transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:00] Hey, this is Chris Fletcher, the Master Distiller at the Jack Daniel Distillery. You're listening to Bourbon Podcast. Gentlemen, I need a drink, well-deserved.
Speaker 2:
[00:26] It's been a crazy, crazy week, and glad to be here with you guys. We're going to do a little Elijah Craig small batch, and Joe brought in a bottle of Elijah Craig small batch. It looked like a keg. It's one of the biggest bottles I've ever seen. I didn't even know they sold them that big.
Speaker 1:
[00:46] I probably shouldn't.
Speaker 3:
[00:47] Yeah, it was a 1.75 handle that looks exactly like the same shape of the regular, but it's massive looking.
Speaker 2:
[00:53] I thought, well, it's heavy, like it's really heavy. So we're going to compare that and another Elijah Craig small batch. Joe's going to give us all the details, but I'm excited for this one. Joe, tell us what we're dealing with.
Speaker 3:
[01:08] Yes. And we recently did Elijah Craig, so I'm not going, I think on this one we'll keep history very short and we'll kind of like really do a deeper dive into Elijah Craig's relationship, official relationship with the PGA and with the Ryder Cup. I think it kind of there's an interesting story to tell there.
Speaker 1:
[01:29] Not the preacher was not involved with the PGA, but the brand.
Speaker 3:
[01:32] The brand, right.
Speaker 1:
[01:34] Big golfer.
Speaker 3:
[01:35] Yeah, Connor Adryskel, right. So the master stiller. But the Heaven Hill was formed in 1935 by the Shapiro brothers. They have a long history with the Beam family, dating back Joe and Harry Beam in 1935. And there were successive generations from Joe and Harry to Earl Beam. And then ultimately Parker Beam in the 70s. Parker obviously, you know, well known for his barrel-picking ability and for the Parker's Heritage Collection, which raised his money from ALS. And probably an important thing to note here is that in 1999, Heaven Hill buys the Bernheim Distillery from Diageo, and that is downtown Louisville. So if you think about it, we've done, like our chew on it barrel came from the Dietzville campus, which is super old, the TW. Samuels, right? And then down, we talked about the last one, about the Bernheim Distillery and how that's like their main production facility now in many ways, and it's producing a large number of their whiskeys. But up in Bardstown, for those that don't make the extra trip from Louisville or Lexington to Bardstown, is a massive campus that they have up there. And so I think that's important. We're going to talk a little bit about that. And this particular bottle. So who is Elijah Craig? Basically, Virginia used to encompass West Virginia, Kentucky as one big state. And in 1738, he was born in Orange County, Virginia. But ultimately, he moves his congregation out to Lebanon, Kentucky, at the time Virginia. And he's credited with the invention of Bourbon whisky as he built the distillery in 1789. There are a bunch of Elijah Craig releases. You have the small batch that was first released in 86, followed by an 18-year-old age-dated in 1994. And it's still available on the shelf, unbelievable.
Speaker 1:
[03:38] I just got an email about it yesterday.
Speaker 3:
[03:42] Yeah, a great value for $200. They followed it up with a 20-year and a 21-year-old, both discontinued, that ultimately allowed them a couple of years later to release a 23-year-old. And that is why we have the 23-year-old today. So the 18 and 23 are what's in their current stock. Now, they recently released an Elijah Craig 15-year-old. Now, that would be the one that we should do Proof Positive on.
Speaker 1:
[04:07] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[04:08] So I don't know if I've had the 23 of you guys.
Speaker 1:
[04:10] Yes.
Speaker 2:
[04:11] I don't think I have.
Speaker 3:
[04:12] If the bottle I had, which was pre-fire because it had the ribbon around it, you had to wait a couple of days for it to open up. It felt very alcohol, like really alcohol-profiled from it. Man, once it settled in, it was delicious.
Speaker 1:
[04:29] I'm excited about the 15.
Speaker 3:
[04:30] I agree.
Speaker 2:
[04:31] Yeah, I am, too.
Speaker 3:
[04:32] So of note, in 2023, they enter into an agreement in March of 2023 with the PGA to be their official bourbon of the annual PGA Championship, which is held once per year. And that same year, they got another arrangement, an agreement with the Ryder Cup, which is over in Europe, and they released in 2023, kind of the first of the kind of the, we'll call it the Golf Series. So that Ryder Cup limited edition toasted barrel, what made it interesting in 23. And I would like to try that one. I have it. I should open that one.
Speaker 2:
[05:16] It's incredible. I did open one. I think I've got one open here, but it was it was incredible.
Speaker 1:
[05:22] You'd love a toasted barrel.
Speaker 2:
[05:23] I do. And that one was for sides. And I guess they finished it differently. It was spectacular.
Speaker 3:
[05:27] It's actually the only thing different is they used European oak, right? Kind of like think about the barge down.
Speaker 1:
[05:34] But it can be very different.
Speaker 3:
[05:35] Excellent.
Speaker 1:
[05:36] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[05:37] More honey profile comes off that. We've like a lot of like the standard toasted. That one was European oak and it was very expensive to make. And one really interesting fact about that bottle, in case you guys want to go out and try it and hunt it down. It used a profile that was similar to barrels used in Italy's Lazio wine region or Rome where the wider cup was held that year. And so that bottle MSRP for 100 bucks, but rightfully so. I mean, a lot went into that.
Speaker 2:
[06:04] You know, some of those came with a little blue box. Do you remember that? It was like this little commemorative box too. And but I think some didn't.
Speaker 3:
[06:12] That's correct. So the first ones, I think both the writer and the one for the PGA came in a box. So one year later in 24, the first PGA championship commemorative edition, Small Batch Bourbon was released, and that did come in a box. So let's talk a bit about now. We're not going to cover the writer today, but we're going to cover the PGA championship commemorative edition. What is it? Is it worth it? Is there a flavor profile that's different? Because I can tell you that this is, this should be somewhat distinct from a standard Elijah Craig. That's why we're going to pour both of them off. All right. So this is an annual small batch Bourbon that's blended from barrels from unique Heaven Hill Rick House locations. At each of the PGA championship commemorative sites, there is what they call the Speakeasy, which is a cocktail lounge at the PGA venues where fans can sip on an Elijah Craig mulligan. It's the official tournament drink, which basically is Elijah Craig lemonade and sweet black tea.
Speaker 1:
[07:21] I love Bourbon and lemonade is fantastic. I'll tell you that. I'm not added sweet tea, but I'm here for it.
Speaker 3:
[07:25] I think that'd be kind of cool though, being at the PGA championship, going to that tent, getting a cold cocktail. So there have been three releases. 2024 was the first release, and there have been three releases to date. There's a chart on the backside, guys that I've put together my usual. Okay. So there were three bottles for the PGA, three championships, the 24th, the 25th, and what we're covering today, the 26th, which was just released. And so in 24, the PGA Championship venue was Valhalla, a golf club in Louisville, Kentucky. And what they did there was, very creative, they sought out barrels from Rick House P, Rick House 1G for the G, and from Rick House A, PGA. 25% from P, 61 from G, 14% from A, and it was bottled at 94 proof. So there's a lot of question like about the improvement of that bourbon since it's the same proof as the regular Elijah Craig of how much of a difference there was, but it was retailed at $34.99, I believe.
Speaker 1:
[08:35] Yes, you're not really paying up. I mean, I just looked at the standard small batch. I mean, it prices between $25 and $30. I mean, there's bottles on the line being offered for $24.99, $23.99.
Speaker 3:
[08:45] So it's roughly $5 or $10 more.
Speaker 1:
[08:47] You're buying the PGA.
Speaker 3:
[08:48] You are. But the barrels are specific location.
Speaker 1:
[08:51] No, I got it.
Speaker 3:
[08:51] Very small batch. I mean, this has got Connell and Older School's paw prints all over it. So in 25 was Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, again in 94. And so we're Rick House's guys, Rick House Q and H1 for Quail Hollow.
Speaker 1:
[09:08] That's cool.
Speaker 3:
[09:09] So I thought that was neat. And if you're a golf fan, why not own all three of these, right? For that price. So this year is very interesting because the PGA Championship venue, is it a place I've never heard of? Because I golf, but I've never, I didn't realize I had.
Speaker 1:
[09:25] How do you say it? Erronimic? The golfers are going to kill it.
Speaker 2:
[09:33] Oh, man. I purposely, our friends in Pennsylvania that listen to this.
Speaker 3:
[09:36] Yeah. I purposely didn't look it up, the pronunciation.
Speaker 1:
[09:40] So we could slaughter it.
Speaker 3:
[09:41] Because I really didn't know.
Speaker 2:
[09:43] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[09:43] But it is erronimic, erronimic, golf club. Okay.
Speaker 2:
[09:51] God, we're going to get lit up.
Speaker 1:
[09:52] AGC.
Speaker 3:
[09:55] Very beautiful golf course. Just outside Philadelphia in Newtown Square. So which Rick Houses? And yes, and it's bottled in this time, very unusual at 108 proofs. So essentially almost barrel strength. Now, this kind of neat about these locations. Oh, also I should say this is the 108th PGA Championship. And it's bottled at 108 proof. Well, they didn't say it was linked to that, but it sounds awfully. Okay, now, Barge, let's talk about Rickhouse N and S. This one I think is kind of interesting. So when you go to Barge Town, I don't count that, if you remember like the way those are laid out, there's some huge campus up there, right? And there's some really old Rickhouses. And then there are a lot of these new modern ones that are up there, right? Well, apparently Rickhouse N is built in the 1930s. It's so one of their very first, it's seven stories. It's a wooden structure and holds about 19,500 barrels. And so it is a totally different profile and it sits on top of the hill there. Then Rickhouse S, which is believed to be post 2000, when the boom was in place, it holds 56,000 barrels, 400 windows to improve air circulation. And so it literally it's a contrast of the two Rickhouses, the N and the S that are being brought together here with the N clearly kind of having some of the coming from one of their oldest structures up at Barstown. So these are from the Barstown campus where they were retrieved from. They do not put an age on this, but small batch is believed to be between eight and 12 years of age when they blend those barrels. So we expect those to be the same. Well, we can decide differently. Mash Bill, 78% core, 10% rye, 12% multibar. So low rye bourbon clearly here. MSRP, $36.99 is probably just hitting the shelves. And by the way, this is a great time to do this Proof Positive because by the time we air it, we would have finished the Masters, and on May the 11th starts the PGA Championship. So we'll be just before the PGA.
Speaker 1:
[12:15] And learn how to pronounce this golf course, AGC.
Speaker 3:
[12:19] But pretty cool bottling around the neck of the bottle. They have the, what do they call it?
Speaker 1:
[12:25] The Wanamaker.
Speaker 3:
[12:25] Yeah, the Wanamaker trophy is on that. The labels obviously have the logos from the various clubs, the venues.
Speaker 2:
[12:33] And the topper, don't forget the topper. That's really cool.
Speaker 3:
[12:36] Beautiful gold topper on the very top.
Speaker 1:
[12:38] Oh, that's sweet. I didn't know that.
Speaker 3:
[12:41] So I'd say like if you're a golf fan, this is the FF.
Speaker 1:
[12:44] $36. We haven't had it yet, but $36.
Speaker 3:
[12:46] Or 8 to 12 year old. This is not like some gimmick.
Speaker 1:
[12:48] Had a 108 proof, too, you're 108.
Speaker 3:
[12:51] So that's why we're pouring today. So today we also are pouring a standard 94 to go along side of the 108. We're not blinding these per se. I think we're just trying to understand the, you know, what does 108 do? Here's what I will say that the tasting notes from the distillery basically says that you should expect a longer finish and you should expect like deeper caramel and toasted notes due to the, due to the higher proof of the bottle. Okay.
Speaker 1:
[13:24] Yeah, I mean, the nose to me is noticeably kind of deeper more on the PGA bottle, but it's a classic bourbon nose, right?
Speaker 3:
[13:34] I mean, it's- Yeah, vanilla.
Speaker 1:
[13:35] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[13:36] Vanilla caramel.
Speaker 1:
[13:37] Vanilla, brown sugar.
Speaker 3:
[13:38] Some toasted notes, right?
Speaker 2:
[13:39] I'm getting a lot of toasted notes on it.
Speaker 1:
[13:41] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[13:42] And the flavor's awesome on it.
Speaker 2:
[13:43] Collard's great.
Speaker 3:
[13:44] At $36.99, I think I'm going to buy a bunch of these. We should go up there before our partner up there at Walgreens sells all these. We need to go up and buy a bunch. It's pretty good. It finishes a little longer than you would normally get. This is not one you actually have to kind of mix. I think you know. This is really a good, neat tasting-
Speaker 1:
[14:07] It's a nice proof point. I want to taste it versus the standard. I always like the standard, but now honestly, I tend to keep a Elijah Craig Barrel Proof open almost all the time. Just got to enjoy it so much. I always kind of have one open. So if I'm drinking Elijah Craig, I don't drink much of the small batch because I just love the Barrel Proof, but that drinks more like a Barrel Proof.
Speaker 3:
[14:25] Well, the newer Barrel Proofs are the last two releases. We're in that 119, 117 range. This is not much lower and it's-
Speaker 2:
[14:32] But it's not- I don't get any heat on it. Like the Barrel Proof, the last couple that I've got a little bit of heat, and it could be, get very by what you've eaten. It's so variable. But I'm not getting a lot of heat on this. I have tasted them both. There's a lot more flavor on this one.
Speaker 1:
[14:52] No, what I get, I agree completely. I mean, the standard Small Batch doesn't have some of the fruit forward notes that the PGA does. I think the standard Small Batch is kind of a classic Bourbon profile, but man, you get a lot more pop on a PGA that's really nice.
Speaker 3:
[15:09] Yeah, I think the Finnish is super pronounced with the that due to the hire.
Speaker 1:
[15:14] Do you I get like a good amount of like cherry though on the PGA bottle? It's really don't on the yeah.
Speaker 3:
[15:19] And the notes are just saying it should extend. It should accentuate the all the profiles of the of a standard Elijah Craig, but I'm definitely getting a different flavor, a slightly different and it probably comes from those Rick house.
Speaker 2:
[15:34] Honestly, to me, it tastes is it tastes a little more like a toasted. Yeah, then the then the typical small batch, the price point. Yeah, I mean, 37 bucks. Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1:
[15:46] Well, I mean, this is like this is why it's hard for new entrants and new brands that are sourced and blended.
Speaker 3:
[15:52] I mean, when you can get this for 36 bucks, I thought when I bought it, it was like 60 or something. That's why like even though the MSRs there, I'm wondering, because these are the first bottles that really come off the line here. It says $36.99 everywhere. That's the way it has been, but I'm wondering if when this one rings up, well, we could be a little bit more, but I will tell you like even at $60 a bottle, $39.99, this is really good.
Speaker 1:
[16:18] That's what I was saying. We should be thinking about, like, what do you think is fair price for this? Because I think it's more than 36 bucks.
Speaker 2:
[16:24] Yeah. Well, my comparison is going to be the Ryder Cup Elijah Craig Toast that I truly loved and could not find enough of. I went back and raided Walgreens.
Speaker 1:
[16:35] Did you really?
Speaker 2:
[16:36] Yeah. Because they got in a few, they were in the boxes and I bought as many as I could possibly buy, and I gave some to friends, but I cracked, I've had probably two or three of the bottles. It's one of my favorite toaster barrels. This one is, but that one was expensive, if I remember. Just because it was...
Speaker 3:
[16:55] European oak and very limited.
Speaker 2:
[16:59] For 36, 37 bucks compared to 100? Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[17:03] I know.
Speaker 2:
[17:04] I mean, I love that bottle, but man, you get three of these for the price of one of those.
Speaker 3:
[17:10] So I'm curious if the pricing changes on these to be higher. It's not clearly not, I mean, the last two years have been 36.99, but I'm assuming it's the same. But if it does go up, I can't imagine it's going to be much higher.
Speaker 1:
[17:24] No, I mean, I'm seeing like, what's this? I'm seeing liquor bar.
Speaker 3:
[17:29] This is, I'm trying to see if this is probably 25, I bet.
Speaker 1:
[17:32] No, this is a 24. But I mean, but to that point, these are all priced like 30 to 40.
Speaker 3:
[17:39] Yeah. I have not, full disclosure, tried the 24 and 25, right? I have both of them, but I, and they do come from specific rick houses. It seems like because of the lettering of these, they're all coming from the barge town campuses. And so if it's a lower letter, it's probably more likely that 1930s. I've always felt like those old rick houses, like the ones in Deetsville produce a different bourbon. And I'm wondering again, like, because this is, the oak profile is so good on this.
Speaker 1:
[18:13] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[18:14] Well, you know, for me, it's kind of a good, it is truly in the middle, like it's right between the standard offering, the small batch at 94, and then some of the bigger barrel proofs. I prefer this over the barrel proof.
Speaker 1:
[18:31] Yeah, because sometimes you, yeah, like you said.
Speaker 2:
[18:33] And I prefer it over the 94.
Speaker 1:
[18:34] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[18:36] Look at the viscosity.
Speaker 1:
[18:37] Well, there's, I mean, there's a lot of you kind of hinted at this. There can be a lot of variability in the barrel proofs. And we've had some, there have been some that are absolutely unbelievable. There are some that you've not liked as much. I think Joe and I, we always like it, but it's like, there definitely is variability. But this is a really nice proof point. I mean, 108 is like a great proof point for most people.
Speaker 2:
[18:59] Yeah, I think it's-
Speaker 1:
[19:01] I just had another set. There's a different note that is more of that bright, cherry, citrusy fruit that I'm not getting in the small batch. It's lovely.
Speaker 3:
[19:10] It's great.
Speaker 2:
[19:11] I'd love to do this side by side with the toasted barrel, just to see what you like the better. I honestly think for me personally, the toasted barrel would win, but it's $60 cheaper. So maybe that would sway me one way.
Speaker 1:
[19:27] Yeah. If you see this, to me, I'd be happily paying $60, $65 for it. You see for $35 or $40, several.
Speaker 3:
[19:37] Look, when I was there last week and I saw it, I'm like, this is interesting. Just got this one in today. And I'm like, I don't know if I want that or not. I remember the prior years being like 94 proof. I'm like, do I really want to like just buy this to buy it? Or I mean, what is going on? You get the point where you're like, but I was like, you know what? I looked at it and I go, let me grab one. Then I said, you know what? Let me grab two for that price. And I can't even remember what I paid. I thought I paid more than 36.9. And they don't mark their stuff up. But I am glad I bought it because once I got at home, I started looking at the proof on it. I didn't realize. I didn't even look that closely because I need glasses.
Speaker 1:
[20:17] What do we get, we meaning buyers of whiskey, what do we get in the barrel proof for these days? 70? 70 to 80?
Speaker 3:
[20:24] 70 to 80, if available, depending on the risk.
Speaker 1:
[20:27] Well, that's the thing. You can't always find it. But I would be happily out there buying this for 60, 65.
Speaker 3:
[20:33] Yeah.
Speaker 1:
[20:35] Like you said, we've seen barrel proofs go about this low on proof.
Speaker 2:
[20:39] And I've paid that for the barrel proofs. I'd definitely pay it for this.
Speaker 3:
[20:42] Yeah. I wish I had the details on how many barrels were pulled down for this. But I mean, honestly, Connor Driscoll's picking from two rick houses here. Now granted, okay, it's Rick house N and S for Newtown Square. But still, turns out that those rick houses are vastly different. So I think it'd be interesting to see this. So this is unlike the regular Elijah Craig small batch, this is true, true to small batch.
Speaker 1:
[21:13] Yeah, I don't buy the small batch, not because I don't like it or I wouldn't drink it. There's just so much other product and I'm going to always buy the barrel proof as I said. But this I would buy.
Speaker 2:
[21:22] Oh yeah. I agree. Two thumbs up.
Speaker 1:
[21:24] Yeah, two thumbs up.
Speaker 2:
[21:26] Folks, try this out. I mean, I think you're going to, especially if you like that little higher proof. If you're like me and the barrel proof can sometimes be too much, then give this one a try. It's the Elijah Craig Small Batch PGA Edition 2026. I have not seen and also I hadn't seen any marketing on it. So I probably would have snagged one had I known that it was a little bit higher proof and maybe a little different flavor profile. It's damn good. Check it out. Make sure you follow us on social media at Bourbon Podcast. Thank you, Bradley, for the wonderful newsletter. At least every week, sometimes a couple of weeks when we have a little special offering, we've got a couple of big barrel picks coming up. One I am so excited about. We're doing a 2XO Gym of Kentucky.
Speaker 3:
[22:16] Yes.
Speaker 2:
[22:17] Thank you, Dixon.
Speaker 3:
[22:18] We appreciate you. Single barrel.
Speaker 2:
[22:20] When they announced that single barrel program, I messaged Dixon immediately. His post was up for like 13 seconds before I was in his inbox. He was like, absolutely, let's do it. So I think we're going to meet up with him at some point this summer.
Speaker 1:
[22:35] Yeah. Do we have a date on that?
Speaker 3:
[22:37] I think it was in July. The date will set.
Speaker 2:
[22:39] Yeah. So we're going to meet up with him after we pick it and then come back and maybe do an opening, right? We're just going to release party.
Speaker 3:
[22:47] The Medallion looks awesome, the Bourbon Podcast. I mean, I think it's, aside from just being a beautiful looking bottle, it's just exciting, right, to try his stuff. And I think, Ben, you dropped last week, dropping, re-dropping the Deadman Podcast. It's interesting, I can't remember, but we've done 200 episodes of show now. What number was that? Do you remember? It was early.
Speaker 1:
[23:11] It was really early.
Speaker 3:
[23:13] And it's so different because we've all fallen into our role on the podcast, we're comfortable. That was an interesting one because it was so early on, and it was over an hour long.
Speaker 2:
[23:25] Was it really? I didn't go back and listen to it. I do remember the podcast, but I remember specifically just like how chill he is. So I messaged him and I said, hey, we're going to start doing intros for our podcast. Hey, this is Dixon Deadman with Bourbon Podcast. And he sent me like nine different blogs. They were hilarious. They were so good. So we appreciate that. Dixon, you're fantastic, anxious to pick this barrel. Have our good friend Karen Patel come over. Jim of Kentucky is by far his favorite whiskey out there. So he's going to pick this one with us as well. Make sure you're following the newsletter so that you can find out about the release party. Thanks everybody.