Woodford Reserve or Elijah Craig???

Between the two you are considering I would suggest the Woodford Reserve. It has a deeper set of flavors than the Elijah Craig 12 yr old. If you get a chance to try the Elijah Craig 18 yr old I would very much recommend that. To me it is a lot more interesting than the Elijah Craig 12 yr old. Keep in mind, though, that all of the Elijah Craig mashbills are relatively low rye content, and hence not too spicy, compared to high rye bourbons like Bulleit, Fighting Cock, or Old Grand Dad. If you want to try big rye flavor, big alcohol, and no subtlety, try Old Grand Dad 114. It's bracing and bold, a little rough cut, but delicous! Even my two sisters love that one!

I'm going to have to second @Victor here, but for different reasons. Although you enjoy the heavily peated and sherried Scotches, @lucadanna1985, bourbon really is quite different in flavour profile (as @Victor explained elsewhere), and Elijah Craig 12 (EC12) is much bolder, richer, and hotter than Woodford Reserve (WR), which is a lovely, if understated, bourbon. Frankly, I prefer EC12 to WR, but I don't know that I would have enjoyed bourbon much at all if I had started with EC12; much like introducing someone to Scotch with Lagavulin 16 or Laphroaig 10, it could work, but it runs the risk of turning people off the stuff entirely. I worked my way up from Maker's Mark and WR to barrel strength bourbons (e.g., Booker's, Baker's, Four Roses 'Mariage', and George T Stagg at a whopping 71% ABV), and am pleased with the outcome. That said, EC12 and WR are both very, very good bourbons, and your decision could be much worse!

An afterthought: like my buddie @dbk I very much like the general flavors of Elijah Craig, and am a big fan of the 18 yr old. With respect to the Elijah Craig 12 yr old, however, I am still recovering from post traumatic stress disorder. My only bottle of the Elijah Craig 12 yr old had a nice likable palate flavor, but what is to me and to my wife that great kiss of death in whiskies, what we call the "soapy" finish. With 18 months time open that bottle has now finally almost entirely lost the "soapy" finish, but the memory is difficult for me to shake. Was it a characteristic of the individual batch or bottle? It is hard to say, but because of that experience I never recommend EC 12 yr.

followed your advice and bought I bottle of WR, it has been love at first sip! Just to know, how much does it run a bottle in the UK? Here i paid 30 euro for it, I believe bourbon is more expensive than scotch here in Italy (Elijah Craig was priced 43 euro)...

Glad you're enjoying the WR, @lucadanna1985! Let us know when you're ready to move on to bigger and bolder. There's a lot of great bourbon (and rye) out there.

@lucadanna1985, I am also delighted to hear that you are enjoying the Woodford Reserve. Drop a line when you want to compare notes about other brands. There are so many great ones to enjoy.

thank you both! I think that, like most scotch drinkers, what disturbed me in bourbons was the extreme sweetness mixed with harshness and spices...here I found sweetness tempered by a more prominent wood note (wich I really enjoyed) and mild-mannered, subtle spices tied to beautiful vanilla and tobacco...overall, everything was more austere and consequently more likely to match my taste!

and last but not least, for those time when I am in a sweetie mood, yesterday I was given a bottle of Jack Daniel's no 7! :)