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New Elijah Craig Single Barrel 21-year-old


cowdery
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Barrel #10 is available in west Cobb, anyone else try that one out?

Interesting, there was some in SF that I pass on since I have a bunch of barrel 8.

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I wouldn't worry about getting a poorer bottle. Perhaps "not so good" should be "not as good" ?? EC18's were always pretty good or really good and I'm sure the EC21's work the same way.

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Picked up a bottle from barrel #10 tonight. It will get stashed away for the right time.

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Reunited after some time apart. Neat to think that they may have been from the same batch, should make for a fun comparison.

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Got a bottel of this today and had it side by side with Pappy 23 and Willett FE 21. I was anticipating the EC pretty heavily but came away seriously disappointed. I was struck by a very medicinal nose and front palate. It faded to more of a peaty/boggy char but one that was off putting for a bourbon. The pappy while not my overall favorite won the battle tonight. It was smooth with caramel and molasses finishing with just the right amount of wood. The Willett was a touch sweeter and also very, very good but clearly 2nd place for me. My EC is barrel 70, any reports on that one?

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Reunited after some time apart. Neat to think that they may have been from the same batch, should make for a fun comparison.

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When did you buy the 18? They were damn near 20 years near the end.

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When did you buy the 18? They were damn near 20 years near the end.

Best guess, sometime within the last 6 months. I've had a good year stumbling on them in remote stores. I think I got two coming back from Louisville, and I found a couple more visiting the in-laws much earlier within the year. And a couple more one at a time from odd places.

How long they had been sitting there before me, is anyones guess.

I think the 18 was seriously under appreciated when it around, look how the market changed for old juice so quickly.

B

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Numerous EC 18s of 5-10 years ago were over 20 years old, it had to be judging by barreling date and time of purchase/freshness of label. In fact I think I remember discussing one that seemed 24 years old judging by different factors. So now clearly with aged stocks at a premium, the age expression has been upped with a stiff increase in price. I'm not saying it's not good of course and one might imagine they selected the very best aged stocks for such sale while other aged whiskeys are being reserved or used in minglings.

Gary

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Gary,

One could argue that the EC18 was underpriced for some time... this seems to be what was HH's approach to the market. Now that we're in the midst of a bottle, it's time to pay the piper.

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Gary,

One could argue that the EC18 was underpriced for some time...

Which is why I generally will snag any of these lonely underpriced 18's when I see them. They do represent great valued product for what you are getting, compared to similarly aged releases today.

That, and they always seem to represent to me what a classic old whiskey should be. It's just a perfect to me.

B

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Had a taste of EC21 barrel 12 at a whiskey tasting this past weekend at Holeman & Finch amongst 19 other whiskies! Nothing like a light buzz by noon...

I thought it was a pretty good barrel. Not as dry and ashy as the EC20 I have which was barreled 3/15/91 (barrel #8). Not sure if it had been reviewed yet. Still not sure I would buy one at the current price though.

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Saw an EC21 today at $129.99.

Couldn't pull the trigger. Too many good whiskeys out there for 1/4 the cost. If any GBS folks want to pick it up send me a PM.

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Saw an EC21 today at $129.99.

Couldn't pull the trigger. Too many good whiskeys out there for 1/4 the cost. If any GBS folks want to pick it up send me a PM.

Yeah I passed again today @ $149.99. He has sold the other two but I just couldn't do it.

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I paid $139.99 for mine won't do it again. I have no problem paying that and more if the bourbon is worth it but this one does not suit my taste buds.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Opened a bottle I received as a gift this weekend with friends. Opinions ranged from "best bourbon I've ever had" to "meh." I was disappointed myself. I'm a huge fan of EC12 and ECBP. I never had the 18 or the 20. My bottle had an overly plasticky taste to it that I've never tasted in bourbon before. At first I thought it was the glasses we were using, but after a glass change I still got the same taste. I'm going to let it sit for a few weeks and revisit, but overall very disappointed.

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  • 2 months later...

I've seen a couple of these around. Bottled in 1990. My question is, did HH tank these a few years ago? I believe the 21 only came out last year. The math doesn't add up. Is this really 23 year old whiskey?

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I've seen a couple of these around. Bottled in 1990. My question is, did HH tank these a few years ago? I believe the 21 only came out last year. The math doesn't add up. Is this really 23 year old whiskey?

Bottled or Barreled ? They don't age in the bottle.

Edited by p_elliott
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Or they prefer to understate the age? My EC21 was barreled 12/90. So if bottled last spring or summer, it would be perhaps +22 years old but not quite 23? Towards the end of EC18, the stock fresh on the shelves had barreling dates suggesting older material in the bottle.

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  • 2 months later...

A distributor told one of my dealers that was due some EC22 soon. I'm thinking that I may buy the bottle of EC21 at my other dealer just for scientific testing purposes.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've tried EC21 barrel #65 and it was very interesting. I recently tried a bourbon distilled in 1916 and bottled in 1925 and it had very similar characteristics to this bourbon. It was sweet on the front of the pallet but had a medicinal, kind of musty quality to it. There was a decent amount of wood and caramel in the EC21 and the medicinal quality was not as strong, but the nose was almost spot on with the prohibition whisky that I tried a few weeks prior.

p.s. this is my first post here. Hello from NYC

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I'm wondering how different a 21yo from 1990 might be from an '18yo' from 1990 bought in 2012. I guess we could all trade samples and see, eh?

Edited by MauiSon
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