Episode 131 - Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye A925

A rye that drinks like a bourbon doesn’t come along every day. We tracked down the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye that snagged Whiskey Advocate’s top spot and put it through a full, honest taste test—then geeked out on why this release hits different. Think 12 years and 3 months in wood, 108 proof, and a mashbill that leans Heaven Hill classic. On the nose we found roasted nuts and cocoa instead of mint. On the palate it’s balanced and sweet-leaning—brown sugar, chocolate, seasoned oak—with a finish that lands like peppered steak: savory, tidy, and memorable without the burn.

We also decode the A-B-C batch cadence and what A925 means for collectors, plus why barrel proof bottlings give a brand real credibility with serious whiskey drinkers. The conversation widens to the shifting whiskey market: fewer flashy new SKUs, more well-aged stock finally coming of age. That context matters, because age at a fair price is rare, and this bottle delivers a compelling value proposition. If you’ve avoided rye because of mint and red-hot spice, this pour might change your mind; if you’re a rye diehard, it offers nuance over noise and proof that patience shows in the glass.

If you love whiskey that balances character with approachability, hit play and pour along. Subscribe, rate, and leave a review with your score—did this rye win you over or are you still team bourbon?

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Shiny Tuggy Burton Brothers. One of those songs that just kind of puts you in a good mood right away. Like when you just hear the guitar strumming and then the drums come in kind of perfectly, not right away, but just kinda here they are. And it's just great. Just that little it's just so good. The doobies, man.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

They could really sing harmony.

Moving Mayhem And The Bourbon Bunker

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yeah, their vocals are really, really good. Shy Tucky Brothers, we are uh gonna of course drink some whiskey after we talk about music, but I don't know that much about the Doobie Brothers, so I think we're uh we're just gonna leave it at that. We're going to whiskey. Really great newbie song.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

How have you been, Tony? I've been doing grey, just crazy, crazy, crazy as I get closer to moving. I'm moving. Oh my god, I'm moving. So super excited for them for the new place, but man, not looking forward to the move.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Is anyone not excited in your family? Oh, this is not. No, he's moving his family. I am. Sold his house, bought a new house, not too far in the distance, across town. And um So you're just down on the boxes and the painting and the um. No, you know what that part's easy.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

It's the uh moving like breakables and my bunker and like all of my artwork. I love a bunker came second.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

We gotta get like the the the fine china and then um the breakables and then Tony's bunker of bourbon bottles, which are also uh you know, delicate and usually in glass and uh 40, 40 boxes.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

What? Dude, it took me six hours to move it, not just a package. Okay, so a box holds anywhere from six to twelve. Depends on the size of the box, and if they're wine boxes or bourbon boxes, and there's a lot of different animals.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Oh my god. All right, so I'm gonna say that not perfectly in between, but in between six and twelve is ten for easy math. Times how many boxes did you say? It was 40 trips, 40 boxes. So move the zero sounds like 400. You have a whiskey apartment with a lot of bottles, and now you're going to. Oh my gosh, that is a lot.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

It was a lot, it and that's heavy. Think about carrying all those bottles up and down stairs because they're in your basement, then you're moving it, and then you're moving it back to a basement. Yeah. I actually got my door, the door lock came in today. It's got a fingerprint. I'm pretty psyched.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Whoa! There's a lot of cool things coming with this movie. It's kind of cool, actually. And it's yours only, or did you can you program multiple fingerprints?

SPEAKER_01 2:58

I can program it and I can release it from my phone so I can I can keep track of it.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

It's Wi-Fi. Oh my gosh. I love going over to Tony's house for uh well, for his wonderful family, of course, and to see him kind of, but uh to also get down into that basement bunker because he just you don't you let a few months go by and all of a sudden you're like, why where'd you get all these? These like another four, five, six bottles, and then I open them and then I drink them, and then I usually kind of stumble my way out of Tony's because you know I'm just going over to a bunch of for some dinner.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

There's a bunch of stuff there. It's it's fun, it's fun. I I um you know that's it's funny how how long it takes to move stuff. Uh, if you haven't moved recently, um, yeah, there's a reason you don't remember moving last. It's kind of like having a baby, you don't remember the first like two months, three months very much.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Is this your analogy? Because it's pretty good. Yeah, this is mine. No, this is your analogy.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

This is mine because you don't remember the first two or three months. That's why you have more kids. Because the first two and three months is brutal. All right, it's great. And you just don't remember that part, and then you have more kids, and you're like, oh my god, I forgot about this. And then it gets better and the light gets bigger, and you know, as the kids get older and everything gets great. But um, yeah, moving is a little bit of that. It's it's uh it's I am not looking forward to the actual move, but I'm we're well into it now, so I can't complain. We're we're getting there.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Well, yeah, and you're kind of sounds like you're a little over the hump of the work to be done to the house, some of the move, four 40 boxes of bourbon and all that good stuff. We have to still move the wine. I gotta probably 25 boxes of wine, too. Well, we don't talk about wine on this podcast, we talk about whiskey.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Actually, the wine though, I don't care as much about the wine, so I'll I'll let the movers move that.

Shifting To Whiskey Talk

Hunting Down The Elijah Craig Rye

Why This Release Matters

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Right. Oh, we broke a few, and you're like, okay, no big deal. Um, all right, so today, you guys, um, you know, we're always drinking whiskey on here. Sometimes it's a bourbon whiskey, um, but sometimes we go a little out there. We don't do a lot of rye whiskies, but that is what we're doing today. I was uh, you know, kind of searching around online for a few bottles uh I wanted. I wanted a specific four roses, so I found this guy uh on Facebook and he had what I wanted. And then I was like, what else do you have? And he had a 1924 uh old Forester, and then uh he just took a few pictures and sent me a message of some other bottles he had, and I'm like, is that the Elijah Craig barrel proof rye? And I had to like kind of just check because it's the Elijah Craig barrel-proof rye that won number one um top 100 of whiskey advocate. Oh, did it really for last year? So and I just remember it kind of like being on the cover, and I didn't really read about it that much. And I'm like, oh Elijah Craig, surprise, surprise me. An Irish whiskey, a Lefroig one the year before that. So it's not always a Kentucky or always a bourbon. Um, it could be Irish, Canadian, rye, bourbon, all those things. Um, but this year it turned out to be Elijah Craig's first release of uh they always had an Elijah Craig rye, but they didn't have a barrel-proof rye. And I start looking closer, and the guy's like, Oh, yeah, I just want like what I paid for it, which was uh I think 75 or 80 bucks. And I'm like, cool. So I'm not there's no markup, and he's shipping it to my house. Winner, winner, here we go. Yeah, and uh it shows up, and I'm like kind of extra looking forward to it. And I open it up, I'm like, Tony, this has got to be our next podcast. This is I know you're not a super rye guy, but a couple of the stats that I just love. Uh they didn't proof bomb you totally. It's 108 proof. Kind of wish it was a little higher, but 108 is a good number. Um number two, uh, it is a 12-year three month, so not young by any means, by any stretch.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

That's actually pretty old. These most of these Elijah Craigs, I I feel like they sit in that nine to ten range, maybe an 11. So to find to 12, I feel like is an old that's an old bottle for Heaven Hill to have around.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

And then number three is that it's the first one that came out. So they usually do um an ABC for the year. They do a uh help me Tony, uh what are the three months?

SPEAKER_01 7:21

It's January, so usually it's an A1 and then the year. So this year would be A1, 2-6, it'll come out in January. Then typically it's a B5, it comes out in May, and typically it's a C9 or sometimes a C10 in the past, which is obviously September or October.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

So what they did is kind of cool here, if you could follow that, is become even though this is the third of the year, but it's the first one they've ever done. So it came, they made it an A, but it was an A9, uh, which it usually would be an A1, so it's an A925. So then the next one will be A126. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Um, who knows if it's gonna be if it came out in January. Like say they don't do it until this month, it'll be an A326. That's how they do it. So I don't know, I don't know when the next one comes out or when it's out.

Label Codes, Batches, And Timing

SPEAKER_02 8:06

I haven't even tracked if it's out yet. Anyway, so lots of cool things about this. Um, you know, better than the average bear in the way of kind of cool factors, age, proof, all the shit that matters, and a favorite, favorite Heaven Hill brand, uh, which is Elijah Craig. So um, before we taste it, uh, I have some other things about it. And then I don't know, Tony, if you have other things, but uh I always have stuff. 51 rye, 35 corn, 40, uh sorry, 14 uh barley, and I already said uh 12 years, three months, and uh yeah, sure enough, MSRP's um 75 bucks for a 70 uh 750 milliliter. Your turn, your turn.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

I was actually just looking up if the 2026 barrelproof rye came out yet. And uh I don't it I think it's coming out. I just don't know if it's out in January yet, but I heard it's gonna be another 12 year, but I think you might get what you like. I think it's gonna be 120 proof. So I don't know if it'll be an A226 or if it's gonna be an A126, but it looks like it's coming out at 11 years, 11, 11 year, 11 month, 120.4 proof. So that might be something you should find if you really like this one. Because this is gonna be very similar to this, but it's going to be um, you know, 120 proof instead of 108. Um, anyway, that's that's I was just looking that up while Mike was talking. What do I know about uh Elijah Craig? So Elijah, who is Elijah Craig? Elijah Craig, old guy. Well, well, well, hold on, hold on. How do you want to go far back?

Specs: Mashbill, Age, Proof, Price

SPEAKER_02 9:41

So the thing, the thing is that they also put out three of these um in the barrel proof bourbon and uh three times a year. So now there's gonna be three of each. I feel like they're kind of like, man, they're putting out a lot of product. Three of those and three of those. I know they're like smaller releases, but then like all the other Heaven Hill brands, they're like doing a ton. So um I'm excited that I mean this as good as I uh I've tasted it, um, like I said, at home, and then brought it for Tony. So who knows what he's gonna think. But this this rye that comes out in the bourbon that comes out like side by side, back to back, each um three times a year, is pretty fucking awesome. Like you could, if someone said, hey, you know, there's no more whiskey, everything's ran out, or you're on some deserted island, those are two um the rye and the bourbon, now that I've had the rye and love it so much, um, that I that are just usually award-winning fucking showstoppers.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Yeah, no, I'm I'm excited to see this. I didn't realize they were gonna do this ride um three times a year, also. It's it's uh, you know, it's another skew for them. We'll see what happens. You know, with the market unfortunately um getting smaller right now, you don't you're not getting as much new stuff being dropped like this, skew numbers. But what I am noticing is we're seeing a lot more older stuff, which is kind of cool. So I think that's that's gonna be something that for the us that really enjoy and really chase bourbon, we're gonna find some good stuff in the next couple years.

SPEAKER_02 11:10

Yeah, I said that to Tony before we started. I'm like, this is a great example of this could be eight or nine years old, it's 12. Elijah's got a lot of stuff, or sorry, Heaven Hill's got a lot of stuff sitting up, waiting. A lot of other companies do. If they don't, they're able to buy it at a probably a discount. So lots of good age stuff coming up.

Upcoming Batch Rumors And Proof

SPEAKER_01 11:30

It's pretty cool. I mean, Elijah Craig. So let me, well, you were asking me before. Elijah Craig is known as the father of bourbon, it's kind of a myth. He definitely distilled bourbon. They say he accidentally charred the first barrel. He burnt it before putting uh before putting bourbon in it. There's a lot of myths involved with it, but really, I mean, he's a he's a real historical figure. He was a Baptist preacher. He's from the early, he's he's from Kent, no, he actually came, he was born in Virginia, but he's considered one of the early Kentucky distillers. And then in Heaven Hill actually brought his um brought up, he they actually started this brand with his name on it in 1986, I think. So it's kind of cool. Um who are the other fathers of bourbon? Didn't they say? Uh Elmer T. Lee. Yeah. You know, I then you're obviously always gonna have you know Jim Beam and Jack Daniels. You know, you're gonna get the the big guys too.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Those are the names. All right, well, but it's kind of cool.

Elijah Craig Origins And Myths

SPEAKER_01 12:35

I mean, when you look into Elijah Craig and if you actually care, it's you know, some of the some of the myths and stuff is is fun, but it it it really what it comes down to is he was an early Kentucky distiller, and he was obviously a well-known person, and and you know, uh heaven held paid paid homage to him and put his name on a barrel, and they've done really good juice from it. So that's where we're at.

SPEAKER_02 12:58

They've done great. Um, all right, let's smell it. Yeah, for sure. You've listened you guys have listened to us enough, I think. Right on the nose, is it is it a super rye to you, or are you kind of like, hmm, I wouldn't really know this is a rye?

SPEAKER_01 13:13

I would not have put this in the rye category. This is not like cinnamon red hot come right off the nose.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

I think it's a s it's sweeter than a rye usually would be. Um nuttier. To me, it's hard to get past the the the the I almost said it's hard to get past the nuts. Yeah, it's very nuts. But there's a little chocolate note in there. Um she said. Keep digging, keep digging.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Cheers. Oh, the palate. Definitely so balanced, right? Yeah, definitely flows. Sweet chocolatey, brown sugar. Oh yeah. Not not a riot, not super rye forward.

SPEAKER_02 14:11

And the finish. The finish for me is like this perfect peppered steak where the cinnamon, the char, the spice goes away, and you're just left with like just remembering how good it was. It's like this is a finish that like uh it defines it.

Nose Notes: Nuts And Chocolate

SPEAKER_01 14:33

I don't think that the the new one, the A126 that comes out with this high proof is gonna come across way more rye than this to me. I think that this is proofed right if you're not making if you for people that really love old school rye's, you know, the Pikevilles, the the you know, the good ryes that you can get at a regular base, this is gonna be a lighter that this is gonna have a lighter flavor profile than that.

Palate, Finish, And Balance

SPEAKER_02 14:56

That's great that you brought up Pikesville because their rye at 110 proof is like a standard in the rye whiskey world. To me, it's like the best. Listeners, if you you can get it at any Benny's, you can get it almost at any liquor store. Um, little, it's got like a little neck. I think the label is like white and green. Um, go on the rye section down the aisle and uh you'll find it. And I think I'm I'm totally guessing they maybe raised the price 50 bucks, 45. No idea, somewhere in that range, but not not crazy. Pick up a Pikesville. Now we're back to the Elijah Crack. So um, yeah, I just this has I usually want the proof. If this uh if this was not 108 but was 120 and it had a sizzle to it, I'd be like, yeah, I'm still liking it, but this is one of those where you lower the proof, it doesn't burn you, and a lot of the um, at least for me, mainly the finish just comes across like wow. I'm not like trying to you know reaching for the water because I'm still a little torched.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Uh it's like a great medium finish, it just doesn't have like that crazy long, you know, cinnamon red hot. It's not that, it's it's a little bit more of like a berry finish with a like a little bit of a rye spice to it. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02 16:17

Berries, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Because it's a little more, it's a little not, it doesn't come across as rye. Like rye to me is very minty, it's very cinnamon forward. This is not that exactly. It's there, there's parts of that in here. I don't get I give very little mint, by the way.

Comparing Classic Ryes And Pikesville

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Very little, which is surprising. That Pikesville we talked about, you're gonna get some mint. But this just I think why they gave it first place. I have no idea why. Um, but I think when something comes across like a little surprising, um, it's got all the bones and the legs to of what you're hoping, but it kind of falls short. Like I think some reviews I read were that they think it felt kind of short because of the 108, where I'm totally obviously.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

It drinks below its proof. I mean, that's really what it comes down to. This drinks way below its proof. Yeah, I mean it really does. Yeah. And it's and I it I don't know if it's the year, I don't know what's causing it to be more bourbonish to me than rye, but it's definitely in that bottle.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

And when you talk about like berries and like light, lighter fruit, um, not any like in your face. A lot of bourbons have you know really sweet fruit right in your face. This doesn't, um, but a lot of times rye, it's hard to get a fruit at all because it's just spicy, charry, oaky, tannic, um, you know, and then it's either a high proof or a low proof, and then you get that like peppery mint and not always that great. Um, I I love them, but for a lot of people, they just won't even drink ries.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Ryze can be rice can be, you know, um a little bit if it it depends on how you drink your your whiskey, honestly, because rye is just really another it's a it's a genre of whiskey that's actually like through the bourbon line, right? So um, you know, whiskeys in general, there's just so many different flavors of whiskeys. I mean, we when we start getting into Irish and we start getting into Scotch, and you know, we've got an Indian, an Indian bottle here from India. It's just it's all different, and it's it's just completely different. Uh the rye is definitely something that's I, in my opinion, that's through the bourbon lineage, but it's it's definitely much more spicy.

Fruit, Spice, And Proof Perception

SPEAKER_02 18:33

And that's I I've I've kind of learned um well a long time ago, but it's even more important now with all the different expressions coming out. When you you know, someone's like, Oh, I want you to try this, you know, Indian whiskey or whatever it is. Um don't be afraid to don't be afraid of it and to give it a try. Uh, if it's not your thing, I don't think it's like uh right away that you don't like it. Maybe maybe it is, do whatever you want, but um, there's a lot of good stuff, a lot of different expressions coming out that are just really worth um the money and worth the uh worth the the taste, worth the try. No, it's great.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

I mean, it's it's really a solid. I mean, Heaven Hill, Heaven Hill knows what they're doing. This particular line, this particular skew of of you know, bourbon whiskey, uh, the Elijah Craig. I mean, it's it's a solid anchor of their of their portfolio that it's just not going anywhere. It's it gives it's got the heritage with the name, it's got you know partnerships. You see this stuff, it's got like PGA stuff on it now. That's trying to become more of an ultra luxury version of it. I don't, you know, it's all branding, right? It's the same juice, but what they're trying to do is they're trying to go after, you know, just better than anybody.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

They're trying to sell this to sell this as a premium brand. Whatever you can tie it to and sell more of it, that's what they're doing.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

But I think the barrel proof, that little cursive barrel proof under Elijah Craig, that's what gives them the credibility to the to serious drinkers. You can brand it as a PGA, this and that, and but you see you get this barrel-proof and you get this this older, higher octane, really well made, complex bourbon. It's it's it's just it's good, it gives them the credibility.

Broader Whiskey Styles And Openness

SPEAKER_02 20:21

Yeah, and age, age and proof. Age, they waited for it. There's a cost to that. Yeah, uh, not that that always matters, and and proof, it's not watered down. So there's a cost to that. The more water they put in it, uh, the cheaper it's gonna be. All right, so you want to start it? Uh I want you to. Um, I will go sip rating um quickly. Uh I I have to say shareable, uh, not that it's just hanging out on shelves, but I found it easily, so I was willing to share it simply and easily. And I came running over to share it with Tony. Uh influenced Elijah Craig, amazing. Price, also pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Yeah, shareable to me. This is these are all ups, these are all positives. Shareable. Um, yes, I don't think this is the first thing I'd pull out unless somebody you know said they liked rise or wanted, or there's other brands of rise that I I think are more bourbonish than rye sometimes. And this I would put this in that category. Influence is off the charts. We talk about Heaven Hill all the time. Uh, price is fine. I mean, I I just feel like any of these barrel proofs, if you can get them in that$80 price point, you're I mean it's a 12-year juice for$80. You don't you just don't get that. Don't get it. Don't get it. I mean, you just don't. So that's where I would be. Uh, you want me to rate this? I this is I'm gonna rate this and it's a rye.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

I will disagree with one thing you just said is that you might not bring it out and like share it really quickly because it uh because it's not like your standard rye. I I want to bring it out to be like if you that's why I brought it to you. If you're not really a super rye person, you usually want something sweeter, then I'm bringing this to that person. No, that's fair. That's fair.

Brand Strategy, Credibility, And Barrel Proof

SPEAKER_01 21:57

I just think therefore somebody asked for a rye at my house. This isn't what I'm giving to them first because they're looking for the spice, in my opinion, because they're asking for a rye. It's a good point. But uh, I'll give you a number. I this is way better than I was anticipating.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

I know that I love with rye. You always anticipate it. I dude.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

I'm thinking like average, can I handle this? Am I gonna like this at all?

SPEAKER_02 22:20

I love finding out that you weren't really excited about this podcast. I was like, I'm bringing the rye. And you were like, all right, fine.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

All right, I'll find some songs. Uh, but no, I um that's so funny to say, but it's so true. You know, the last couple rides you've brought have been excellent, and I think it's I don't know if it's the age of them that changes them. Um I I believe that's true in Scotch. I don't know, but I I the last one you brought that I really enjoyed was that handy, and I feel like that was like a 10-year or something. Um we don't we just don't do a lot of rides.

SPEAKER_02 22:52

Whole different price point. And this is better than that handy, and this is probably like I mean, retail about uh half the retail, um, able to find it way easier.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

We did a Sazerac 2. I mean, we just don't do a lot. The over the old we did that old overcast. Anyway, I'm gonna tell you I I have this way higher than I thought. I'm I'm gonna give this a uh God three three seven five.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Four over here. It's a four-banger. It's a four-banger for you. I was thinking four, but I just I'm not there. It lives high in the world of rise. It lives high in the world of rise.

Shareability, Value, And Availability

SPEAKER_01 23:26

This is this is one if you if you you can get this. I'm sure you can find this. Uh I don't know if you're gonna find the 25, the A925, but I guarantee you're gonna find these on the shelf right now. Tons of them.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

Tons of shells. Um, especially next year.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Yeah, especially.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

This one specifically that's on the slap on the front cover of number one first place whiskey advocate. No, people are probably the taters, as they say, are probably scooping these up. Um, maybe I was a tater for buying it, but I was like, hey, if they thought it was that good and you're gonna drop it to me for retail and ship it to my front door for 75 bucks, I'm in.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Yeah, I mean that's that's I mean, that's retail. That's maybe even lower than retail. That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

All right, how we going out? How we going out?

SPEAKER_01 24:07

How we going out? You know what? I changed this up. I I like that moody, uh, that Doobie Brothers song so much that I'm uh I'm gonna have us go out with a little bit of America, a little venture highway by America. It's got the similar kind of like who is this? This is America. The name of the band is America. It is. You know, you don't know who this is? Oh god, you're so young. Um a pizza ground. This is such a good song. This is classic. I mean wow.

Final Ratings And Tater Talk

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Jump on our Instagram um or wherever you're listening to this, and um tell me if you like Tony's outro. Tell me if you like Tony's little uh without song. I think this is a great song. We had I thought I had one picked and then you audibled. You switched it up and having a little bit more. I had another one for you and I switched it. Anyway, it's more about the whiskey than it is about the music. Uh Mike and Tony, Chai Tech and Bourbon Brothers, we take care of the whiskey so you can focus on with whom you share it. Tony and I are short sharing a rye today. I had to get him over that rye hump. That's what we're gonna call it now, the rye hump. I like it. Tony needs to sometimes get away from the sweet, sweet bourbons and get over to the rye. So, cheers, dude. Cheers. Uh have a good week. Yeah, you too.