Elijah Craig 12 yo Bourbon

Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 12 yo, 750ml, 94 proof, old time "medicine" style big mouth bottle, about $16 in PA. Available nationwide.



I have long said that Elijah Craig is the best buy in bourbon but there are some who don't feel that way. I think that this and the Evan Williams 12 are the best 12 year olds that are produced by the Heaven Hill distillery .

After smoking two candelas for jgohlke's review page I needed something strong to clean out the memory of those sticks and Elijah Craig fit the bill just fine. Here in PA you can get a bottle of Elijah Craig on sale for just over $14 out the door, pretty damn good for a 12 year old bourbon. Once in a while they even put the 1.75L bottle on sale for $28!

At 94 proof EC has a nice kick straight, can handle some ice and even, God forbid, handle being mixed in a cocktail. The nosing is improved considerably by letting the glass sit for 5-10 minutes. Having done so, the nose is fruity, minty with a touch of sea breeze. Tasting brings up the high rye mash bill in some nice spicy notes floating on a deep brown sugar base. The sweetness carries over to the finish mixing with normal bourbon vanilla and a trace of mint from the nosing. It is very long and has a very limited alcohol burn from the higher then normal proof.

Of all the bourbons I own, this is the one I buy the most of and one of the few that the wife likes too. IMO you can't go wrong with a bottle of Elijah Craig on your shelf. An ACE!

I've not had many bourbons, but this one is my favorite. It has a place in my cabinet. :thumbs:

As always, a great review!

LilBastage said:

I've not had many bourbons, but this one is my favorite. It has a place in my cabinet. :thumbs:

As always, a great review!

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x2!
On of my favorites!
Thanks for the review bro!!! :thumbs:

Thank you for the review, AVB. I need to purchase a bottle of this at some point. Damn, there is always something to buy, isn't there?

Thanks for the great review. I really enjoy this bourbon, at that price it is hard to resist.

Ken

Nice review AVB...
I really like Elijah Craig 12 yr old bourbon.
It's a good bourbon especially at that price point.

Well done AVB, I hope to snag a bottle of this today and give it a shot. Thanks!

I usually avoid whiskies in this price range thinking they are not suitable to drink neat. After reading this review I'll reconsider.

As always, thanks for taking the time.

Well I picked this up today and I have to say that once again AVB, you are right on the money. This is a fantastic bourbon that I never would of guessed was to be had for less then 20$. Your description matched my thoughts, and I have to say that the finish is almost as good as I have had. Very nice, this will not leave my liquor cabinet.

I feel so loved :blush:

denverdog said:

Well I picked this up today and I have to say that once again AVB, you are right on the money. This is a fantastic bourbon that I never would of guessed was to be had for less then 20$. Your description matched my thoughts, and I have to say that the finish is almost as good as I have had. Very nice, this will not leave my liquor cabinet.

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I may not wait for Satch to arrive before I invite myself to tour the man room!

NullSmurf said:

denverdog said:

Well I picked this up today and I have to say that once again AVB, you are right on the money. This is a fantastic bourbon that I never would of guessed was to be had for less then 20$. Your description matched my thoughts, and I have to say that the finish is almost as good as I have had. Very nice, this will not leave my liquor cabinet.

Click to expand...

I may not wait for Satch to arrive before I invite myself to tour the man room!

Click to expand...

You know its an open invitation. Stop working so much and play a little.

I picked up a bottle of this at BevMo this weekend. I'd never tried it before but was intrigued after reading the review since I've always appreciated a good bourbon. When I got home I was getting out of my car and grabbed the paper bag containing the bottle. As I walked away from my car the bottom of the bag ripped open and the bottle hit the pavement like a bomb. It shattered instantly splashing bourbon all over my shoes. I could not believe this just happened. Thank GOD it wasn't a real expensive bottle, but that didn't make me feel much better. It was still a great loss as far as I was concerned. And to make matters worse, there was a couple walking right by me when this all happened, which was quite embarrassing. They probably figured I was some drunk rushing to get home to drink my bottle. I still can't believe that happened. What a disappointment. And that bottle was the last one they had at the BevMo where I got it so I couldn't just go and get another.

Damn! The only thing I can say is that there will be more available soon.

Elijah Craig is indeed very underrated. I almost picked up a bottle today when I was looking for the Jim Beam Operation Homefront bottle. The only reason that I did not buy it was that I am still finishing a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black and I have a bottle of Wild Turkey that I am also working through...

One thing that can certainly be said about Heaven Hill is that they have a way of keeping prices down - even on good stuff! Elijah Craig gets my vote.

I picked up a bottle of this yesterday, and found heavy cork residue around the neck of the bottle after I removed the cork, and a pretty badly deteriorated cork. The bourbon had a nice nose, but a very strong distinctive woody-ish flavor, with an almost metallic bitter bite. I went back today to pick up a fresh bottle, and the cashier tried to tell me that the original bourbon was completely fine, and that the cork shouldnt effect the flavor in any way. In his words the cork paste on the neck, "just looks bad, but its fine". When I opened the fresh bottle, I find the cork was mildly deteriorated, but did not actually have chucks falling out. It had the same woody favor with a bitter bite. After a little googling of corked bourbon in general, I found a couple other mentions of corked bottles of Elijah Craig in the last few months. I just thought I would see if anyone here had run across any similar problems.

Hmmm. Good review, and feedback, quite affordable. Hard to talk myself out of it. :laugh:

Will have to give this a shot. I agree with your view on Evan Williams. Always searching for a decent bourbon on a college-kid budget

This is a regular at my house. Good enough to drink on the rocks, but cheap enough that I don't mind my wife mixing it with Ginger Ale!

I got a bottle of this not long ago and I also like it. Going through it faster then any of my other bottles. Pour, drop in a ice cube and drink.