BOTTLE DETAILS
- DISTILLER: Heaven Hill Distilleries
- MASH BILL: 78% Corn | 10% Rye | 12% Malted Barley
- AGE: 11 years, 6 months
- YEAR: 2025
- PROOF: 126.2 (63.1% ABV)
- MSRP: $74.99
- BUY ONLINE: Elijah Craig Barrel Shop
STEVE’S NOTES
SHARE WITH: Every bourbon drinker, especially those who like high-proof whiskey, and of course, any Heaven Hill fan.
WORTH THE PRICE: Need we ask this question? We do not. When it comes to Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, the answer is always yes. At $74.99, it’s unquestionably a value for a bourbon this old, and its reputation precedes it.
BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottles. Yeah, plural. This release will be widely available, making worth having a couple on hand for friends, birthday gifts, secreted wedding reception pours, cold weather camping trips, job promotions, completed master’s theses, you name it.
OVERALL: A quick tutorial on Elijah Craig Barrel Proof for those who might be new to the lingo. 1. ECBP is the common abbreviation for this highly anticipated thrice-annual release. Each of three bottles is labeled either with an A, B or C, and each letter is followed by a 1, 5 or 9 respectively. In the case of this year’s releases, all bear the number 25 to represent the current year of 2025.
So an ECBP label bearing “A125” means that it is this year’s first release (A), 1 for January, the first of 12 months, and 25 for the calendar year. B means this year’s second release, 5 is May, the fifth month, and 25 … you get it now, right? And that’s where we are with this review: B525.
Several years ago I wrote a story on the tragic 1996 fire that consumed seven rickhouses and the original Heaven Hill Springs Distillery. When I interviewed a pair of retired firefighters on the scene that day, I brought a few Heaven Hill whiskies to ensure a relaxed and enjoyable interview.
One immediately reached for an ECBP, pulled the cork, closed his eyes and took a long, patient sniff. He said that aroma was exactly the smell of the conflagration that awful day, and then poured himself a glass.
Having merely witnessed that fire on live TV, I can’t verify that’s what an absolute distillery disaster smells like. But one can imagine that the myriad aromas coming from 92,000 barrels set aflame would be preferable to that of, say, a massive tire fire. What I do know is that as I write this, the area around my desk smells like a rickhouse: whiskey-soaked oak, caramel and cooked stone fruit. Nosed directly from the glass are sweeter notes of cotton candy and steeped pekoe tea with lemon, followed by darker aromas of charred wood and tobacco.
The whiskey is simultaneously rich and vibrant on the palate, aiming fruit and caramel directly at center palate while spreading appreciable weight and mouthfeel everywhere else. A second sip sets a foundation of toasted oak, citrus and sweetened tea on which flavors of toasted bread, orange marmalade and candied violets pile up. (Haven’t tasted candied violets? Imagine a sweet, powdered grape flavored candy that’s paper thin and crunchy.) The finish is super long and nearly all warm caramel and sweetened tea until the very end when floral notes arrive. Its softness belies its 126.2 proof, and its scant tannin contradicts its 11.5 years in the barrel.
For whatever reason, ECBPs are rarely complex, yet it’s their simplicity and approachability that I and many others find so attractive. As Heaven Hill’s legendary master distiller, Parker Beam, once said, “All I know is bourbon, good or bad.” And all I know about ECBPs that he oversaw and I’m tasting today is they aren’t merely good bourbons, they’re great bourbons. May all of us make memories of these treats straight from the bottle and never from memories of a tragic disaster.
End note: I have a pour of the A125 handy, and while delicious, light, fruity and still undeniably an ECBP, I prefer the B525. Can’t wait to taste the C925!
BRAND NOTES
Uncut, straight from the barrel, and without chill filtering, the nose, taste and finish are preserved in their simplest form. At full barrel proof, you can enjoy Elijah Craig much the same way our master distillers do when they sample straight from the barrel in our Kentucky rickhouses. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is a bold and honest expression of what charred oak barrel aging can do for Bourbon, from the man who originated the process.
Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter received a sample of this product from the brand for review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.
