dhsilv2
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch A119
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
September 8, 2019 (edited June 23, 2020)
ECBP was my white whale for so long. It was impossible to get. So A119
Nose - Caramel and oak. So sweet and yet it's a pretty simple whisky. Just those two notes in intense ways.
Taste - More of the same. Rich and intense oak and caramel, the oak is wonderfully even in nature. Adds a bit of bitter but doesn't go to the extremes. Meanwhile so much caramel, truly intense. This is the perfect example of intense bourbon notes but while I get why people think of this as a perfect bourbon, it's not close. The oak is a bit young and yet 12 years give it an intense oak note. It's that weird we're not dealing with well aged bourbon but there's a lot of oak. Sweet beyond words.
This stuff is every bit worth the hype at 60 bucks a bottle. But no it isn't "WOW" and it isn't all that special in the bourbon world. It's the result of in part a lack of high quality bourbon so we see it as amazing.
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I tend to leave out other than Stagg the buffalo trace produts as quality variance is really hit or miss for me and they've gotten too hard to find. You might also like Rare Bread/Kentucky Spirit from Wild Turkey. Most of these are on the shelves and easy to get, but there are certainly harder to find gems as well which a few of these are, but there are many more.
@gman4405 depends on what you like. Rebel Yell 10 year, Old Forester 1910 and 1920, Woodford Double Oaked, if you like finished whisky the Belle Meade Sherry and XO bottlings are great (might be getting a bit expensive), Stagg Jr if you can find it ( can't), and imo the best bourbon around for the money are store picks of Knob Creek single barrel.
ECBP is one of my faveorite Bourbons but I dont have th many years of experience as you and some of your commenters here. I would like to know what you think some great bourbons are in the mid price range?
@dubz480 that's a good question, especially with how much the quality on bourbon has dropped. My go to idea of a quality bourbon used to be Lot B from Van Winkle back before the quality of that dropped. Today so many brands are rushing out underaged product to meet demand that there just are extremely few very good bourbons and even less great ones. We are sadly living in a down period in bourbon.
@Southpaw22 I'm not sure there's a better bourbon at this price point in today's market. But the bourbn market's quality has massively dropped in the last decade. 10 years ago you could get EC 18 year for this price and it was sitting on the shelf. Van winkle's products were available and I recall buying the "Kentucky Vintage" offerings instead as they were better for the money. As for today as better for the price, I've had 5-6 Knob Creek Single Barrels that were less and blew this out of the water in blind tastings. But again I to try and be respectful of price, but I don't make comments on a bourbon based on price. A 10 dollar bourbon isn't getting a better score for being the best 10 dollar bourbon anymore than a 100 dollar bourbon would get a higher score if it weren't better.
Curious what you would put it up against in similar price range that is “all that”?
Out of curiosity what would you consider a very good Bourbon?