Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Y622

Heaven Hill offers a You Do Bourbon Experience tour at their distillery where you get to taste a special batch of Bernheim BP, Larceny BP, ECBP and possibly a premium batch, if you happen to be lucky, that are exclusive to the tour then decide on which batch you’d like to bottle your own of. This is the second time I’ve attended and was fortunate to try a premium batch of a 9 year single malt but found it rather astringent whereas the other three were richer and more refined with my favorite going once again to the ECBP batch Y723 which was bottled at 64.5% ABV. The nose is bold and rich starting with a mix of cinnamon brown sugar coated churros, caramelized bananas, sautéed blackberries and dusty leather-bound books then dark chocolate torte, salted pretzels and freshly lit cigar followed by apple streusel, strawberries and mandarin orange that transitions to spearmint, cloves, anise, and polished antique furniture with high ethanol burn. The taste is a rich oily mouthfeel starting with a mix of dark chocolate mocha, butterscotch creme brûlée, banana fitters, blackberries and dusty leather-bound books then a mild spice that quickly fades to burnt marshmallow and freshly lit cherry pipe tobacco followed by apple streusel, strawberries and mandarin orange that transitions to spearmint, cloves, anise, and polished antique furniture with high ethanol burn. The finish is long starting with dark chocolate mocha and freshly lit cigar then light sweets of apple streusel, banana fritters, and blackberry pie that then turns earthier with spices of cloves, spearmint, dusty leather-bound books and freshly lacquered antique furniture. Heaven Hill is crushing these You Do Bourbon batches with this one topping my previous year’s bottle as it leans earthier with creamy dark berries that the sweets and earthy flavors work in perfect balance and never veers towards an overly bitter or cloying sweet profile. The tour guide said they select barrels from just one warehouse that they’ve found to produce the best barrels. Perhaps that was just marketing bs but this bottle certainly makes that seem more plausible and is currently my favorite ECBP that I’ve tried. Here’s hoping my next bottle from a future tour is even better. If you happen to be near Heaven Hill or will be journeying near by in the future, I’d highly recommend this as your first stop to try their exclusive batches that are far better than almost any allocated hyped releases today at a fraction of the price for a full bottle.

The last of my Elijah Craig series is from their You Do Bourbon Experience where you get to taste a special batch of Bernheim BP, Larceny BP, ECBP and possibly a premium batch, if you happen to be lucky, that are exclusive to the tour then decide on which batch you’d like to bottle your own of. The day I went, there was unfortunately no premium batch, but the three choices present were all quite delicious with my favorite going to the ECBP batch Y822 which was bottled at 64.6% ABV. The nose is bold and rich starting with a mix of powdered sugar dusted vanilla cream puff, caramelized bananas, sautéed cherries and dusty leather-bound books then dark chocolate ganache, salted pretzels and cigar wrapper followed by apple pie, raspberries and tangerine orange that transitions to spearmint, cloves, anise, and polished antique furniture with high ethanol burn. The taste is a rich oily mouthfeel starting with a mix of butterscotch creme brûlée, caramelized bananas, maraschino cherries and dusty leather-bound books then a mild spice that quickly fades to a spicy mocha, toasted marshmallow and freshly lit pipe tobacco followed by apple streusel, raspberry jam and tangerine orange that transitions to spearmint, cloves, anise, and polished antique furniture with high ethanol burn. The finish is long with butterscotch pudding, spicy mocha, apple streusel, caramelized bananas, sautéed cherries, cloves, spearmint, dusty leather-bound books and freshly lacquered antique furniture. This is a bold and decadent bourbon treat that is evident right from the start with a nose that draws you in with a perfect balance of creamy sweets, light sourness, mild rye spices and dusty old oak that carries over to the taste with a viscous mouthfeel that stumbles with an ever so slight spice but quickly recovers with the spice fading to allow those rich dense traditional bourbon flavors through and finishes long with a perfect balance of rich creamy sweets, mild spices and well-aged oak that lingers for minutes after each sip. This is by far the best ECBP I’ve ever had and I think this could easily compete with bourbons 2 to 3x its price and win. At the cost of $40 for the tour and $80 to be able to bottle my own bottle of ECBP totaling $120 altogether, this was worth every dollar and is a must do experience that I’d recommend to anyone if they travel to Kentucky.