Elijah Craig Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Review

In the last review we chatted about widely spread whiskey tropes and today we find ourselves in similar territory with the Elijah Craig Small Batch.

Elijah Craig was a Baptist preacher and an entrepreneur from Virginia who moved to Kentucky in the 1780’s and built the first paper and wool mills in Georgetown, Kentucky and as lore would have it, he’s the ‘Father of Bourbon’.

The story goes that an accidental fire charred the inside of his storage barrels at one of his mills and instead of discarding the barrels he used them to store his corn whiskey and discovered that this improved the flavour of the whiskey, in so doing bourbon was born.

While this is a nice story there is absolutely no historical evidence to back up the claim. However it is acknowledged that as an entrepreneur and distiller his efforts were pivotal in the development of the whiskey industry as a whole.

Heaven Hill only launched the brand in 1986 and it was launched as a 12 year old expression just as bourbon’s popularity was starting to wane but Heaven Hill were willing to gamble that bourbons popularity would rise again….which of course did happen….in fact Elijah Craig 12 year old became so popular that in 2016 the age statement was removed and the Small Batch was born so that they could pull whiskey from barrels that 8 year and older.

Elijah Craig Small Batch 47% abv / 94 proof   $27 £20.50 €23.50

From Heaven Hill Distillery 

Mash bill – 78% corn, 12% malted barley, 10% rye

A blend of 8 to 12 year old whiskey, each batch between 100-200 barrels.

Nose: Sweet, light and slightly woody – Vanilla, caramel, peanut brittle, marshmallow, ginger and allspice. Some citrus in the form of lemon slices and an earthy mustiness. New leather. There is oakiness here but it is mild.

Palate: A little thin on the arrival – that peanut brittle note is present again alongside wintergreen, cask char, vanilla and some sweet peach tea. White pepper, ginger and a smidgen of oak tannins.

Finish: Short with allspice, caramel and mild oak.

Score: 5 out of 10

Overall: Not the most complex bourbon in the world but it’s very drinkable. Not as expressive as the old 12 year old was but definitely fine for a daily sipper or a go to cocktail base.

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