Elijah Craig Small Batch Single Barrel Select

Total Wine Elijah Craig Truffle Shuffle 12 Year Rickhouse A Floor 6 94 Proof Smooth. A really great bottle. Has great flavor. Is a 12 year. Worth looking for similar. A favorite

10 year old Nose: honey nut cheerios, cherries, almonds, dates Taste: caramel, dried fruit like raisin, very nutty, lots of walnut and almond, light oak and vanilla flavor. Palate: medium palate, bitter almond and raisin flavor remain on the palate.

Great value

Finishing off this bottle of EC SiB Select purchased in Spring 2019, barrel pick by Orange County NC ABC. For a full description of tasting notes I have two previous tastes of this posted already. I just wanted to add a few things. I like this a bit less than I did last year when I purchased 3 bottles, one was for my brother. It could be I've tasted a lot since then, and also I've been a high proof hound. Still, this is a really enjoyable sipper at a great price. In recent months I've seen single barrel store picks in my area with 9Y and 10Y age statements. Additionally, the label on the bottle now includes warehouse, rick, barrel no, bottle no, etc. This is all in Orange County NC ABC stores. I haven't picked up any of these, probably to my detriment, but it's great to see these store picks with more information. The Spring 2019 bottles I picked up had zero information other than the selector of the store pick. Single barrel bourbon 9-10 years old is an incredible value at $30. It is higher proof, higher age, and cheaper than Evan Williams Single Barrel. If you see these store picks I highly recommend grabbing one, it'll be about $10-60 cheaper than other low proof 9Y+ bourbons.

10yr Kroger Pick. Smooth and a ton of favor. One of my favorites.

Blind tasting - 1.0 oz neat in a Glencairn Elijah Craig Single Barrel Select (NAS) bottled in 2019 for Orange Count ABC (47%, open 6 months, $29.95 in NC) Henry McKenna 10Y Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond Barrel No. 7279, Barreled on 05-29-09 (50%, open 8 months, $39.95 in NC) Nose: A - Rich cinnamon and caramel, vanilla cream, medium oak, rye, and ethanol, light brown sugar and toffee, light dark fruits 8.5/10 B - Honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, chalky dried fruits and corn dust, light oak and peanut, very light ethanol and rye 7.5/10 Palate: A - Surprisingly muted on the tongue because I was expecting more with the nose, light caramel and vanilla, light corn dust, light oak and spice 6.5/10 B - Stronger oak and ethanol, spicy, light caramel sweetness, dry cereal with no added sugar, could use more fruit and sugar for balance 6.5/10 Finish: A - Oak and tannins pop, rye and baking spices, light vanilla, medium-short finish 6.5/10 B - Dry and tannic, oak lingers, corn dust and cereal, medium finish 6/10 Drinkability: A - 7/10 B - 6.5/10 Total Score: A = 28.5/40 B = 26.5/40 A = Henry McKenna 10Y Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond B = Elijah Craig Single Barrel Select This one surprised me a little because I purchased multiple bottles of the Elijah Craig because I loved it and it was a great value at $30 or $27 during sales in 2019. I immediately disliked the Henry McKenna when I bought it in December 2019, it was too astringent and artificial chemical on the nose and taste, but I think it has greatly improved after being a few months open. Both of these were much better on the nose than on the palate, particularly the Henry McKenna which smelled wonderful. It was a letdown on the tongue, while the Elijah Craig had a bolder flavor but was a little too dry and tannic. Both are great values though. I use my score out of 40 for my Distiller rating. By themselves I'd probably rate them closer to 3.75-4.