Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C923 Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C923
(Credit: Heaven Hill)

It’s been seven and a half years since Elijah Craig Small Batch went from 12 years old to No Age Statement, informally hovering between 8 and 10 years old. During that time, people like me have pointed to Elijah Craig Barrel Proof as a way to get at what the seminal brand was like during its initial three decade run, from the mid-1980s to the mid-2010s. This was because the cask strength version retained that 12 year age statement.

This year, Heaven Hill announced it was no longer pegging the expression to a 12 year age statement, and would instead have a variable age statement, becoming something like Booker’s (variable age statement, released in discrete batches, cask strength). Thus far that move has resulted in two noteworthy observations. The first is cultural, and that is just how muted the response to the change has been. While the usual dens of toxic nerdom, like Reddit, had some outrage, it was not the universal outrage that met the 2016 change, and conspiracy theory blogging on the subject has been limited to the now tiny, usual list suspects. Either toxic bourbon nerds have lost their passion or are far less pervasive then they once were, and therefore fewer people cater to them.

The other thing is that while B523, the springtime Elijah Craig Barrel Proof for this year, went down in age, this batch went up to 13 years, 7 months. It is also one of the most potent barrel proof batches on record, at 133 proof. It remains to be seen what the new normal will be for Elijah Craig Barrel Proof will be, but it is a promising start. If the brand continues on like this, it will represent taking the modest restraint off the Conor O’Driscol and his team, as well as off the companies stock of middle aged bourbon.

The sentimentalist in me regrets this final passing of Elijah Craig 12, however. The brand was introduced when I was in high school, one of the first steps on the long road of reviving the industry after the Whiskey Bust of the 1970s. Elijah Craig was the original small batch, and now the only way to try that landmark original is through collectables. The brand soldiers on, but that version of it is a thing of the past. That said, the historian in me knows that these things happen far more often than the croakers want to admit, and Elijah Craig 12’s run of more than three decades was a long, successful one.

The Bourbon
Folks like me spend a lot of time telling people that more aging doesn’t necessarily translate into better whiskey, and certain over-oaked elders are good examples of that. Yet whiskeys of different types tend to have a sweet spot, and for bourbon that is what I call middle age, the 12 to 15 year range. 13 1/2 years seems like a sweet spot indeed for Heaven Hill bourbon.

I put a quite hefty splash of water into my evaluation pour; it is 133 proof, after all. That done, the nose was free to ooze deep, melted and gooey caramel, earthy cocoa, citrus zest and a pointy splinter of dry oak. The flavor is just supremely yummy, like a Milky Way bar that inverts the ingredients to be mostly caramel, with sweet milk chocolate and earthy nougat as the supporting elements. Toss in a helping of cookie spices, then take that splinter of oak and spear some tea tannins with it, and you’ve got the whole palate. It’s not a sophisticated pour, but it balances many of the elements folks want from a good bourbon, and delivers them in buckets without turning bold or ballsy.

In summary, this batch is gorgeous. A bottle totally worth chasing down at or near recommended retail price.

The Price
That recommended retail price is $75. If the national average mark-up of $80 or $85 holds, any real bourbon enthusiast should want to snag a bottle (or two) of this item.