Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C918, Knob Creek Single Barrel "The Green Monstah", and Stagg Jr Batch 10 (126.4) Reviews

The state of American whiskey in 2019 is a weird place. The demand for allocated bottles has been in a fever pitch and seems to have no end in sight. Even worse, the list of whiskeys that are now considered allocated has become a sad state of affairs. A quick look the recent influx of posts on /r/whiskyporn that are treating bourbons like Weller Special Reserve and Blanton's as coveted major scores has anyone that's been around a while thinking we've hit rock bottom yet despite that sentiment the WTFs just keep coming.

But for all the silly shit that is happening in the whiskey scene, there are some bright spots, and one of those is that we are in a golden age of well aged, high proof, decently priced, not impossible to find bourbons and ryes. There are so many more good high proof options today than there were 6-7 years ago and even with the crazy demand, most of them are not that hard to come by. So with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to compare three popular options against each other, all of which I was able to find at retail just by walking into a shop, no special favors required.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C918

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; Aged 12 years; 65.7% ABV; $75

Nose: Woody and sweet, just like what you should expect from a twelve year old cask strength bourbon.

Taste: Lots of lush sweet caramel up front and some rye spice bite in the backend. The ever increasing peanut note I am getting in Heaven Hill these days is there in the form of peanut butter marshmallow smores. The finish lingers for quite a while with an oak laden sweet spice punch. There is plenty of wood depth there but there are also twangs of a younger, green wood taste that I sometimes get in this product's younger brother, Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond.

Thoughts: This is good but if I am going off memory it is far from the most complex ECBP I've ever had. The touch of green wood is the biggest detractor here for me, I don't recall ever getting that in the older ones. It's probably just me but I feel like these just aren't as good as the releases from 2-3 years ago. Still a very solid high proof bourbon and if found a retail is a buy on sight for me.

Rating: B/B+

Knob Creek Single Barrel "The Green Monstah" Selected by Barrels & Brews

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; Aged 15 years 1 month (label is incorrect); 60% ABV; $50

Nose: A remarkable balance of a ton of wood and just as much sweetness. Very, very good.

Taste: Sweet nutty flavors like peanut brittle with lots and lots of oak. It's a bit dry but there is a lot of flavor to make up for that without being bitter. The finish rides out with dark cocoa sweet vibes and touches of rye spice but again it's super oaky and yet just as sweet. Not much to say other than it's a flavor bomb.

Thoughts: I've had mixed results with these older aged Knob Creek Single Barrels but this one is a home run for me. I did a bottle split of Booker's 30th with a friend and this is easily better for me and probably the best Knob Creek Single Barrel I've had yet. The Barrels & Brews guys have been doing a hell of a job with their selections and this one is no different. 

Rating: B+

Stagg Jr Batch #10

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; No Age Statement; 63.20% ABV; $50

Nose: A sweeter, fruitier nose than the other two which make sense given the likely age of 9ish years. Cherries, peaches, stone fruits, and woody caramel.

Taste: A balanced, classic taste of bourbon with an equal combo of fruit, sweet, and oak. Sugary salted fruit pie crust comes to mind for the sweet notes along with just enough wood depth to balance things out.

Thoughts: This is a completely different vibe than the ECBP and KCSiB which makes sense since it the youngest in the bunch. That's not necessarily a bad thing here though as it's able to showcase more dimensions that just being an oak bomb. This isn't as good as Batch 9 which I still think is the best release of Stagg Jr yet but this is a quality product that I think as time goes by is slowly but surely chipping away at ECBP as the most consistent best bang for your buck high proof bourbon. At retail, these are a buy on sight for me all day long.

Rating: B

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Elijah Craig Barrel Select 125 Proof Review

Here today we have a gift shop only release from the folks over at Heaven Hill which is affectionately referred to as the Elijah Craig "hand grenade" for obvious reasons. It seems this product exists solely for the purpose of gift shop distribution which I think is great - I wish more distillery gift shops would do bottle sizes like this. The standard Elijah Craig dropped an age statement a couple years ago but is still a blend of 8+ year old stock. I actually like the new blend better than the old age statement product simply because it's not as oak forward / bitter. I'm expecting this is a higher proof version of the current standard product and as such I expect it will be pretty good.

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; No Age Statement; 62.5% ABV; $25 / 200ml

Nose: A bit hot for 125 proof - the ethanol is very noticeable. Underneath that it is a wallop of wood and maple syrup sugary notes which are reminiscent of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.

Taste: Upfront taste is more of the same from the nose, a ton of woody sugar notes. Lots of oak but it's not overly bitter or dry. Along with all that wood influence are syrupy sweet notes for days - it's like drinking bourbon pancakes. The finish is a lot of those woody and sweet notes but there are also traces of ashy char and harsh ethanol which are just a touch too hot for my taste.

Thoughts: This is good but not great. It's not as elegant or easy as the standard Elijah Craig nor is it as bold / punch you in the mouth as the 12 year Barrel Proof. As such, it seems to kinda dance around in the middle without much of an identity. It wants to be brash and it has the proof to be so but it's missing all the wood punch that makes that boldness work for the Barrel Proof. It's a nice novelty product but I won't be clamoring for them to release anything like this nationwide anytime soon.

Rating: B / B-

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C917 vs Stagg Jr Batch 9 (131.9) Side By Side Reviews

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+

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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.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B517 (124.2) Review

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Elijah Craig is the best bang for your buck barrel proof bourbon that is somewhat accessible. While over the years I believe Heaven Hill has done a great job keeping the quality consistent, that changed a little bit with the last batch. Based on feedback from other reviewers, I did a side by side of the A117 vs. an older batch and the A117 was a noticeable step down. By all means it was still a good bourbon that on its own was very enjoyable but when scrutinized it was lacking in the proofy, bold, deeply woody oak bomb category which is the hallmark of the product. Given that experience, I go into the latest release dubbed B517 with some slight skepticism but hopeful A117 was an outlier. My fears are slightly heightened by the fact that this release is the lowest proof batch yet. 

Aged 12 years; 62.1% ABV; special thanks to /u/ctarbox for the bottle

Nose: A wallop of sweets like burnt caramel sugars and oak. Smells about right for cask strength and 12 years old which is to say pretty damn good.

Taste: A mirror image of the nose. Huge waves of burnt caramel, honey, oak, and a bit of spicy pepper bite in the finish. The finish lingers with a lot of wood but it's not overly bitter. I'm not really getting a lot of darker fudgy sweets that I usually look for in these though. 

Thoughts: I tasted this alongside the batches from my previous review so here are side by side thoughts on all three: 

• A117 - Same complaint as previous reviews, it drinks slanted towards a younger profile and is a less deep and rich version than is typical for these. Rating: B
• B517 - The most balanced of the group and rather nice. Not quite a wood bomb but very oaky with lots of sweets. Also has some spicy heat but drinks the easiest of the three. A step back in the right direction over this year's previous release. Rating: B / B+
• Batch 11 - Still significantly better than the last two batches. Bold, rich, punch you in the mouth flavors so it's not as balanced as the B517 but it's a straight up sweet oak bomb with loads of wood depth and dark fudge notes that are very reminiscent of George T. Stagg. Rating: A-

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof #11 (139.4) and #13 A117 (127.0) Reviews

I've repeatedly said Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is the best semi-available bang for your buck barrel proof bourbon out there. I easily put it over the other similar contenders like Stagg Jr and Colonel Taylor Barrel proof. It's the next best thing to my favorite yearly release, George T. Stagg and it's a lot easier to obtain. Having sampled or worked through a bottle of all of the batches, I also happen to think that it's been a super consistent product since day one. But whiskey nerds being whiskey nerds, there's been some muttering lately that the latest batch (which also happens to be the lowest proof released yet) isn't as good as previous releases. I didn't really buy into that as I remember those same comments about the 128 proof batch which I thought was just as great as any of the others. So in the interest of science I pulled an older batch out of the bunker and tasted them side by side. I'm going into this with the assumption that the higher proof batch is probably a little better but the differences won't be substantial. 

Batch 11: Aged 12 years; 69.7% ABV; $60

Batch 13/A117: Aged 12 years; 63.5% ABV; $60

Color: It's hard to tell from the pictures but the 139.4 batch is a shade darker than the latest one. That's not really surprising as it's nearly 6% more alcohol by volume. 

Nose: Batch 13 is more mild but still has a pretty high amount of heat. It's also more sweet forward with typical bourbon caramel and vanilla and smells younger with a little bit of fruitiness. Batch 11 is hot and boozy, smells like a high proof super oak forward bruiser of a bourbon with lots of wood spice. There is some sweetness here but it's dark like cocoa powder. 

Taste: Batch 13 has quite a bit of peanut on the front which is something I used to only get in Beam bourbon but am picking up more and more in Heaven Hill products. It's proof heavy with a wallop of typical bourbon sweet notes and a slight rye spice bite in the finish. I would have guessed about 10 years old blind. Batch 11 on the other hand kicks things into a much higher gear. The viscosity is thicker and the sweet notes are more on the burnt caramel side rather than straight up caramel. It's also more dark cocoa than vanilla and the wood influence has more prominence/depth. This one certainly tastes 12 years old, maybe even a bit older and encroaching on a George T. Stagg profile. 

Thoughts: Tasting it on its own I had said I thought this new batch was up to par but after this comparison I can't stand by that. That's not to say that it's bad, it's still a really good bourbon that by itself is pretty tasty. Compared with a beefier batch though it's thinner, has less oak influence, and has more young fruity notes instead of the dark fudgy chocolate oak bomb that I've come to expect in this line. Having said all that, I think I picked the nearly the worst possible candidate for this side by side because batch 11 is a real knockout, maybe one of the best in the line. All in all though I still feel like this a relatively consistent product, certainly more consistent than Stagg Jr which was all over the place in the first three batches. Comparison aside, that batch 11 though... whew man is it good. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's that kind of experience that makes this product the next best thing to George T. Stagg.

Rating Batch 11: B+ / A-

Rating Batch 13: B

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Elijah Craig Small Batch Review

Elijah Craig is a product that's seen a lot of changes over the last few years. First the 12 year age statement was moved to the small print on the back label. Not long after that the 12 year age statement dropped completely. Then here today we have a newly introduced bottle design that I don't care for at all. Not only do I dislike the new bottle shape but the marketing bullshit slathered all over the front label rubs me all kinds of wrong ways. Sure Elijah Craig was a distiller hundreds of years ago but there's no proof that he's the "Father of Bourbon" and many noted American whiskey authorities doubt he was making anything different from his peers. Further damaging to this claim is information from bourbon historian Mike Veach that it's unlikely Craig was even barreling his whiskey because during his time whiskey was taxed by the amount produced rather than the amount sold so barrel aging would be lost profits. Beyond that, the "first to char oak barrels" bit on the label is complete poppycock as well since the French were charring oak barrels to make cognac as far back as the 15th century. 

Marketing driven label poop is the norm these days so despite that, I like Heaven Hill well enough as they haven't done much wrong by me. I got my introduction to the Elijah Craig brand 7 or so years ago when the 18 year was an incredible value at ~$50 so things got off to a good start. I'm also a huge fan of Barrel Proof as I think that is the best semi-available, sub $100, consistent, cask strength product you can buy. I was never really a fan of Elijah Craig 12 however as I always thought it was a bit too oak heavy. While that works for me in the barrel proof, when cut with water it's just a completely different experience. Now that this product is a no age statement blend though I'm expecting a less oaky experience and have higher hopes I will enjoy it.

No Age Statement

47% ABV

$33

Nose: Smells like your standard, middle aged, rye based bourbon. Vanilla, caramel, rye spice bite. It smells like a 10-12 year old bourbon with little perceptible young or grainy new make notes. If I had one complaint it does breath a little warm for only being 94 proof which is surprising because this bottle has been open a while and is nearly gone. 

Taste: Tastes like it smells. All classic bourbon notes here. Lots of oak, drinks about like a blended average of 10-11 years. Sweet vanilla/honey/caramel in the front, oak tannins in the middle, and a finish of slight rye spice, darker sweets like cocoa, and lots more oak. The palate is not as heat forward as the nose but it is still a touch hotter than I think it should if I'm being nit picky. It might even be still too oak forward for my tastes at times.

Thoughts: An incredibly okay bourbon. Plain, simple, familiar, comforting - no more, no less. While some may be upset that it no longer bears that 12 year age statement, I think I like the no age statement version better. I don't think it's as much as a bitter oak bomb as the previous version though I am just going off memory. I think this can old its own with other classics like Blanton's so when considering the price, this is a good value. A few bucks more though and you are in Four Roses Single Barrel price territory which I would take all day long over this.

Rating: C+ / B-

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating. 

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof #9 (135.6) Review

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is the uncut version of what used to be Elijah Craig 12. That product has since lost its age statement but per Heaven Hill, the barrel proof version will continue to be age stated. Given the crazy market for bourbon we live in right now though your guess is as good as mine as to how long that will last.

Since its release back in 2013, there have been 10 different batches of the barrel proof product. The batches can be distinguished by the proof so if you want to know which one you have, bourbonr maintains a nice cheat sheet mapping proofs to batch numbers. Though it’s not what I would call easy to find, this product has enjoyed some success in that it’s not as difficult to obtain as other more limited releases like the Antique Collection or Parker’s Heritage Collection. Because of that accessibility, I’ve been able to obtain or sample every batch minus the latest one. In my experience, even when including the lowest and highest proof batches, they’ve all been very good and consistently in the same wheelhouse of quality.

Aged 12 years; 67.8% ABV; $56

Nose: Needs a lot of air time before the intense ethanol dies down. Once you get over that - heaps of wood, dark fudgy sweets, and dark fruits.

Taste: Just like the nose with a thick and chewy mouthfeel. Dark wood sugars, dark fruits, chocolate fudge, and cherries are the prominent flavors. It tastes old enough to have absorbed a ton of wood sugar flavors without being overly tannic or having any of the musty / funky flavors that come with too much age like in the 18+ year versions of this line. Taste-wise it reminds me in a lot of ways of my favorite annual release, George T. Stagg.

Thoughts: A high proof oak bomb. If you can handle the heat and don’t mind the intense woodiness, you’ll be rewarded with tons of flavors. I have to give Heaven Hill some praise for maintaining such consistency through all the different batches which is more than can be said about similar products from Buffalo Trace. Given the price point, quality, and availability of this product, it gets my vote for best in class over competitors such as Stagg Jr and Colonel Taylor Barrel Proof.

Rating: A- / B+

Value: As always, I don’t factor price into my ratings. At retail or somewhere close to it, this bottle is a good buy. I’ve paid as much as $70 off the shelf and have no regrets.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof 133.2 (3rd Release) Review

Up for my fifth review is Elijah Craig Barrel proof. I have fond memories of the Elijah Craig 18 year Single Barrels from the past and I'm a big fan of barrel strength whiskey so I was greatly looking forward to trying this one. 

66.6% ABV; Aged 12 years; $55

Nose: Huge sweet wafts of booze soaked cherry, think cherry Nyquil. Hints of candied roasted nuts. For being 133 proof, the heat is tolerable. Just by the heat index I would have never guessed the proof is so high but the intensity of the sweetness gives it away as a big boy.

Taste: Big licorice spice and heat in the front palette. The cherry from the nose makes a big appearance but this time deeper, richer, and more like dark cherries. Very, very drinkable considering the proof. Light cocoa notes come in on the end of the palette. The feel is rich and velvety, incredibly satisfying.
Finish: More cocoa lingers but this time darker and more bitter. The cherries are still there but less sweet and more fermented. The finish is little shorter than I would have liked given how intense the nose and taste proved to be. The finish is where this one falls just a little short for me. The flavor subsides quicker than I would like leaving the heat to rear its head.
Notes: I really, really like this one. I’m a huge fan of barrel strength bourbons and my litmus test with them is always whether I feel like I want to add any water. I enjoy the deep, sweet, thick flavor so much I can’t bring myself to cut it which is a win for me. Against the other barrel proof monsters this year, I’d put this leaps and bounds over the Stagg Jr. I still don’t think it is quite as good as the EH Taylor Barrel Strength but only by the slightest margin. The Taylor is just a little more well rounded, especially on the finish. That is really just splitting hairs though. Considering that the Taylor is about $30 a bottle more, the Elijah Craig is certainly the smarter buy. 
Rating: A- / B+