So it was sad for many when they learned of its demise. Now it seems the mourning may have been premature.
The official word from Heaven Hill is that they have "temporarily suspended bottling of the 18-year-old Elijah Craig Single Barrel." Special, limited (and expensive) bottlings of even older bourbon will fill the gap.
For instance, just 1,300 750ml bottles of a new 20-year-old (label pictured above) are being released, at a suggested retail of $130 per. Last year, an even more limited release derived from one barrel of the same juice was named Whiskey Advocate's "American Whiskey of the Year." Editor and Publisher John Hansell called it, "seamless, richly textured, and impeccably balanced." This new release represents the rest of that batch, about 80 barrels. The small yield is because 20 years of evaporation leaves most barrels less than half full.
They should be shipping now, so check with your whiskey monger right away if you're interested.
In lieu of the regular 18-year-old, Heaven Hill will offer various "extra-aged single barrel limited editions."
“With literally thousands of aging barrels over 10-years-old, we have a huge and one-of-a-kind resource to tap into,” noted Heaven Hill’s 7th generation Master Distiller Craig Beam. “We’ve carefully identified several hundred that are at middle to high storage in our best rickhouses, and these will be the source for these very special future Elijah Craig Single Barrel editions. These are some of the best older barrels of traditional rye-based Bourbon we have in our inventory.”
No one is predicting how long "temporarily" will in this case be. As with the recently suspended Wild Turkey 101 Rye, it seems likely that if and when the standard expression returns, it will bear a significantly higher price.
8 comments:
I'm a fan of EC12 and EC18. While this is well played by HH, first getting the nod from Hansel before the big release, I don't think I'll be spending $130 for a bottle of bourbon when there are so many good ones for less than half that price. Is 2 extra years worth tripling the price. Last I checked, 2 year old whiskey wasn't very good.
I think Heaven Hill is being greedy with the $130 price tag. John Hansell himself mentioned that the second barrel bottled of the 20-year old was miles behind the first that got his prize. Also, it seems logical to me that most barrels passed up on for the 18-year bottling because they weren't ready, will likely never be ready. There's just too much variation in the Elijah Craig 18-year olds to have faith finding a bottle of $130 20-year old that has come from a worthy barrel.
I agree with Lazer. I too am a fan of the Elijah Craig bourbons, but I have had a bottle of the 18 that I thought was too woody. I also fail to see 2 more years making a bourbon that merits such a jump in price.
So, to be safe I just returned from a local retailer here in Tulsa. I picked up 2 bottles of the 18 year old: $31 each. Not a bad price for such an old whiskey.
I don't think HH is being greedy. Demand for bourbon is up so what would you rather have, expensive bourbon on the shelf, or no bourbon on the shelf? This is just an excuse for raising the price of EC18 without raising the price of EC18. At least we're getting another two years of age on the deal. Beam blamed it on the price of corn.
As far as Hansel's comments on the second barrel of EC20, we have to remember, its just one opinion.
Still, I see myself more as a bourbon drinker rather than bourbon investor. I'd prefer to see some of that EC12 NCF (Non-Chill Filtered) here in NYC!!
I toured the HH distillery in early May and I asked how long "temporarily" was. The tour guide said it will be 6 years until they bottle the EC18 again.
the gap in production is due to the fire they had in 1996 that destroyed 9 warehouses (many millions of gallons of bourbon) and created a gap in their inventory essentially.
I PERSONALLY OWN 12 BOTTLES OF THE ELIJAH CRAIG 20 YR OLD, OR 1% OF THE WORLDS SUPPLY OF THIS VERY FINE SPIRIT, I AM A AVID BOURBON CRITIC, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE FINEST TO COME OUT, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE 21 YR OLD HRISCH RYE IN MANY YEARS. I NORMALLY DRINK PVW 20 OR 23, AND THIS RATES RIGHT UP THERE WITH IT!
The twenty year sounds like an inventory mishap and a great excuse to replenish inventory and supplies of previously low forecasted expectations of EC 18. It has secretly been a fine bourbon since my first bottle from first batch.
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