Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon: No Age Statement, Lots of Flavour 

A decade ago, Elijah Craig (of Hevean’s Hill distillery) was ahead of a trend. Their delightful, popular Elijah Craig 12 bourbon was beloved by fans (myself included) for its robust flavour, rich texture, and classy branding. But despite its popularity, Elijah Craig opted to change it. They announced they were dropping the age statement (NAS whiskies are getting more common these days) and instead blending their flagship bourbon, offering it as Elijah Craig Small Batch.

I was bummed. So were many bourbon fans. Because even though there’s a lot of logic to a distiller going NAS — like having more control over certain flavour profiles — to the consumer it smacks of a cash grab. NAS means younger, cheaper whiskies can be blended, more bourbon produced, more money made…and yet the price tag never seems to get affected.

I made a consumer’s choice to step away from Elijah Craig. In fact, until recently I hadn’t even tasted the Small Batch before. But when a decent sale happened at the LCBO, I thought it was high time I at least gave the Elijah Craig Small Batch a shot. Here’s what I thought:

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon Review

All in all, the NAS Small Batch is just a liiiitle bit more subtle than its 12 year old forbearer. In my previous review, I raved about its brashness and unabashedness. But now, I find this blended bourbon to be a bit more chill, which isn’t entirely a bad thing.

In the glass, Elijah Craig Small Batch looks identical to the 12 — rich, deep, and thick. On the nose, it offers up a delightful toasted sugar and warm citrus notes, almost like a mulled wine. While the 12 was bursting with apple notes, the Small Batch definitely leans more orange. There’s still an earthy warmth underpinning everything, like unlit pipe tobacco.

The taste is quite good too. It’s got the rich, oily mouthfeel I love (worth noting it’s 47% ABV) and doesn’t overdo it on alcohol potency. Elijah Craig Small Batch is surprisingly spicy, with plenty of black pepper and even a bit of ginger zing. It’s sweet and very corn-forward, but stays shy of being cloying. The finish is very long, and softens into tobacco, leather, and vanilla, with just a little bit of the alcohol sourness offsetting its loveliness.

All in all, I’m pleased to say that, while maybe falling short of the near-perfection of the EC 12, the current Small Batch offering is more than drinkable — it’s worthy of sipping slow.