Elijah Craig 12 Year Old

I had heard wonderful things about the Elijah Craig 18 offering and I had intended to buy it quite soon. Unfortunately, the only store that carried it here no longer has any of the older stuff left, so I was forced to settle for the 12. I’ve had this before and didn’t love it, but that was ages ago, before I really got into bourbons. So perhaps my new appreciation for American whisky will improve my opinion of this affordable and widely available offering.

Nose: Syrup. Very sweet. Hints of pine. Some cedar as well. A bit of an alcohol bite, but it’s not unpleasant. There’s a very light, sweet, and gentle vanilla note that’s quite pleasant here. It reminds me of cake icing. Very sweet and reasonably rich nose.

Palate: Vanilla icing, mild rye notes, caramel, crème brûlée, and spice.

Finish: A spicy kick carries us into the now-familiar vanilla icing note. Icing sugar. Pudding. Gentle rye. The wood notes here could be stronger. There’s an interesting cinnamon note that pops up towards the end. Combined with the vanilla icing note, it’s almost reminiscent of a cinnamon bun. As you may have noted, sweetness dominates the finish.

In fact, sweetness dominates this entire dram. There are other standard bourbon notes to be found here. None are of poor quality or in any way unpleasant. Where base wood notes tend to carry many bourbons, the opposite is true here. The high, sweet, vanilla, icing-like note is what carries the EC12. In some ways this is too sweet for me, but the bourbon redeems itself with its mild burn, some lovely spices, and the intrinsic quality of the sweetness. Given its price and availability, you’d want this to be an everyday sipper. However, it may seem a bit cloying if you drink this too often. It’s a time to time dram for me. Is it sweet? Yes. Is it too sweet? Maybe for some. At least if you don’t like it as a sipper, you can always put it on your pancakes. In the end it’s not my favourite, but it is worth trying.

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