🥃Review #6: Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey 1.75L bottle

🛒Sourced: Costco 52.99 - 1.75L

🧪Proof: 94 📚Background: Heaven Hill's mainstay named after Reverend Elijah Craig himself, the man credited with first using charred oak barrels to age whiskey. ECSB is made using Level 3 charred barrels (35 second burn) which is fairly typical despite it's use in the manufacturer copy. Currently a blend of 8-12 year old whiskey, HH dropped the 12-year age statement in 2016, likely due to increased demand for the more premium EC offerings. 🥔Mash Bill: 78% Corn, 12% malt barley, 10% rye. An Elijah Craig or Larceny barrel hunt will cull out 200 barrels or less to be dumped and mingled.

👃Nose: Some reasonable complexity here, not much alcohol, vanilla bean and fruited sweetness. 😛Palate: Smooth and even throughout with mild warmth. Wood character with some spices, nutmeg is the official consensus and I agree. Finish is very sweet. ✍Notes on use: I would drink this neat, with a small ice cube, or in a lower dilution cocktail. Might want a little more proof for a good old fashioned or Manhattan, personal preference. It doesn't take much to blow up the nuances in this pour. 🏆Overall: 5.5/10- Average Plus - With a laundry list of Awards and Distinctions, ECSB is a solid daily driver and does have a good amount of wood character due to the older barrels in the blend. 48.99 at Total Wine and I think I paid a little more than that at Costco, not a bad way to spend it but if you're value maxing there are other options. If you like this bottle, the barrel proof offerings are a must.... maybe even if you didn't like this bottle, Elijah Craig's other offerings are solid to the extreme.

💵Would buy again? No, I'll spend on the higher end Elijah Craig Options

Rating Scale:

1 Undrinkable

2 Bad

3 Poor

4 Below Average

5 Average

6 Above Average

7 Very Good

8 Great

9 Excellent
10 Perfect

🍺 Costco's Kirkland Vintage Ale 2025 - Review & Tasting Notes

Fall is in the air, and that means we have yet another year of Kirkland's Vintage Ale! Brewed proudly by Deschutes (pronounced "Da-Shootz") in Bend, Oregon, this Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout spends nine months in the wood, picking up what the whiskey left behind (mostly vanillin and tannins). Bottled over the summer, this particular beer is from Lot B. Neither Costco nor the packaging give us much additional detail beyond the ABV and style. I remember finding last year 's edition to be solid but nothing to write home about, fairly dry but a pleasant pour. The use of the work "vintage" to me implies that some changes may be made year-to-year but we'll have to see if our taste buds can help us validate. How does the 2025 vintage fair? 💅Style: Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout 🛒Sourced: $7.99 Costco, GA for a 22oz bottle. $2 cheaper than the 2024 edition! 💥Hops: Not Mentioned sadly. Other ingredients include chocolate malt, milled oats and Dutc...

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🥃Review #20 Elijah Craig Barrel Proof - Private Barrel Distiller's Selection

📚 Background: Released in three batches per year, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey is almost always a hit with aficionados. Barrel proof means that, of course, the whiskey is not cut with water after being dumped from the barrel. The "Private Barrel" moniker further tells you that not the barrel was specially selected and not batched or blended. This can cut both ways as single barrel whiskies sometimes differ significantly from their batched counterparts which have the benefit of distiller curation to even out any off notes. If your local store owner's tastes align with yours, their barrel picks may be better than anything else you can find. On the other hand, a less conscientious selector may pick you a big loser of a barrel. This bottle comes from Costco which means that the private barrel is a "distiller's selection" and not picked by a Costco employee specifically. Typically for these big releases the manufacturer will try...

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