Review by: zSolaris

Distillery: Heaven Hill

Region: Kentucky

ABV: 61.1%

Age: NAS

Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes.

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Nose: (according to the wife) It has a very odd scent. There are a few easily recognizable notes in caramel, peanuts, and vanilla but there’s this familiar but very hard to place note. After much deliberation, we settled on artificial hazelnut syrup, the type that gets used in lattes.

Palate: It’s noticeably very thin and incredibly hot. I actually could not drink more than a few sips at full strength as this was far too hot. I tried starting with a few drops but that didn’t seem to calm this down enough. It took a lot more water than I’d expected to get this to a drinkable state, that is where I didn’t feel like I was about to burn my tongue . At that point, that note of artificial hazelnut really takes over and dominates here. It’s on the slightly sweet side. There’s also a lot of oak here as well, a bit too much for me.

Finish: Medium to short in length. Hint of cherry. And oak. Way too much oak.

Conclusion: This Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is the second of three batches I’ll be reviewing this week. Despite being bottled at a lower proof than Batch A119 from earlier in 2019, this second release from Heaven Hill was noticeably far hotter. It felt like I’d burn my tongue trying to drink this at full strength and took a lot of water to calm down. Once it is calm, it’s not particularly tasty. The artificial hazelnut is just alright but there’s far too much oak in this for me. Hopefully the third of this series isn’t like this!

Final Score: 66.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.