Elijah Craig Single Barrel Barrel Proof Bourbon (Private Label)

Spicy and good

Private barrel, 9 years old, 67.3% ABV. Compared to batch A121 (which is the only Barrel Proof batch I've tried), this obviously has a lot of similarity, but is slightly less smooth, less balanced. Despite being younger than the 12 year Barrel Proof, the wood seems more aggressive. I think the blenders of the Barrel Proof batches probably know what they're doing. That being said, it's more similar than different, and still good. I can imagine that there may be some of these private barrels that absolutely knock it out of the park. Definitely thumbs up, but this barrel at least doesn't give me anything more than the regular Barrel Proof batches (other than a few more proof points over the most recent batches).

Smooth up front, strong burn at end