Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch

Bit of a scary one, this! The highest proof whiskey I’ve tasted to date at a whopping 67.4% or 134.8 proof. Insane. I’ve heard great things about the EC Barrel Proofs, and have been eyeing buying some for a while. Unfortunately not sold where I live, and they just get outprioritised by so many other things when I’m buying while traveling. One can only carry so much bourbon!

Source: Poured at Cobbler, Brisbane, Australia.
Setup: Unblind
Drank: Neat, in a Glencairn. Rested 5-10 minutes.

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Nose: Sawdust, turpentine, red apple. Biting ethanol (not super surprising!). Crushed dry leaves.
Palate: Hot. So thick and creamy. Sort of like drinking hot butter texture-wise. Burning note of red apple to start, which then deepens to…
Finish: Red currant, eucalypt and paperbark. Tannic oak. Super long finish.
Overall: The proof is definitely obvious, but it’s surprisingly friendly. I feel like it needs to be proofed down a bit to bring out more complexity. At 134.8 it’s really that burning red apple note that stands out.

Rating: 7

Thoughts: I did really like this, but I feel like compared to the other high proof bourbons I’ve had (SFTB, Booker’s, WLW) it was lacking something. A little complexity, perhaps.