Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch A119

Nutty, dry, burn some floral notes at 135.2 proof

This is my first experience with Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, and the highest proof bourbon I've tasted so far. The initial nose is surprisingly light on alcohol, very deceptive. I get dried dark fruit, and with a deeper inhale, oak and alcohol. Big dessert spice/sweet oak overwhelm the tongue, much stronger than the fruit from the nose. I also get vanilla and chocolate that are in tune with the spiced oak flavor. The alcohol burn is lighter than expected. The finish is super long and oily. The alcohol is most prominent on the finish, and the dark fruit reemerges along with dessert spice and tannins. I normally avoid adding water to any of my whiskey these days, but with a proof this high I figured I should try it. After a small splash of water, the oak and alcohol are stronger on the nose than before. The taste is more tannic with added water, which clearly brings out the oak and alcohol flavor. In my opinion it gets worse with water, muting the fruit, vanilla, and spice. Overall this is a fantastic cask strength bourbon and I think in the future I'll try to buy one of the releases once a year. The EC A119 is not my favorite high proof bourbon, but it is widely available and a tremendous value. You cannot say the same for a lot of cask strength offerings.

The abv is so high that you can feel the whiskey evaporating off your tongue when you sip it, very strange sensation. The flavors are dark, rich, and intense. Turns out that’s not entirely a good thing by itself. Really needs something bright in there to provide balance and keep it interesting. But if you want to be overwhelmed by caramel, vanilla, leather, etc. then it’s worth a shot.

EC small batch was what got me into bourbon years ago, and now this barrel proof is like graduating to the big leagues. At 135.2 it’s definitely hot, but not overwhelming. Orange citrus, spicy rye, leather, and charred wood...it’s everything that is Elijah Craig, but turned up to 11.

Excellent of course but prefer B518 hands down.