Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel is a relatively new product from Heaven Hill. Starting with Elijah Craig Small Batch, the bourbon is then finished again in a new specially toasted oak barrel. Similar to their Small Batch, there’s no aged statement here, and the site doesn’t suggest how long it’s in the barrel. The idea is that the new finishing step will add chocolate and baking spice flavors to compliment the oakiness. It also adds another $20 to the price, so does it justify the cost?
Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel
Sight: Burnished Chestnut / Sherry
Smell: The nose is an explosion of freshly made caramel, butterscotch, and stewed cherries. Confectioner sugar, fresh candy store fudge, and almonds follow things up. Traditional notes of oak and spice come through with some additional fresh red fruit and plum (albeit slightly heading toward fermenting). There’s a hint of heat to the nose as well, and a little bit of corn or grain.
Sip: The body is on the light to medium side. There’s a strong influence of oak that leads things off with vanilla and caramel notes. Spice and plum skin start to pick up with a bit of dried cherry. There are touches of butterscotch, more oak, cigar box, and almost a confectioner sugar / artificial vanillin. There’s a touch of heat, but the flavor profile isn’t overly clear or aggressive.
Savor: The ending hits on a deep undercurrent of oak, with flavors of charred oak giving way to vanilla and unripe cherries. There’s a touch of nutty toffee and a little heat. The char begins to lean bitter over time.
Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel packs a solid amount of oak into a turned up version of their standing offering. The result is something that gives the vanilla and oak a forefront, but doesn’t appear to give a lot of room to many other flavors. The result is a tasty bourbon with an extra step of finishing that doesn’t add a whole lot of extra complexity.
In Cocktails
In a Manhattan Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel brings a lot of oak and caramel to the party. The result is a spicy and caramel ladened sip with some peaks of red fruit, which is followed by a literal battering of oak. The oak is so strong it leads to bittering and tannic notes on the back end of the palate. Which is amazing, because Carpano Antica is one of the most aggressive vermouths on the market (to the point where some cocktail groups will even recommend avoiding it for certain bourbons). Elijah Craig Toasted just steamrolls it.
In Review – Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel
Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel is oaked. Really oaked. In the wine world, we’d complain when a wine was oaked to the point where the actual grape got lost in a mess of vanilla, wood notes, and caramel flavors. Toasted Barrel is fringing into this territory. If you happen to find the flavor of oak to be the thing you want to focus on, this is a potential winner for you. For everyone else, $55 plus territory is going to be expensive, chased after by bourbon lovers, and outshined by other more balanced bottles.