Elijah Craig Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B-

Heaven Hill chose to kick off 2020 in interesting fashion, with a brand extension of Elijah Craig that carried the line in an entirely new direction: to rye whiskey. My sample bottle was accompanied by a small loaf of bread, made because Heaven Hill’s master distiller Conor O’Driscoll is quite a baker and baking a loaf of bread is a classic tool for testing a traditional mash bill.

That isn’t to say Elijah Craig Rye is made with a new mash bill, because it’s not. It’s the same 51% rye, 35% corn, 14% barley recipe that Rittenhouse and Pikesville are made from. Truth be told, it reminded me of certain cornbreads I had in Portugal, which are not made in the American style and more bread than corn.

So where does Elijah Craig Rye fit into the family of Heaven Hill made whiskeys? No information has been released on its age and it is a no age statement (NAS) whiskey, but as part of the Elijah Craig line it is intended as a premium whiskey and Elijah Craig NAS is known to be 8 to 10 years old. Heretofore, Pikesville Rye has been the oldest Heaven Hill rye in regular release at approximately 6 years old; it was also by far the boldest, at 110 proof. Behind that is Rittenhouse Bonded, at four years and 100 proof. Elijah Craig Rye is bottled at 94 proof.

More goes into making a whiskey’s flavor profile than simply age and proof, although those are two factors. My guess (and it is just a guess) is that the new Craig Rye is somewhat older than Pikesville, but not substantially so. As we’ve seen in recent releases (among them the Heaven Hill 7 Year Old Bonded Bourbon), nudging the age up just a notch can have quite noticeable impact on the barrel selection and flavor profile.

The Whiskey
Elijah Craig Rye presented the expected look of polished copper upon pouring. Swishing the glass left behind a coat of heavy tears.

Nosing my glass eventually brought me around to the notion of a poundcake seasoned with a helping of ginger and mint. That mellow, sweet and cake-like character carried over into the flavor pretty well. The flavor was sweet and carried a hefty helping of vanilla, being quite as bourbon-esque as the Kentucky Rye style mash bill suggests it should be. The spiciness, taking the form of allspice and pumpernickel, rises only on the back end. This rolls off into a vanilla sweet, rye spicy finish that faded a little too quickly for my liking.

I struggled with the grade on this whiskey for a time, but ultimately three points led me to give it a B- instead of a B: 1) I never consider price when I issue a grade, but allow the drinking experience to stand alone; 2) when in doubt, I grade conservatively; 3) that quick finish held it back.

The Price
All that said, however, the price point of this offering is a beauty: $29.99! At a full $10 less than Knob Creek Rye, it’s a real bargain. It will, in fact, appear on the next bang for your buck list article I write.