2023 24 Days of Whisk(e)y - Day 8

Day 8 of 24 Days of Whisk(e)y ... happy Friday! Tonight we're drinking Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Whiskey, Batch A123, 62.8% ABV, age stated at 12 Year. Elijah Craig releases 3 Barrel Proof batches each year, and Batch A123 looks to be the last one with a 12 Year age statement - but the newer batches still say how old they are.

On the nose, I get a touch of mint, marshmallow, brown sugar, vanilla... the proof is there so you need to go easy. The taste is similar; vanilla, caramel, some wood, a rich cherry or maybe a berry of some sort. The finish is cinnamon and chili spice, berry, wood and it does linger for some time. Smaller sips make the spice a bit easier to take, but overall this does drink hot. 

With water, the nose is more alcohol hot at first, but over time it does tame down. The mint is more present on the nose. Taste has more wood, maybe cinnamon and pepper too. The finish has more wood. Letting this sit for a while, this does seem to get better and more balanced. It's certainly one to sip slowly over time to enjoy. Overall, this is really quite good. This one runs $75 in Oregon, so it's starting to get up there a bit in price and there are certainly better values out there. This is one of the better bourbons I've had, and I'll rate it 3.75/5.0.