Elijah Craig Bourbon Shows Its Age With 23 Year Old Limited Bottling

If you are a fan of the sometimes older bottlings of Elijah Craig bourbon from Heaven Hill Distilleries, you should probably take note that a 23-year-old single barrel offering has just been released to market that you’ll need to scramble to find one of before they all disappear. It replaces last year’s 21-year-old single barrel selection.

The limited edition release of Elijah Craig 23-Year-Old Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, pricing on average for around $200 per 750 ml bottle, will have steep shoes to fill in replacing the 21-year-old offering. This later release, which came out last fall, was designated “Excellent/Highly Recommended” at the 2013 Ultimate Spirits Challenge. It also follows on the heels of the even more successful 20-year-old single barrel which, when released in spring of 2012 and now sold out, was named “American Whiskey of the Year” by Whisky Advocate magazine.

The barrels for this 23-year-old bourbon, said Heaven Hill, were drawn from the middle floors of the rickhouses, where

the effects of long aging are mitigated by the more moderate temperature fluctuations.  This careful barrel selection, drawn from Heaven Hill’s inventory of over one million aging barrels, means the whiskey offers depth and complexity but still perfectly maintains the delicate balance between barrel and distillate.

For those trying to distinguish packaging wise between the 23-year-old and other limited Elijah Craig releases, this one has a “green label, with the 23 year age statement prominently featured in reverse white and gold type in the center.  As with all previous editions of Elijah Craig Single Barrel, there will be space on the back label where the specific barrel number and ‘barreled on’ date will be hand written.”