The ultimate Father’s Day gift for Bourbon connoisseurs and casual whiskey fans alike must be Elijah Craig Bourbon, one of the fastest growing super premium whiskies in the US, which is happily now available in the UK.
Elijah Craig bears the name of Reverend Elijah Craig who established his distillery in 1789 on the banks of Elkhorn Creek in modern day Georgetown, Kentucky. Interestingly Elijah Craig is credited with being the first distiller to age his whiskey in new charred oak barrels, thereby creating a smooth rich flavour. While tasting this whiskey, Elijah Craig realised he had discovered something great and continued to refine the barrel charring process, imparting this unique flavour to the spirit that would become known as Bourbon. 250 years later, he is still known as the “Father of Bourbon”. Heaven Hill Distillery craft the bourbon today using the same time honoured methods.
Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon is made exclusively from a blend of 200 or less 8 to 12-Year-Old barrels, aged in open air Rickhouses. It is this extra aging and expertise in barrel selection (Level 3 charred oak barrels) that gives Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon its robust body and rich flavour of distinctive warm spice & subtle smoke. In case you are wondering, a Rickhouse is a warehouse, where whiskey barrels can be stored one on top of the other in ventilated conditions, resulting in the uniform aging of the barrels. The stacks of barrels are known as ‘Ricks’.
The Master Distillers at Elijah Craig use malted barley, rye and local corn to produce this burnished copper coloured Bourbon, with a delightfully complex aroma, notes of vanilla bean, sweet fruit and fresh mint. The taste is smooth and warm, woody with accents of smoke and nutmeg and a long, sweet and slightly toasty finish.
As with all things, there is a knack to tasting spirits and this works well for me when tasting whisky and bourbon.
Lift the glass to a light source and check out the colour; the darker the Bourbon the richer and stronger it tends to be. To appreciate the aroma, you need a glass that can contain it and that can be held under the nose. Inhale gently so that you can pick out the various notes, though I must confess that I was unable to detect the fresh mint mentioned in the tasting notes, hopefully you will be more successful.
Take a sip and allow the bourbon to coat your tongue so that you can pick out the flavours. The more obvious flavours are likely to be vanilla, oak and caramel but read the tasting notes for the Elijah Craig. Finally, the finish: is it long and does it have you smacking your lips? Or perhaps it is shorter and more powerful?
This would be a great present for Father’s Day or any other day for that matter and hopefully he won’t wish to drink alone so you can compare tasting notes -in the interests of research, of course.
Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon RRP: From £42 for 70cl. ABV: 47%. Available from: Waitrose, Tesco, Master of Malt, Amazon, The Whisky Exchange