ELIJAH CRAIG STRAIGHT RYE
🦫 ANGUS RATING: 8/10 BEAVERS
I. THE CROWLEY STORY
I once stumbled across Reverend Elijah Craig behind his barn, burning rubbish.
There was a hell of a fire going. Oak barrels were stacked nearby, and several of them had caught fire.
I asked him what the devil he was doing.
“Burning rubbish,” he says.
Then he looked at the barrels.
Then he looked at his whiskey.
Apparently, he’d just realized he needed something to hold the whiskey in, but now all he had were a bunch of charred oak barrels.
Since he didn’t have anything else available, he filled them anyway.
The rest is history.
Or something like that.
I wasn’t taking notes.
But I remember the whiskey.
And judging by what’s sitting in my glass today, somebody at Elijah Craig still remembers what to do with oak, fire, and a barrel of whiskey.
So, let’s pour the rye and see what the Reverend’s descendants have been up to.
II. THE POUR
Elijah Craig Straight Rye pours a nice amber, with enough legs in the glass to let you know there’s some substance hiding in there.
The nose starts with oak and caramel, followed by rye spice and pepper. There’s a little leather lurking underneath, along with what I swear is a touch of orange.
It’s an interesting combination because the rye character is obvious, but there’s a distinctly bourbon-ish sweetness underneath it.
That’s not entirely surprising. Elijah Craig makes this as a 51% rye whiskey, with corn and malted barley making up the remainder of the mash bill. The distillery describes the whiskey as balancing sweet corn with spicy rye.
In other words, the bastard has one foot in rye country and the other standing firmly in bourbon territory.
III. THE TASTE
Neat, the rye comes through immediately.
Pepper. Spice. Caramel. Oak.
There’s a pleasant warmth without the whiskey becoming unnecessarily aggressive. The caramel and oak give the rye something to push against, which is probably why it comes across as somewhat bourbon-like despite being a straight rye.
Then I added an ice cube.
And something rather interesting happened.
The pepperiness nearly disappeared.
In its place came a much stronger toffee and caramel character.
That’s not merely “smoother with ice.” The whiskey actually changes personality.
Neat, it’s a peppery rye.
With ice, it starts behaving like somebody put a caramel candy in the glass and told the rye to calm the hell down.
And it listens.
Mostly.
One unexpected discovery: this whiskey mixes remarkably well with strong coffee. The caramel and oak work with the bitterness of the coffee, while the rye pepper gives it enough backbone that the whiskey doesn’t simply disappear.
Apparently breakfast has finally become respectable.
IV. THE FINISH
The finish is relatively long, beginning sweet before the pepper comes back around.
That pepper hangs on nicely after the initial sweetness fades, leaving a warm, slightly spicy character behind.
And that’s where the rye finally reminds you who’s running the operation.
You get the caramel.
You get the sweetness.
Then the pepper walks back into the room and says:
Ye thought we were finished?
No.
Ye were not.
V. ANGUS’S VERDICT
Elijah Craig Straight Rye is a damn good all-around rye.
It’s got enough rye spice and pepper to satisfy somebody looking for an actual rye, but enough caramel, oak and bourbon-like sweetness to make it approachable for somebody who normally reaches for bourbon.
Neat, it’s pepper-forward and flavorful.
Over ice, it transforms into something considerably sweeter and more dessert-like.
And if you’re the sort of person who occasionally believes whiskey belongs in coffee, this one makes a surprisingly good argument for your questionable lifestyle choices.
It’s also versatile enough that Elijah Craig itself recommends it for cocktails such as the Manhattan.
Would I buy another bottle?
Aye.
Would I drink it neat?
Absolutely.
Over ice?
Aye.
In strong coffee?
Apparently.
Would I let an Englishman near the bottle?
Absolutely fucking not.
🦫 ANGUS RATING: 8/10 BEAVERS
Good rye. Good bourbon character. Good with ice. Bloody good in coffee.
And if ye don’t like it…
Ye’re probably English.