Elijah Craig 18 Year Single Barrel bourbon is a steal at a price of $45 when compared to other bourbons that have been aged for at least a decade. Sadly, it appears that this bottle was discontinued a while ago and may or may not be coming back. In an earlier blind bourbon tasting I compared it Elmer T Lee, with Elmer winning the battle. It had been a while since I tried the EC18 so I though it was worth revisiting to see if it's flavor, or my palate, had changed any. Let's see how it tasted...
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| Elijah Craig 18 Single Barrel |
Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel - Tasting Notes
Nose: Prominent oak & leather up front with almonds, citrus, maple and chocolate just below the surface. Everything hiding beneath the leather is what I love in a bourbon.
Palate: Slight spice with sweet maple and candy corn flavor. As it lingers in the mouth, the age shows itself with some oaky, leathery, nutty, almost tannic flavors.
Finish: The sweetness of the palate dissipates quickly as some brief spice and lingering, leathery bitterness take over. There are some heavy char notes along with wood tannins that come on too strongly at the finish.
Proof: 90 (45% ABV)
Price: ~$45
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| Barrel info for my Elijah Craig 18-yr |
As evidenced by the nearly empty bottle in the photo, I really want to like this bourbon and gave it a lot of chances. I also offered it up to friends to see if they could catch something I wasn't - they didn't. The subtleties of the nose below the leather are outstanding, as is the palate. Unfortunately the finish is just too bitter for me, and the smoke & leather on the nose overpower the other delightful aspects. Keep in mind that since this is a single barrel product it will vary from batch to batch so I may have a different opinion altogether if I had a different barrel/bottle. I've seen some reviews that rave about this bourbon and don't mention much bitterness so I'm inclined to think I may have gotten a rough barrel or a corked bottle... keep that in mind if you put any weight behind my rating - average nose, great palate, awful finish.
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