Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Bourbon B525 Quick Review

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My reviews tend to be long-winded and very in-depth. I know that many readers don’t have the time or patience to read them all. This is why I have decided to create a “Quick Review” format. I’m not going to cover backstories, distilling methods or anything like that if I know I’ve covered it in a previous review of a similar bottle. You’ll find that a lot of these quick reviews will be based on single barrel picks because their backstory is usually the same with the exception of the group that picked them.

Introduction

I decided to do a quick review for this batch of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (ECBP) bourbon because I’ve already talked extensively about it before. My personal relationship with the line is that after I tracked down the first twelve batches (and many of the old style label), I determined that the quality had slowly started to drop, then plateaued around 2022. After writing this article, many of my readers lashed out because they thought I was saying ECBP was bad. That wasn’t my point at all. It was that every batch started to taste the same and there wasn’t as much to differentiate each batch to keep me buying more.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof

It’s gotten to the point over the last 18 months or so that I can now find ECBP on the shelf of a store within about 15 miles of my house. Maybe the fact I don’t have to hunt for it anymore has killed off the enthusiasm I once had for it. But I think that it was the fact they stopped with the intense variation of proof and the fact they dropped the 12-year age statement. With the exception of Batch C923, there haven’t been any impressive releases in terms of age or proof. Heaven Hill should strive to give us at least one batch a year that’s over 12 years old or above 138 proof (an arbitrary number, but you get my drift).

Anyway, my friend Mike over at Mostly Peaceful Bourbon told me that I needed to check out Batch B525 from this year because it was the best batch he’s tasted since C923. I thought praise like that should be investigated to see if he was on to something. Plus, “B” batches tend to be some of the best (with C coming in a very close second), so why not? As a quick side note, have you ever noticed that nobody ever really cares for “A” batches? What’s up with that? Are the barrels at their worst when they’re plucked, batched and bottled in the coldest part of the year? Somebody should look into that. For me, Batch A117 might have been the best A batch there was, and that’s not saying much.

So anyway, how was it? I sampled this neat in a glencairn to find out.

Tasting Notes

Nose: The nose is classic Elijah Craig. Rich oak, chocolate, toffee and vanilla cake batter combine with other tannins like barrel char, cedar and tobacco leaf. It smells a bit older than it’s 11+ year age statement would suggest. Oh! And there’s also the occasional passing whiff of butterscotch!

Palate: As I was hoping and expecting, I can find lots of oak and some leather. The cinnamon spice impresses me with how quickly it stands out. I also find spices like peppercorns and chili powder which ramp up the spice level. Other flavors include a bit of chocolate, and fruits like orange zest and grilled apricot. The heat might be a little more noticeable due to the thick viscosity of the bourbon. It really clings to the inside of your cheeks!

Finish: Long, with a lingering flavor of oak, coffee and chocolate brownies. Vanilla hangs around for a while and blends in nicely with cherries and a tiny bit of orange zest. Spices like cinnamon, ground peppercorns and allspice provide a nice smoldering effect after the sip is complete.

Score: 8.1/10

I found B525 to be just as enjoyable as other versions of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof that I’ve had. With that being said, I also didn’t find anything that stood out to me as more or less impressive than those other releases, either. ECBP remains a dependable, high-proof, high-flavor pour that is one of the Top 10 values in bourbon when it comes to price and accessibility. That remains true with B525.

Final Thoughts

Did I pick up on anything that stood out on this release compared to previous releases? I looked back over my scribblings and find that I mentioned and underlined the word “cinnamon” a lot. I guess that’s somewhat different from other batches where I’d find loads of chocolate (B520), fruit (C919) or fantastic oak (B517, B518, C923). This (coupled with chili powder and peppercorn notes) allowed for a drink that tasted a bit hotter, but not necessarily like it had more proof. Overall, it still had that classic ECBP profile and was great to sip on.

If you’ve been neglecting ECBP lately like I have, maybe splurge on a bottle of B525 to remind yourself of the good ol’ days again. It’s still got a lot of what drew me into barrel proof bourbons in the first place and it has one of the better age statements for this line that I’ve seen in a while. You could do a lot worse!