Distillery: Heaven Hill
Proof: 123.6
Age: 12 Yrs
Mashbill: 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley
BACKGROUND: Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is a limited release from Heaven Hill. It is a rye based bourbon whiskey bottled at cask strength 3 times per year, in January, May, and September. It was brought to market in 2013 as a competitor to Jim Beam's Booker's, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, and other long running cask strength rye based bourbons. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is a 12 year old cask strength bourbon whiskey which has always had great reviews. A121 is the first release of A121 and we are very excited to be one of the first large review companies to review it for you all. Huge thanks to Buy-Rite liquors in Holmdel, NJ for helping us get our hands on this bottle.
NOSE: An absolute fruit bomb! Wafting up from the glass are rich and deep notes reminiscent of a fresh blueberry and plum pie! Accompanying the fruit is rich notes of maple, hibiscus flower, and caramel. There are rich oak and leather notes that show the age of this whiskey. Overall, this is an incredible nose with sweet, rich, and dark fruit notes that bring together the age and mash bill. There is no burn but the proof does a great job of making the nose bold. (24/25)
PALATE: As soon as A121 touched my tongue there was an immediate chewy richness that was incredible. Unlike the fruit-bomb that was the nose, the palate was made up of much drier flavors such as tootsie rolls, leather, cayenne, cinnamon, and charred oak. There was also a nuttiness to it that reminded me of the aftertaste from fresh, homemade peanut brittle. A121 has a thick and chewy mouthfeel with a flavor profile that amplifies the age, oak, and complex leather, cinnamon, and rye based spice notes you can get from a cask strength bourbon whiskey. (35/40)
FINISH: The finish is very long and chewy with notes of cracked pepper, cinnamon, oak, and peanut brittle. It is warms you up right away but doesn't burn going down. It left our mouth's watery and craving another sip. (23/25)
VALUE: With an SRP of $60 this is a great value for a 12 year age stated, cask strength, and consistently delicious and rich bourbon whiskey. (8/10)
Overall: 90/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A121 was an absolute home run! This whiskey was incredible and reminded us that not all cask strength, age stated whiskeys needs to be $100+. We strongly recommend you grabbing this bottle for yourself if you see it near SRP; especially if you are a fan of leather, oak, and cinnamon notes. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is consistently one of our favorite releases and this one was no different.
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Four Roses Barrel Strength OESK
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Little Book Chapter 4: Lesson's Honored
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C919
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Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
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