You ever have a whisky that makes you wonder if maybe you did something to screw up your sense of taste? One that makes you sit there and doubt your buds? The kind of whisky where you have to taste other whiskies that you know much better after it just to check and make sure that everything's okay? Elijah Craig Small Batch is one of those budget bourbons drinkers hold in high regard. For about $30, you apparently get a pretty flavorful whisky with caramel and vanilla, but it’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to devote $30 to a budget bourbon. Over the past year, however, I’ve become more interested in the unique whisky experience, bottles that come and go and won’t come again, strangers passing in the night, sharing an experience they’ll remember fondly as one time only, no promises made for the future, no repeat performances. All right, slow down, I’m talking about whisky here. What I mean, of course, is that the words “limited distribution” appeal to me, the words “single barrel” appeal to me, the words “exclusive” appeal to me. And while I know that plenty of stores carry the Elijah Craig Single Barrel Select, and while I know that Elijah Craig Single Barrel Select tends to get released each year, the words “Single Barrel Select” make this stand out for me as something I would be inclined to seek out over a standard “Small Batch” that constitutes the core rage of a brand’s sales. Of course, near me, the FW&GS stores differentiate between the two by charging $13 more for the Single Barrel Select, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend that much for Elijah Craig, even unique Elijah Craig, when for just a small amount more, I could get something I knew I liked more (or if I wanted to spend just $20 more, I could get Elijah Craig Barrel proof). Not every region and every store, of course, charges that much more for their Elijah Craig Single Barrel Select, so when I was down the shore with my family in July and spotted Circle Liquors’ pick for…if I remember correctly $32.99, I snapped it up (along with a few other bottles available there but not here). Since I collect whisky, I don’t necessarily get to everything I buy straight away, but this past weekend, while watching my beloved Philadelphia Eagles struggle desperately against a vastly superior KC Chiefs, I cracked this open with my dad, thinking that, from the description of EC Small Batch (Caramel, Vanilla), this would prove autumnal and suit the transition into October. And…? Well, I wasn’t impressed. To call the nose delicate would be doing this whisky a favor. It’s muddled. Yes, I can tease out caramel and vanilla, really the vaguest of sweetnesses, if I put in the effort and strain my nostrils so much that the veins are sticking out on my forehead, but it’s faint among the grain, which predominates—not to such an extent that the nose is harsh, but to the extent that it’s certainly nothing to celebrate. Light-bodied would also be hyperbole when it comes to describing the flavor. It was so incredibly light-bodied as to have almost no flavor (again, I could tease out caramel and vanilla, but I was hoping this whisky would live up to the hype surrounding other reviews I’ve read of EC Single Barrel Select). Now, full disclosure, when my dad and I drink whisky during football, I usually supply the whisky. Part of this is I put in the time to research whisky more deeply than he does, so I usually find exciting stuff. And part of it is the sense that, after all he did for me in raising me, he shouldn’t have to pay for a drink for the rest of our lives if we’re drinking together; but he doesn’t like to arrive empty-handed, so he’ll often bring something, and this week, we started off with his offering of Wild Turkey 101 Rye. So switching to something lighter like the EC Barrel Select might not have been fair to the EC Barrel Select. It may have affected the taste to have recently had something a little bit heavier on the tongue (and also, I didn’t dry the glasses so thoroughly after rinsing them, so the trace amounts of water might have been affecting the EC Single Barrel flavor?), so I tried to equivocate. Scratch that, "we" tried to equivocate. We kept looking at each other. "It's not a bad whisky," we said to each other. Several times. And you know what it means when you keep saying, "It's not a bad whisky"? If I have to spell it out, it means you're trying to convince yourself that you didn't waste your money. “Maybe a little time to breathe would do this some good,” I said. So, after a glass of this, we shifted to Writer’s Tears Copper Pot because by that point, the liquid in our glasses didn’t matter so much and I wanted to kill the Writer’s Tears since the level was getting low. And now a few days have passed, and it’s had a little more time to breath. And…? The nose remains muddled, and the grain in the whisky has become the most prominent flavor dominating everything. The finish is harsh, raw. I’d read somewhere that Elijah Craig’s predominant whisky used to be a 12 year, but they were forced to go to Small Batch when they started to run out of supply. Apparently these days all the 12 year is used for their Barrel Proof line (correct me if I’m wrong here) while Small Batch blends 7-9 year barrels? I also read that the Barrel Selects are often more engaging, more interesting because they’re predominantly 8-9 years and obviously not mixed with younger stock. So what happened here? If I were to guess, I would say that the Circle Liquors pick was significantly younger. Was that why it was comparatively inexpensive to the stock in FW&GS here, where they state definitively 8 or 9 years on the shelves? I’ve had some great bourbon in my time and I’ve had some bad bourbon in my time, and this, I can safely say, is not working for me (by which I mean, hesitant as I am to admit I wasted money on a dud). Now I just have to figure out if I can use the remained of this bottle for mixed drinks (honestly, given how grainy it is I'm not sure it'll work there unless there are specific recipes on what you can do with grainy whisky). Or maybe I’ll keep trying it every once in a while and eventually something will click, but overall, I’m disappointed. Honestly, I'm having a lot of trouble giving this a star-rating because when you're this turned off, what do you give it? One and a half-stars because it'll get you drunk and it's not as repellant as the worst whisky I've ever tasted (it's not as bad as white whisky)? But that's not really what I'm looking for. I'd love to taste some of the bottles other reviewers here have tasted because it sounds like if you get a good pick, you get a solid whisky, but I'm not gambling with my money on this one again. Picked by: Circle Liquors Barrel Serial No.: 5844241 Rickhouse: HH Floor: 5