Review #254: Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye B526
Review #254: Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye B526 MASH BILL: 51% rye, 35% corn, 14% malted barley AGE: 10 yr 8 mo PROOF: 115.6 COST: $70 for 750mL bottle (South Carolina) So far in 2026 we have not been blessed with an Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bourbon. At least one batch of ECBP winds up in my top 5 whiskies of the year every year. While I was feeling pretty confident that we would see the return of 12+ year age stated ECBP batches in this glut, we haven’t quite seen it yet. But with the recent release of the ECBP 15 yr, it seems like perhaps the strategy might be to let some of those bourbon barrels that would normally find their way into ECBP get even a bit more aged to use them in the higher age stated releases instead of ECBP releases. So instead, we have been given two ECBP Rye batches so far instead this year. I reviewed ECBPR A126 earlier this year and thought it was the best ECBPR release I’ve had so far (out of 3 batches). Now, with the ECBP bourbons, the B batches we...
