Elijah Craig

Elijah Craig is a legendary figure in the world of American whiskey. A Baptist Preacher he turned to a more spiritual calling when he opened a distillery in 1789 on the banks of Elkhorn Creek in modern day Georgetown, Kentucky.

His legendary status owes to the suggestion he’s the first distiller to age his whiskey in charred oak barrels. The story goes that this happened by accident, a distillery fire burned his barrels but due to the financial pressure on the business he chose to use the barrels regardless. After a spell maturing in them, his once clear, unaged corn spirit transformed into a bold amber liquid with a distinctively smooth flavor that makes Bourbon what it is today. Elijah Craig earned a place in history as the “Father of Bourbon” for this, and the practice became an industry standard – now when you make a Kentucky Straight Bourbon it must be rested in brand new, charred American oak for a minimum of two years.

Of course, there’s plenty of evidence of charring barrels before this. As soon as humans had fire and started burning wood for a laugh, they understood it could help manipulate and protect the substance. Around 350BC the Celts were using barrel-shaped, watertight wooden containers, which could be rolled or stacked for ease; the Romans were transporting drinks around in wooden vessels; and the first settlers in America arrived by boat and had been storing water in barrels. All would’ve been burned, and with spirits we can trace charring back to the 15^th century, the earliest time spirits were being produced commercial.

Initially, the idea of charring was practical, be it for shaping, weather resistance or removing germs and bugs. Historians have occasionally pointed to the issues of aroma, if someone was sending barrels of fish one way, then wanted the barrel for wine on the return leg, so burning could remove the odor – corked wine is one thing, fishy wine quite another. Even so, getting the smell of fish out of wood takes a pretty aggressive char. Either way, it stands to reason that somewhere along the way, spirits producers learned this process added flavour, aroma and colour.

Wood is a natural product, it retains it’s natural organic chemicals long after being cultivated for barrels – everything from the phenolic substances of tanins, to the phenolic aldehydes such as vanillin – and it imparts these qualities into the whiskey. The more you use and treat the barrel, the less it can give, but in the case of Bourbon though, it’s brand new, unused American oak, so full of natural sweeteners, and when you take a flame to it, these compounds bubble to the surface like caramelized sugar. So for a whiskey like Elijah Craig, you have this beautifully rich and sweet spirit.

In the case of Elijah Craig, it’s likely this righteous whiskey distiller learned to char by chance, and his wisdom would’ve been lauded at the time, so we won’t challenge the legend. One version of the story suggests the cow lit the barn on fire, but to that we say: pull the udder one. Let’s moooove on. Certainly Heaven Hill Distillery has helped pioneer the term “small batch”, the Master Distillers here have long been a small number of barrels to make Elijah Craig.

So, Elijah Craig is crafted with Heaven Hill Distillery’s traditional Bourbon mashbill of 78% corn, 12% malted barley and 10% rye. The predominant grain of corn provides a signature sweetness while rye provides just enough spice flavor. The Kentucky Straight Bourbon is made exclusively from batches of 200 barrels or less of 8 to 12-Year-Old Bourbon, and this extra aging and expertise in barrel selection give that gives Elijah Craig its robust body and rich flavor and owes its distinctive warm spice & subtle smoke flavor to Level 3 charred oak barrels.

Together with bottling at 94 proof (47% ABV), Elijah Craig Small Batch stands up to make well balanced cocktails, such as the Old Fashioned. It’s a favorite of Bourbon connoisseurs and casual whiskey fans alike and belongs in any Bourbon fan’s regular rotation.