independently of the 12 year stock bottle that we are still nursing at home and came away much less impressed. I’m not sure how much batch variation there is but the previous bottling had much more depth and complexity and evidence of well-aged Bourbon present.