Bourbon Review: Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel

The Reverend Elijah Craig is one of bourbon whiskey's great mythological figures, and Heaven Hill distilleries keeps his name alive through their bourbon. Craig settled in Scott County, Kentucky in 1782. As the story goes, Baptist ministers on the cash-strapped frontier such as Craig received their tithes in the form of grain and other foodstuffs, and converted that into money by distilling the grain into whiskey. Craig is known to have started a distillery in 1789, but what makes him a bourbon legend is that Craig is often attributed with discovering the key bourbon-making step of aging corn whiskey in charred oak barrels.

Heaven Hill claims that their premium Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel bourbon is the only single barrel bourbon in the world that is aged for so long, and as far as a production label is concerned they are correct. There are some special editions and craft bourbons that are aged longer, but nothing that is in regular production. The barrels of standard Elijah Craig, already aged for 12 years, are selected by Parker and Craig Beam, set aside and aged for a further six years.

The Bourbon
The nose is very smooth, fragrant and with a subtle, sweet honey scent. One expects an 18 year old bourbon to have mellowed some, but this is not the case with Elijah Craig 18 Year Single Barrel. There are bourbons far stronger and much younger than Elijah Craig 18 Year's 45% alcohol content that are much more mellow. The taste still has some bite in it, but it is not harsh. The smoky element of the flavor is very strong, but not so much that it rubs out the vanilla. Some sweetness remains on the palate as an aftertaste, so despite the bite this bourbon does not burn on its way down. Overall, it is an enchanting bourbon, although its charms will be lost on the non-aficionado.

Awards
Since its introduction several years ago, Elijah Craig 18 Year Single Barrel has been scooping up medals. Its most recent accolade (as well as its best) was to win a Double Gold Medal at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

The Price
Bottles of Elijah Craig 18 Year Single Barrel normally retail for between $40 and $50, and for rarely more than $55. Considering that 2/3s of the bourbon evaporates as the "angel's share" before bottling, that is a huge bargain. This is a fine bottle of bourbon with plenty of bang for the buck.

Sources: personal experience; heaven-hill.com/brands-bourbon.html; bardstownwhiskeysociety.com/brands/elijah-craig-single-barrel.php