Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye

Value rye whiskey. It’s ok as a daily sip and good as a mixer.

EC does it right! Very approachable rye whiskey. Sweet vanilla entry, wood on taste, spice on finish. Wonderful glad I found this!

Sweet like the Mojave air in springtime.

Finally hitting the Phoenix area and at a reasonable price, I snapped this one up quickly. Let’s see how it measures up. Nose is pretty mild with some grass, a hint of vanilla, some citrus zest, and milled rye grain. Kind of a weedy, skunky note underneath. I keep saying “some” and “a little” because there just isn’t much going on here. You have to dig for it. Palate features rye spice, soft vanilla, and oak. Oak is a little too prevalent and comes off as slightly astringent. But honestly what this tastes most like is Elijah Craig small batch bourbon. Definitely one of the more “un rye” ryes I’ve had. Finish finally features some rye characteristics with anise and mint, with continued astringent oak, Mouthfeel is grainy, and between the taste and the mouthfeel, there’s a harshness here. That said, it’s blissfully short. Pretty disappointing. At $32, the price is decent but quite frankly at the bottom end of the rye price spectrum I’d rather have another Heaven Hill product (Rittenhouse) over this one, which makes this destined for a “not rebuy” for me in the future.

Pleasantly surprised! I’m not big on rye, but this bourbon has good mouth-feel and is absolutely worth picking up again to digest the nuances of the flavor.