Elijah Craig Barrel Proof 11y.o. (B523) Review

Rising from the ashes of Prohibition and into the midst of the Great Depression in Bardstown, KY, Heaven Hill Distillery has grown to be the largest independent family-owned and operated producer of distilled spirits products in the US, and the second-largest holder of bourbon whiskey inventory in the world. The distillery was set up in 1935 after a small group approached the Shapira family seeking capital investment to set up a distillery using their technical expertise. Following personal financial difficulties among the other members of the founding group, their interests in the “Old Heavenhill Springs” distillery were bought out by the Shapira family making the distillery a fully family-owned enterprise. With renewed purpose, the family kept on one of the original investors, James L. Beam as Master Distiller, and hired the best bourbon-producing talent they could find in their local Bardstown. Four years later in 1939, they released their first product, a 4-year-old Bottled in Bond bourbon under the Old Heaven Hill brand. The brand quickly became one of the top-selling bourbons in the State and cemented the distillery’s position as one of the top bourbon producers in Kentucky at the time. The name of the distillery originates from the family name of William Heavenhill who was an early pioneer farmer and owned the original property on which the distillery sat. When originally registering the company a clerical mistake resulted in the name becoming Heaven Hill as opposed to Heavenhill.

On November 7th 1996 a fire that started in one of the barrel ageing warehouses spread by strong winds, destroying almost the entire distillery and numerous ageing warehouses. Overall 90,000 barrels of whisky were lost and for the next 3 years, the company was dependent on production capacity in neighbouring distilleries. In 1999 Heaven Hill completed the purchase of the Old Bernheim Distillery from Diageo in Louisville and once the distillery was adapted, the production and distillation end moved to Louisville whilst ageing, bottling, and shipping still occur on the original Bardstown site.

Today the modern iteration of the company, Heaven Hill Brands, has become a diversified supplier of whiskeys, liqueurs, vodkas, rums, and other spirits. They own 62 rickhouses in Central KY and distribute hundreds of brands. Under the Heaven Hill Distillery portfolio, they produce award-winning products such as Henry McKenna, Elijah Craig, Evan William, Larceny, Old Fitzgerald, and Rittenhouse rye to name a few. The distillery also has the largest number of Bottled in Bond whiskies on the market and is the only heritage distiller that features every major category of American whiskey in their 5 distinct mashbills producing traditional bourbon, wheated bourbon, rye whiskey, corn whiskey, and wheat whiskey. Under 7th Master Distiller (and fellow countryman) Conor O’Driscoll the distillery is on course to fill almost 400,000 barrels again this year and with continued investment production capacity is growing every year to meet rising demand.

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First introduced in 1986, as the bourbon market was nearing a historic low, the Elijah Craig brand consisted of a 12 y.o. premium bourbon offered by the Heaven Hill Distillery as a statement against the younger, cheaper, and lower-quality bourbon offerings dominating the bourbon market then. Named in honour of the Baptist preacher of the same name, Heaven Hill accredits the first discovery and use of barrel charring in producing bourbon whiskey to Craig. The Elijah Craig brand is comprised of multiple offerings with current releases, including the Small Batch, a Barrel-Proof offering, an 18 y.o. offering, a 23 y.o. offering, and a distillery-only Barrel Select offering. Previous bottlings under this brand have also included the popular 12 y.o. age-stated Small Batch, 12 y.o. age-stated Barrel Proof, and 20, 21, and 22 y.o. offerings that have since been discontinued. Despite the Small Batch losing its age statement in 2016, due to demand outstripping supply, the barrel-proof offering still retains an age statement, as do the older releases such as the 18 and 23 y.o

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As the first barrel-proof offering from Heaven Hill, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof was released in 2013 as an uncut, minimally-filtered, and small batch bottling of 12y.o. bourbon bottled straight from the barrel without chill filtration. Being a limited-release product there are three releases each year in and around January, May, and September, with each batch bearing a batch number (since 2017) and a unique proof. This variance in proof between batches gives Elijah Craig fans a unique opportunity to explore the impact of the long ageing and resulting proof in a small batch of approximately 200 barrels. The first letter of the batch number indicates which of that year’s releases the bottle was a part of, starting with “A,” the second digit indicates the month of the year the bottle was released, and the third and fourth digits indicate the year.

Early in 2023 news broke that starting with the B523 batch Elijah Craig Barrel Proof will now be barreled in small batches with varying age statements. Similar to previous releases, each will still be non-chill filtered, uncut, and have its unique proof and profile. The big difference, however, will be the unique age statement that is promised will retain the extra-aged character that the whiskey is known for. To explain the decision behind the change, Heaven Hill claims that by varying both the age and the proof, bourbon aficionados get to “experience the consistency in quality across the series whilst allowing for the unique intricacies of each batch to pull forward.” Each release’s front label will now detail the age of the youngest barrel in the batch as legally required and will show the age of this bourbon down to the month, regardless of how large or small the quantity of the lowest aged barrels in the batch.

Today I’ll be looking at the first release of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof with this change in age statement released in May.

Vital Stats:

Name: Elijah Craig Small Batch Barrel Proof Bourbon (Batch B523)
Age: 11 years and 5 months old
Proof:  124.2 Proof (62.8% ABV)
Type: Kentucky straight bourbon
Mashbill: 78% Corn, 10% Rye, 12% Malted Barley
Producer: Heaven Hill Distillery, KY
Website:  https://elijahcraig.com/barrel-proof
Glassware: Glencairn

Review

Nose: The nose opens with deep caramels bordering on butterscotch and mixed with faintly herbaceous barrel notes, followed by black stone fruit, more herbaceous charred oak notes and a kick of ethanol spice. As you nose deeper, peppery rye and chocolate notes emerge as fruit and herbaceous notes become more prominent and fire-toasted almonds also emerge. 

Palate: The palate opens viscous with deep caramels, soft fruits, baking spices and a peppery warmth on the tip of the tongue. Fruits continue to build on the back of the tongue alongside thick syrup notes as the heat dissipates followed by toasted almonds, herbaceous oak and a touch of barrel char.

Finish: The finish opens with lingering warmth, caramel, tannic oak and a touch of fruit leading into a long aftertaste of herbaceous tannic oak, red and black fruits, caramels, and toasted almonds.

Overall

As the first release of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof without the hard 12y.o. minimum age statement I am hard-pressed to find a fault with this whiskey. Not only does it still have everything I would expect from Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, but when given a week to open up the best word to describe the profile is decadent. It’s robust, complex, and features a balanced blend of thick flavours with enough warmth to pull out the best from each. It has rich caramels bordering on butterscotch, soft stewed fruits, herbaceous barrel spices, and an oak-driven complexity that lingers long into the finish. In fact, this whiskey tastes so good that Heaven Hill were arguably correct when they said that dropping the hard 12y.o. age statement will only benefit the bourbon connoisseurs. Of course, I’m also sure they’ve ensured that the stocks used in such a controversial first release were second-to-none, but regardless of whether this is true, it’s difficult not to agree that dropping the 12y.o. requirement allows them to pull from younger high-quality stocks to create a rounder profile.

Compared to the A123 this release distinguishes itself with less oak spice on the palate, caramels bordering on butterscotch and softer fruit notes. This release is so decadent in fact I’d even argue that it doesn’t need any water added for drinkers to enjoy, it’s ready to enjoy as is for the best flavour experience – perfection.

As I write this review, I am also conscious that Heaven Hill has announced that the next release is set to be 13y.o. If this does happen then great, but either way they have shown that there’s room on either side of the original 12 y.o. age statement for a release that is still top quality. Unfortunately, only time, and further releases, will tell what kind of impact this change will have on Elijah Craig Barrel Proof as a premium release and although this change saddens me as a long-time fan, it appears that there will be no other major changes made in terms of providing drinkers with a barrel-proof experience that is as close to tasting whiskey straight from the barrel as is possible at home. I am also willing to go out on a limb and say that I’ve yet to be disappointed by any of the releases I’ve tasted to date so I imagine the teams behind these releases are well-versed in what they’re doing and will maintain quality even if the age statements are now another changing variable. It’s also worth mentioning to non-US fans that the barrel-proof single barrel picks and special bottling available in the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience have all been <12.y.o. and have been well-received. Considering this, I look forward to what they have in store for future releases and I hope we don’t see the quality being impacted. It also helps that they gave the 12y.o. age statement a proper send-off with the previous release, and hit a home run with this release, delivering an incredible barrel-proof bourbon experience that is as good as ever!

Try or Buy?

If you see it, buy it. With a wide distribution and a recommended price of $60 (£85 in the UK), if you can only get your hands on one bottle of premium barrel-proof bourbon from 2023 make it this. You could not ask for a better-priced bourbon and any barrel-proof whiskey fan not buying this is seriously missing out.