Heaven Hill markets Elijah Craig 18 Year Single Barrel by asking, “Ready to experience some of the oldest Bourbon barrels in Kentucky?” Elijah Craig 18 Year and Elijah Craig 23 Year remain the stewards of high-aged bourbon. With yearly releases, very few other brands match Heaven Hill’s track record of continually releasing high-aged bourbon. In the past, Heaven Hill released 20, 21, and 22 year single barrel variants, however, those ended up being one-off limited edition releases.

‍‍The bottle in review is number 6449 and was bottled on 8/16/2023.

The bourbon opens with as classic a nose as you can get for an 18 year old bourbon from Kentucky. Oak and caramel are in perfect balance, which are joined with vanilla cream, crème brûlée, and a touch of brown sugar which help add additional depth and sweetness. A subtle apple cinnamon crumble adds slight intrigue. The scents are all nicely integrated, producing an aroma that starts the sip off on the right foot.

The extended time spent aging in the barrel is noticeable as dry aged oak immediately fights forward. Riding behind it are vanilla powder along with cinnamon spiced apples and a dab of brown sugar. Light rye bread and white peppercorn spice notes join the fray to help add additional depth. It’s a subtle delivery overall, with the bourbon’s 90 proof points doing just enough to highlight a nice diverse flavor set, but doing little to amplify their presence. This also causes the overall mouthfeel to be slightly on the thin side.

Rye spice pushes its way to the front to kick off the finish. Entering behind this spice note are subtle vanilla cream and aged oak. Flashes of cinnamon cake and a touch of leather add additional depth. As the flavors fade, rye spice and dry oak remain intertwined and linger on a wave of gentle heat. It’s a really nice way to end the sip and, thankfully, makes up for the lull that’s encountered at the midpoint.

The Elijah Craig family of bourbon is deep and diverse. From their standard small batch series, their toasted offering, to their ongoing batched barrel proof series, which happened to be our #1 Whiskey of the Year in 2023, the brand seems to offer something for everyone. However, none of those are aged in oak for the extreme amount of time that Elijah Craig 18 Year is.

Outside of Heaven Hill, you find few higher-aged bourbon offerings coming from Kentucky. While you have Eagle Rare 17 and Pappy Van Winkle 20 and 23, and other limited releases from time to time, these whiskeys are nearly unobtainable to most consumers. As a result, the closest comparison is Knob Creek 18 Year. However, being a batched product versus a single barrel product affords that bourbon to deliver a more consistent drinking experience to the entire consumer set who purchases a bottle.

Being a single barrel, each barrel of Elijah Craig 18 Year will be slightly different. While the nose may be slightly better for one, or the palate better for another, for the most part, Elijah Craig 18 Year typically delivers a solid and consistent drinking experience. It treads the line nicely between highlighting the additional time spent aging in barrels without becoming over-oaked. Higher age in no way equates to a better tasting bourbon, but for those who do chase age statements, few high aged bourbons deliver the drinking experience that Elijah Craig 18 Year does.

Oftentimes, people who have been drinking bourbon for a long time will wax on about the days when you could easily pick up a bottle of Elijah Craig 18 for only $50. I know I certainly fall into that camp, but the reality is that those days are long gone. In fact, it may have been commonplace back in the mid to late 2000s, however, that was when this specific bottle in review was just being distilled and barreled!

The fact of the matter is that while it no longer carries a $50 price tag, Heaven Hill also doesn’t use its age to continuously raise its price every year. When we last reviewed Elijah Craig 18 Year back in early 2020, it had the exact same MSRP of $150. Now this doesn’t mean that’s a fantastic value. If anything, the current price aligns nicely with where it should be for this bourbon. People may complain about this costing $150, but in this case, it’s right where it should be given the current market.

Elijah Craig 18 Year Bourbon isn’t a perfect bourbon, but it delivers on many fronts for  a higher-aged pour. Yes, its flavors, particularly in the palate, aren’t as amplified as I would have liked, but on the flip side, a combination of barrel selection and keeping its proof lower, over-amplified oak notes also don’t derail the sip. The resulting bourbon is classic bourbon through and through.

Eighteen years is a long time to rest before being brought to the market. Think about all you’ve accomplished in life over the last 18 years. Now think about this bourbon sitting in a barrel that entire time. This literally entered a barrel in late 2004, and many, many things could have gone wrong before it came to be bottled. Credit should be given to Heaven Hill for releasing a consistently well-crafted, high-aged bourbon that is greatly enjoyable and also reasonably accessible.