Tastes

For the price, it’s really hard to beat EC. It hits most of the flavors you’d want to see in a classic bourbon, displays some complexity coming from the rye, and is a great showcase of Heaven Hill’s house character. At 94 proof and $25-30 it’s a good value, and I don’t feel like this particular product suffered much when they discontinued the age statement. After all, 12 years is a pretty long time for bourbon to spend in cask. I’d give this a solid 4.2 and consider it a great candidate for daily drinker.

2/5 Very grainy and under mature. Lots of issues here: 1) they should not be making such a heavy distillate with pot stills if they aren’t going to age longer, 2) open fermenters in NYC climate creates consistency issues, 3) minimal aging using small casks creates a harsh, immature spirit, and 4) I’d include wheat or rye in the mashbill. Just corn and malted barley makes for a pretty one dimensional bourbon IMO. Really not a fan of this, particularly at the price point.

3.7 Nice fortified wine, dark fruit flavors but with a little too much peppery/grainy Glenmorangie house character coming through at times. Could do with slightly more maturation, but a good product for the price and bottled at 46%abv.