Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel Bourbon

Chocolatey, smooth, little Bit of butterscotch on the back end, mild heat.

Caramel

Herbal, vanilla, hint chocolate, dried fruit, slight drying, medium finish

EC Toasted Barrel *NOSE: Starts off with a Powdery Floral Perfume that quickly fades to notes of Sticky Toffee, Streusel Covered Coffee Cake, Cooked Apples with Cinnamon, Toasted Oak and Sandalwood. After 15 minutes or so, it picked up a note of Peppery Sausage Gravy. Weird, but I like it. *NEAT: Falls short of the nose. Sweet Vanilla and Caramel up front. Joined by Cola, Spicy Bitter Oak Tannins, Black Pepper Spice, and Bitter Black Coffee. The Medium Length Finish results in a slowly building glow deep in the chest. A Coating of Drying Pencil Shavings and Vanilla coat and linger on the palate. This gets close to being too spicy and bitter, but never crosses the line. *SPLASH: Some water makes this Dessert In a Glass. The Palate gets Syrupy Sweet. The sweet notes all meld together and become those Root Beer Barrel Shaped Hard Candies. The Oak Becomes Less Tannic and a Little Sweeter, and the Coffee gets Cream and Sugar. Oak Char comes through on the coating finish, joined by a healthy dose of Maple Fudge. *VERDICT: If Woodford Double Oaked and Maker's 46 had a child, they would name him Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel. I was a little disappointed at first, but a splash of water really opens this up and makes a Just Barely Good Bourbon a Very Good Bourbon. The flavors meld to form a more cohesive dessert like sweetness. The price on this one is around the same as the Woodford Double Oaked, but I like this one a lot more. Hard to find, but worth the hunt. 4 Stars

Lackluster. Faint toasted notes

Smooth, slight sweet tones

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