Spirit.Ed: Is Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel Review

Elijah Craig, a Kentucky bourbon brand with a storied history, has been in existence since 1986, while the person behind the name of the brand is credited by some as the inventor of the famed spirit. Among the brand’s expressions, Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel is one of the most coveted of its offerings, and we examine if it’s worth the hefty price tag.

I am breaking the Spirit.Ed wall to express that I’m a big fan of Heaven Hill Distillery, which produces some of my favorites, such as the brand’s always affordable Small Batch, Old Fitzgerald, the best rye for the price in Rittenhouse Rye, and Heaven Hill’s underrated champion, the Bottled In Bond. Whenever friends or associates ask me for a good starter bottle, I always suggest EC’s Small Batch. Where I live, this bottle is routinely under $30 and is fantastic neat, over a rock, or in a cocktail.

That brings me to Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel. I want to be clear that I was not given this bottle as a media professional. I actually won the bottle in an allocated lottery where I live, and I paid $143.99 before taxes. Now, some of you fat cats might think that’s not a lot of cash, but in my line of work, we’re not exactly rolling in the dough. So trust me when I say this was a much larger investment than I normally would make in the pursuit of good whiskey.

Considering that only a handful of barrels are aged at this level, the selection process is said to be meticulous. As is the case for single-barrel whiskies, every tapped cask will taste different from the other based on rickhouse location, the weather, and the wood from the barrel itself. My bottle is listed under the number 6722 just for clarity.

On the nose, there is a lot of oak from the onset, which makes sense given the age statement. After a reprieve, a second sniff reveals hints of vanilla, maybe a little honeysuckle, defintiely on the sweeter side. Some swirls and time in the glass gave off more wood than I normally would enjoy, but not terribly offensive.

The first sip, just to wake up the taste buds, gave way to hints of cinnamon, a little caramel, and some of that oak from the nose. While it was pleasant on entry, the finish disappeared so swiftly that it’s hard to find descriptors. Going back, the flavors of caramel are more pronounced, along with the drying nature of the oak. On the third, the vanilla notes come in on the initial sip, but the finish does not have one bit of staying power. The whiskey itself is initially tasty, powerfully thin in the middle, and vanishes swiftly in the end.

I don’t know if leaving a glass of whiskey out to air for an extended amount of time actually works, but I poured an ounce into one Glencairn for immediate sipping, and the other I let sit for 30 minutes with occasional swirls to see if there was a difference. I detected nothing largely different between the sips, although the one I allowed to breathe had a touch longer finish, and a lot drier than I expected.

Because of the price point and age statement, mixing drinks with this whiskey is defintiely not recommended. Further, the whiskey is proofed down to 90, and that alone means you’re going to get a thinner product for the money.

Is it worth the purchase? If spending north of $140 doesn’t make your pockets send an alert to your brain, sure. I would venture to say that a better option is to find one of the brand’s barrel proof or store picks in your respective regions, which normally come higher than 100 proof at least. I believe if this whiskey were proofed at 100 and priced $50 less, I could justify the cost.

Am I glad I have a bottle? Certainly. Would I buy another? That depends on my finances at the moment.

To learn more about Elijah Craig, click here.

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Photo: DLC [Header]/EC [Thumbnail]