Elijah Craig 12 Year Old Barrel Proof

I picked this one up on a trip through the US in July. It's twelve years old (like all the Elijah Craig BP) and was released in May 2019.

The colour is a very dark amber. On the nose I first get a burst of very dark chocolate with oak, black cherry, pencil shavings and burnt caramel. Eucalyptus is there too, but it's more subtle than I got on the Rock Town I just wrote up. Some black liquorice too. Water softens things up, but it's not really necessary. Fruity, oaky and a bit herbal - nice balance.

Very chewy on the palate with even more burnt caramel, big fat dark cherry and light molasses. It's a bruiser with big oak and unyielding tannins, but the complexity is never lost. Lots of berry flavours - cherry, blackberry and gooseberry. Thankfully the eucalyptus is far in the background. Water adds some more spices: paprika, chili, allspice. Stunning.

The deep long finish is spicy with tobacco, leather, cinnamon, clove and bovril. This is what you want in a great bourbon - power with subtlety and balance. Jim Murray gives this a 90.5, and Jeffrey Lindenmuth gives it a 93.

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