Elijah Craig Barrel Proof and Stagg Jr are two of the most widely recommended, non private store pick, barrel proof bourbons on the market today. They were introduced around the same time, are about equally as obtainable, and priced similarly. While Stagg Jr got off to a bumpy start with its first two releases, since then quality has stabilized and the batches now are consistently pretty good. Elijah Craig Barrel proof on the other hand came out of the gate swinging and up to this point reigns as the best bang for your buck barrel proof bourbon on the market. Given its high age and proof, I've even gone so far as to say it's the next best thing to George T. Stagg because I find a lot of similarities between them. No runs last forever though and last year there was a batch of ECBP (A117) that while good I felt was a step down in quality. That surprised me since up to the point, every single batch had been consistently awesome. With that in mind, I've been a little more leery about assuming every release will be a knockout.
Fast forward to a couple months ago when I happened upon the latest batch of Stagg Jr. The moment I tasted it I instantly knew it was fantastic. That got me thinking - had the folks over at Buffalo Trace finally been able to put out a better non limited release barrel proof offering that Heaven Hill? Armed with a few weeks of notes and both bottles on their last leg I tasted them side by side one last time to decide a winner.
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C917
Aged 12 Years; 65.5% ABV; $60
Nose: Really hot initially, almost too hot. After a lot of air, it's woody and sweet like a vanilla custard.
Taste: A lot of oak up front, hefty dose of typical syrupy sweet wood flavors like caramel, honey, and vanilla in the middle, then a nutty oak heavy finish. There is a bit of a rye spice bite that rides the finish along with all that oak. The finish is also a touch heavy handed with dry oak and a slight bitterness.
Thoughts: It's pretty good but certainly not the best batch of this I've had. I've been picking up nutty flavors in Heaven Hill more and more lately which is no surprise since supposedly their yeast shares a family lineage with Beam. This isn't nearly as peanutty as most Beam whiskeys like Knob Creek or Bookers but it does detract from what is normally a wood sugar bomb. Beyond that, I'm finding the aggressive wood profile here just a touch overwhelming due to a slight drying bitterness.
Rating: B / B+
Stagg Jr Batch 9 (131.9)
No Age Statement; 65.95% ABV; $50
Nose: Pretty beastly also but not as hot as the ECBP. More pronounced cherry, less oak, and more sugary sweet notes than the ECBP.
Taste: Cherries, cherries, cherries, and oak. The finish lingers with sugary cherries and other wood sugars. There is a lot of wood depth here which makes me think this is older than previous batches.
Thoughts: This is probably the batch of Stagg Jr I've ever had. It has a lot of wood presence but isn't completely dominated by oak notes. The fruity cherry notes also give it more complexity beyond just your typical bourbon sweets. Having just finally tried the 2017 release of George T. Stagg last night, this is right up there in terms of quality. I hate to give Buffalo Trace anymore hype than they already receive but this is a hell of a bourbon.
Rating: A-
Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.
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