Elijah Craig Barrel Proof

[Restaurant man]

Funny you should mention it . . . when I had my first drink, I thought "holy @#$ - they sent the GOOD stuff out to the distributors by accident! I hope Chuck, John and others don't get the generic crap". But THEN, I thought . . . wait a minute . . . could lead to less than stellar public reviews . . . oh PLEEEEEZZZZ let them have botched it up and sent the wrong stuff!! :slappin:

That would be a Honey barrel Boo Boo

[j1mmyj4m]

Has anyone found ECBP in the Houston area?

[smknjoe]

I've been calling Spec's and a few other places regularly and I haven't heard a yes yet.

[squire]

I'm a little surprised Houston wasn't one of the earliest markets.

[BourbonJoe]

I looked around and their ain't none left in Louisville. Can't find Birthday Bourbon either.

Joe :usflag:

[scubadoo97]

Thanks for the news Joe. Haven't seen the barrel proof EC in my area yet. I assume its around just not motivated to do heavy hunting for it. Too much damn good bourbon at hand

[P&MLiquorsEric]

I looked around and their ain't none left in Louisville. Can't find Birthday Bourbon either.

Joe :usflag:

[wripvanwrinkle]

Sorry, Denver home drinkers...this one is going restaurant and bar. I'm hearing that 2 retailers will get 3 bottles each. I suspect that the first retailer is near Wyoming, and sold it last week.

If you really want to try it, it will he available in over 20 on-premise accounts (mostly in downtown and the Highlands.). The results of this launch strategy should be interesting.

Rumor also has it that a larger drop should happen in August or September.

[michaelturtle1]

Hopefully the next dump will be just as good as this one. Delaware received 12 bottles, so hopefully we see a fewore with the next allocation.

[theglobalguy]

Not to sound cynical about it (as i was late the game in trying to find and failed miserably) but apart from moving a small amount of product, what's the benefit to hyping such a small release? I get the idea that they have a limited supply of honey barrels (relatively speaking due to the surge in demand), but why not release at a MUCH higher $ and let supply/demand take care of things?

[MyOldKyDram]

Personally I like the price just where it is.

[theglobalguy]

Me too if i could find some! Seriously though, either the person in marketing at Heaven Hill got a bonus for the product launch flying off the shelf...or smacked for not ringing out as much profit as they could have.

[HighInTheMtns]

Sorry, Denver home drinkers...this one is going restaurant and bar. I'm hearing that 2 retailers will get 3 bottles each. I suspect that the first retailer is near Wyoming, and sold it last week.

If you really want to try it, it will he available in over 20 on-premise accounts (mostly in downtown and the Highlands.). The results of this launch strategy should be interesting.

Rumor also has it that a larger drop should happen in August or September.

[wripvanwrinkle]

This is bad news. Hope it doesn't portend a new trend and is just the result of such a limited release.

[GaryT]

I'm with MyOldKyDram - price is set juuuuussst right :cool:

I feel lucky to have swooped up 3 bottles in Atlanta, although feel no guilt (as I picked the first up on Friday after work, and the second two on Sunday afternoon - more than 40 hours later). Sounded like HH gift shop had some, but at $80 - they may have them for a long time

[black mamba]

My wife, who is working at Duke U. in Raleigh-Durham just picked up 3 ECBPs for me at an ABC store. She's coming home tomorrow!

[tigerlam92]

Ok, I feel a little bad cause I bought 11 bottles, by luck, but also with some diligent in searching. Could have pick up two more elsewhere if wanted but passed that lead to another member.

Maybe not that guilty just slightly.

The first batch I left two bottles only the second batch I took everything which I normally do not do and it was quite a bit more expensive as well.

Cheers

Hugh

[bourbonandbacon]

lots of talk about where to find bottles, not so much talk about tasting. not great with notes, but here is what i remember from last night. neat, the burn isnt terrible for the proof. still get a lot of flavor, though it is mostly sweetness up front. the proof didnt hit me till halfway down my throat, but not a ton of back-end flavor. with some water added to get the proof down to the 110-120 range, this one really starts to shine. a lot more wood comes out (in a good way). though it makes me think i would not really care to see an older version of EC at BP. at that slightly lower proof, i started to get a lot more depth of flavors and found it much more interesting. sweetness got more complex with citrus and cinnamon. the oak was like drinking a nice herbal tea.

second glass i got lazy and just threw a big ice cube in. this was awesome in it of itself. i always feel guilty putting ice into any barrel proofer i have since they are usually $70 plus. paying so much less for the ECBP makes me feel a lot better about it, especially since sometimes i want my bourbon to be cold. lastly, looking into the glass when the ice was melting, it got really cloudy. makes me sad for all that goodness that gets filtered out in other bourbons.

compared to the normal 12, which i had a glass of a week or so ago. this version has so much more depth and character. the normal 12 tasted thin, short, and maybe overly oakey. it wasnt terrible, but this just blew it out of the water. this version was somehow seemingly less tannic, but with more taste of the wood. which makes me wonder what their process is for the barrel selection of each single barrel? anyway, not to drive people to the brink here, given its scarcity, but I would say its a strong buy at $40. I do not think I would necessarily seek it out if it was at BTAC prices, but thats the joy of it right now anyway (and that part of the opinion might be subject to change upon further reivew).

[squire]

Very through analysis B&B, you're correct though, the emphasis on posts has been on locating rather than tasting ECBP.

[fricky]

The effort to locate may have been based on tasting and recommendations of those that tasted it.

[cowdery]

I've said this before but it bears repeating. If your market is getting it or has already gotten it, but you haven't found it yet, don't sweat it. Just keep checking. You will get your reward. There will be more. It's still brand new and I hear there are people buying 10-11 bottles. They won't keep doing that, probably.

[bourbonandbacon]

sorry guys, didnt mean to come across negatively with that comment. i would just like to hear more opinions from those who have purchased/tried it. i think the hunt itself can be so consuming, its sometimes good to step back and consider whether it is worth all the trouble or not. i think it is here, but i am just one person. on the plus side, from what I have found so far with stores in NJ, it seems like it is still being rolled out by the distributors. one store i know just got some in on monday. so, i dont think its all hit the shelves yet. if i can do anything to help anyone find a bottle, please feel free to PM me. unfortunately, i will not be going to the sampler to bring some along for a tasting

[tigerlam92]

I've said this before but it bears repeating. If your market is getting it or has already gotten it, but you haven't found it yet, don't sweat it. Just keep checking. You will get your reward. There will be more. It's still brand new and I hear there are people buying 10-11 bottles. They won't keep doing that, probably.

[DBM]

I am taking the posts about availability and quantities with a grain of salt. With responses ranging from Denver (2.5M population) only receiving 6 total bottles, to one person getting 11, there is definitely a lot of unknowns about distribution and quantity. If Denver is an example of average distribution based on population, there would be only 751 bottles for the entire US. Somehow I think more is in the pipeline... A lot more.

[compliance]

I'll give some more notes when I have a glass in front of me, but I'll chime in with my conclusion. Solid bourbon priced right. I agree with B&B that I wouldn't be buying more if priced higher (BTAC zone). The alcohol is concentrated but the flavor not so much. That said my last EC12 was much better with air time, and I'm hoping that trend continues here. I commend HH for giving us the right product at the right time and not trying to push price boundaries like so many others.