Elijah Craig Bourbon Lineup
Elijah Craig is one of the biggest and well known bourbon brands on the market today. Named after the man who some call the “Father Of Bourbon”. Elijah Craig Small Batch is an affordable, high quality bourbon that you can find in almost any liquor store in the country. Bottled at 94 proof, Elijah Craig Small Batch is approachable to the beginning bourbon drinker but still respected for its high quality even by bourbon connoisseurs. Elijah Craig has some mid-shelf bourbons like Elijah Craig Barrel Proof or Elijah Craig Toasted Bourbon, but the bottle I am going to review today is one of the premium offerings from Heaven Hill, Elijah Craig 18 Year Bourbon.
Heaven Hill used to have an entire portfolio of premium Elijah Craig offerings including Elijah Craig 18 Year, Elijah Craig 20 Year, Elijah Craig 21 Year, Elijah Craig 22 Year and Elijah Craig 23 Year. In recent years all of these have been discontinued except the EC 18 Year. As the bourbon boom heated up I am guessing that Heaven Hill didn’t have the surplus of ultra-aged barrels anymore and decided to discontinuing many of these age statements. In recent years Heaven Hill has decided to release most of their older bourbons under the William Heaven Hill label or in the Heaven Hill Heritage Collection. The catch is the age statements have dropped while prices have soared. Ultimately what will happened with the supply and demand of this red hot bourbon market.
Who Is The Father Of Bourbon?
“The Father of Bourbon”, Elijah Craig, founded a distillery in Kentucky around 1789 and was the first person to char the inside of oak barrels and place his distillate into them for transportation. Rumor has it that Elijah had some barrels that fish were kept in that he needed to use for transport. To get the fish small out, he slightly burned the inside of the barrels and then poured in his distillate. That charred barrel gave his bourbon a brown color and imparted flavors into his distillate that consumers raved for and wanted more. Today, it is mandated by law that bourbon must be at least 51% corn, aged at least 2 years in a new, charred oak container (barrel) to be considered bourbon. Aging bourbon in charred oak barrels is one of the most important and maybe undervalued parts of the entire process. We can all thank Elijah Craig for charred oak barrels and helping make bourbon what it is today!
What Is The Elijah Craig Mashbill?
Heaven Hill uses a 78% corn, 10% rye and 12% malted barley. The grain recipe leads me to think this will be on the sweeter side but you can throw all assumptions out the window with a bourbon aged this long. Normally after 8-12 years the barrel influence takes over and the notes from the grains will fade a bit. After around the 12 year mark bourbons can become very oaky, tannic and drying which turn off some people but I really enjoy many of those aged flavors.
What Is Elijah Craig 18 Year MSRP?
Elijah Craig 18 Year Bourbon has an MSRP of around $150 for a 750mL bottle. It wasn’t that long ago you could buy EC18 for under $100, but MSRP has slowly crept up as ultra aged bourbon became harder to find. Surprisingly, even on the secondary market, you can find a bottle of this for $200 easily. Why do people not want to pay a premium for EC18? My guess is the low proof and that this is a single barrel that can be great or overly oaked and too many oak/barrel tannins from the wood. While Elijah Craig has an awesome story and was the first to use charred barrels, this bottle doesn’t have the hype like Pappy Van Winkle.
Elijah Craig 18 Year Review
I was able to procure this bottle in a trade locally for two single barrel bottles I had in my bar at home. My trade value was right at $200-$210 which was very fair and lines up with the secondary market value. I never had the chance to buy this in a store so I am very excited to give this a thorough review and tasting!
I poured neat in a glencairn and let set for around 10 minutes. If you would like to support the site and buy a pair on glencairns, follow the hyperlink!
Color – This is a dark aged copper. When light runs through the bourbon I get hints of brilliant and bright amber.
Aroma – I have visited this pour a couple times and I get the aroma of oak a few feet away from the glencairn. A robust nose on a bourbon normally foreshadows deep strong tasting notes. I also get dark candied cranberries and raisins like you would find in a trail mix. A hint of orange is hidden in there behind the candied fruits. The nose is dominated with barrel notes but there is a subtle sweetness layered behind the oak and caramel.
Taste – My first sip is full of beautiful oak followed by layers of vanilla, graham cracker and caramel. The mouthfeel reminds me of a maple syrup consistency and is delightful. No alcohol bite at all. I don’t get any fruitiness on the palate but plenty of barrel notes. The mouthfeel is phenomenal for a 90 proof bourbon.
Finish – The finish is a tad drying and tannic. I do get more oak, caramel and vanilla that linger for a medium amount of time and slowly disperse.
Rating – 8.7/10
Thoughts – I waited too long to try Elijah Craig 18 Year. The high MSRP and mixed reviews from others made me hesitant but I think this is an elegant pour. The aged influenced flavor of oak doesn’t overpower and is beautifully complimented with barrel influenced notes of vanilla, caramel and a touch of honey graham cracker. The mouthfeel was, to my surprise, velvety and elegant especially for a 90 proof bourbon. I just loved ultra aged bourbon and it is something that cannot be duplicated with anything other than time in a barrel.
This is a single barrel product so I am sure there is a lot of variation barrel to barrel. The variation will lead to mixed reviews but honestly I think it is worth the risk. MSRP is around $150 dollars and I would buy this again. Even on the secondary market you can find this for around $200 which isn’t a bad markup. I would highly recommend this neat, as it is an approachable low proof pour that any bourbon fan can enjoy. I would offer this to any guests over for a party or the holidays and I think any bourbon drinker would enjoy.
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists
5 | Good | Good, just fine
6 | Very Good | A cut above
7 | Great | Well above average
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite
10 | Perfect | Perfect
Debonair Gentlemen 
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