Review #120: Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch C924

COST: $80 for 750mL bottle

AGE: 11yr

MASH BILL: 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley

PROOF: 129

On reddit, I have been tracking the review number at the top of each review. I haven't been doing that on Woodgrain & Whiskey but decided I'm going to start keeping the review number on here too. That said, I don't intend to update past reviews, so they will remain numberless.

Each year the ECBP batches have generally gotten better, and further, the C batches have typically been regarded as the best each year. But C923 was on another level. A124 and B524 didn’t quite live up to it. So, can C924 impress like C923 did? Here’s my verdict.

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

APPEARANCE: Rich mahogany (1.7), oily looking on the side of the glass.

NOSE: This is more earthy and spicy than past ECBP batches. Seasoned oak, tobacco, and brown butter stand out the most. Adding to that earthiness but transitioning to slightly sweeter notes are burnt, dark brown sugar and toasted vanilla. There is a light black pepper spice that I pick up towards the end of the nose. After the first sip I can also pick up a faint dark fruit sweetness.

PALATE: This has a pleasant mouthfeel and coats the palate nicely but is not quite as thick and viscous as other ECBP batches. There’s more sweetness here than on the nose, but still heavy on the wood and spice notes. Spicy oak, mint, spicy tobacco, Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup, and caramelized brown sugar are all prominent notes. There’s a bit of an astringentness that pops up at the tail end going into the finish. That black pepper note is still there but it more numbs the palate like black pepper does than adds to the taste.

FINISH: This has a very tannic, dry finish. The finish is long and spicy. Barrel char, spicy oak with a noticeable amount of vanillin, bitter dark chocolate, cinnamon, black pepper, and a hint of maraschino cherry syrup sweetness. There is an astringentness that lingers keeping the palate tingling and highlighting the spicier notes.

RATING: 6.8/10

VALUE: 7.9/10 (this value is based on a ratio of the $/mL to the rating above compared to this same ratio for all other r/Bourbon reviews I’ve made and normalized to 10)

OVERALL: It’s an ECBP, so it’s going to be solid. But it’s no C923. It’s not quite what I was hoping to get for the first C batch after C923, but it's what I expected - it's tough to constantly raise the bar batch after batch. I’m going to try and wrap this up by explaining what C924 is not. I actually just polished off a bottle of A123 to make room for this bottle of C924 in my cabinet and I will say I enjoyed A123 more (rated 8.7). It had more of a pastry note that I’ve come to find in most ECBP batches. C924 is missing that for me. I went ahead and also compared this to the C923 bottle I have, just to…you get it. The C923 has significantly more sweetness, red fruit notes, is less astringent, and the earthy and spicy notes provide more depth alongside the sweeter notes (I rated C923 an 8.9). I also compared it to A124 (rated a 6.6) which came across a little lighter with more delicate sweetness than the brash wood and spice of C924. So, while it’s still a solid bourbon, and it still provides the complexity that I expect from ECBP, it’s not quite hitting with me like what some previous batches of ECBP have.

1 | Disgusting | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

2 | Poor | Balcones Lineage

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Eagle Rare

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, WhistlePig PiggyBack SiB, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, JD SiB BiB, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Barrel Bourbon Batch T8ke, BBC DS #7, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08