Rating: 16/23 N: Dusty, lightly musty wood. Then some of that sour mash tartness comes out. There's that standard Elijah Craig rich layer too. I want to say that it's chocolatey, but it isn't quite. I do get a hint of coffee though. It's more like a hint of root beer than chocolate. And some black licorice too. There's actually some yeatiness coming out of the nose that reminds me a bit of Four Roses Single Barrel. Not the most amazing Elijah Craig nose, but it's really good. P: This is hot, but not excessively so. Not excessively for 67.3% ABV that is - by most standards, this is quite hot. It isn't quite as full as I was hoping for, but it is quite rich. I get some wood. It isn't that mature or prominent though. There's a sweet, rich layer in front of it, featuring tootsie rolls and root beer barrel candies. There are some spice and despite it being mostly a hot peppery burn, it is nicely integrated with those sweet flavors, some rich vanilla, and a little black licorice in a way that makes it work OK. Those all integrate very nicely with the root beer and tootsie roll flavors. There's a dash of slate and limestone, but they aren't obtrusive. Just a hint of graphite and pencil shavings. I get some yeasty sour mash as well, but it's behind all of the other flavors. Aside from a bit too much burn, the balance is really nice. I wish that this were fuller, but it's overall a great palate. F: This unfortunately loses a bunch of the richness and the bitter mineral flavors take over more. I can finally really taste the cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and hints of clove though. There's a bit of wood as well, but it isn't super mature - though it isn't too loud and young either. This is definitely the worst part of this dram. It's the one part that I don't actively enjoy. - Conclusion - Elijah Craig Small Batch (15/23) is sweeter while maintaining its richness. It comes across as a bit more youthful and it doesn't have particular flavors it nails like the tootsie roll and root beer barrel flavors here. That said, its sweetness really throws into relief the lack of fullness in this. This isn't quite as sweet and it has more minerality without really having a fuller profile. I expect more oomph and decadence at such a high ABV. I like this one better, but the margin isn't as large as I might have hoped. My cask strength bottling of Garrison Brothers Single Barrel (15/23) is a bit richer and fuller than this, but it has just as much minerality and isn't nearly as complex and refined. I'd take this over the Garrison Brothers. It's not a huge win, but it's a definite win. I'd be surprised if I ended up giving this more than a 17. So on to Resilient 15 (18/23). Resilient has plenty of minerality as well (vitamins), but it packs less burn and has a more refined profile. It's also fuller, despite not being super full. That puts this in the 16 to 17 range. It's a bit tough to make the call, but I think that this is a bit closer in quality to the Garrison Brothers than to the Resilient, so I'm going with a 16 here. If I were on the fence here, I think the burn would convince me that this is a 16. The burn here really does approach the intensity of Ry3 (9/23), but at least the high proof here kind of justifies the burn. Thanks for sharing this, @soonershrink !