Elijah Craig 18 Year Old
Another Nice Old Bourbon
0 393
Review by @Onibubba
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall93
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- Brand: Elijah Craig
- Type: American
- ABV: 45%
Friday night I had the opportunity to sample a bottle of Elijah Craig 18. Have not seen one of these before. Barreled 11-25-90. Barrel 3491. Bottle was at about a quarter full. Pour was priced at 9.50, which I felt was a steal.
Nose was heavy and masterful. An awful lot going on: Salted nuts, cooked butter, french toast, burning sugars, carmel. Yellow cake, even cornbread.
Taste was almost sherry like. Raisins. Vanilla, yes, but very little oak or wood. Not much spice at all. There is an almost Speyside level of sweetness going on here. Something meaty too - brisket and sweet and sour sauce. Honeysuckle...Can I say rotting, rancid honeysuckle? That sounds bad, but I want to stress "overly ripe." Fabulous.
Mouthfeel was wonderful. Not drying in the least. No wood tannins. No bitterness. Very, very rich.
Finish is long. Final notes were "sweet honeycomb."
This was a great experience. The bartender did not know how long the bottle had been open, but I suspect a while. That may have had something to do with the smoothness of this particular bottle? All I know is if I should see a bottle in the wild, it will be mine. Highly recommended.
Find where to buy Elijah Craig whisky
Very nice review. This is the distillate from the old Heaven Hill distillery in Bardstown, which burned down November 7, 1996. A little over a year ago Heaven Hill stopped bottling Elijah Craig 18 yo and diverted what remained of the distillate for bottling as Elijah Craig 20 and 21 yo special releases. The old Elijah Craig Bardstown juice has a status now similar to Stitzel-Weller juice: scarce and in demand. The Elijah Craig 12 YO has now for quite a few years been completely different juice. Finding a bottle of EC18 now is a matter of dusty-bottle hunting. And hopefully it will not have been marked up for current scarcity and demand.