Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch A123
Enjoyed neat in a glencairn. (This review is based on a neck pour.)
Appearance: Rusty, cherry color. It just clings to the side of the glass! Very viscous.
Nose: A mingling of cherry and charred oak with quite a pop of mint. A slight cocoa profile is present as well (I get this one more after I’ve had a couple sips).
Palate: Burnt caramel drizzled on top of the most buttery of buttered crusts of a cherry pie! This is a sweet sip! But there is a lingering brightness and some earthy notes in there as well probably coming from the tannic profile in this one. There’s a pronounced buttery mouthfeel and taste to this one, but at the same time, a very mouth drying tannic feel. It’s bipolar…for real. The dryness and the buttery mouthfeels literally are happening at the same time. I kinda like it though…
Finish: Very similar to the C922, this pour just kinda disappears after the swallow and then slowly warms back up right in the middle of the chest. I absolutely love this finish! It’s long and drawn out and leaves a nice sweet oak on the pallet and a nice warming note in your core.
Rating: 8.7/10
Overall: I’ve been looking forward to trying this batch for months and it did not disappoint! For such a high proof, it drinks like a BiB with all the flavor of the undiluted goodness that it is. I absolutely loved ECBP batch C922, and I would give this a slight edge over C922. But I’m going to do a semi-blind this weekend and actually test that out for real.
Behind the Bottle: I’ve been hunting for this bottle since January and have had zero luck. But here I was today, May 8, my birthday. And I decided I’d head home from work early for the day because…why the hell not. On the way home, I swung by a liquor store that I haven’t been to before and just figured I’d see what they had to offer. Low and behold! They had SIX bottles of A123 and 3 bottles of B522, both for MSRP (this may become my new honey hole). I snagged a bottle of the A123, and probably would have grabbed 2 or 3 if I didn’t think my wife would hang me for blowing the May budget out of the water only 8 days in. At any rate, here I am…contemplating what my life will look like after I buy two more bottles tomorrow… Happy birthday to me! 😊
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I’d rather have.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite
10 | Perfect | Perfect
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