Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Elijah Craig Bourbon History.
Elijah Craig a Baptist preacher from Kentucky is credited with the invention of bourbon whiskey. He was also the founder of Georgetown College, in Georgetown, Kentucky.
Craig was born in Orange County, Virginia in 1738. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1771, however he was imprisoned briefly in South Carolina, they say for disturbing the peace with his sermons.
He then moved to a large region of Kentucky known as Bourbon County, Kentucky and settled in the area of Frankfort in 1785. Two years later In 1777, he became pastor of Blue Run Church.
Craig was a shrewd businessman and a local entrepreneur; he built Kentucky's first fulling mill, its first paper mill, and founded a distillery around 1789 in Georgetown, Kentucky.
It's said that Craig's distillery was the first to age corn whiskey in new charred oak barrels, which is the decisive step in turning moonshine into Bourbon whiskey. This appears to have happened by chance.
After experiencing a fire in his barn where he stored his whiskey barrels. He continued to deposit his new whiskey in the burnt barrels anyway, Craig soon discovered that the whiskey aged better in the charred barrels, picking up colour and flavour, and earning Craig the title of the "Father of Bourbon."
Craig died in Georgetown in 1808.
Heaven Hill distilleries now produce bourbon named after him, which is considered to be one of the firm's premium products.
Elijah Craig 12-Year-Old
Awards & Accolades
Elijah Craig was judged "Best of the Best" in the Premium Bourbons category in Whisky Magazine's Best of the Best 2001 Tasting. The judging included three panels of 63 whisk(e)y experts from around the world.
Elijah Craig was awarded a Double Gold medal at the 2000 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, one of only two Bourbons to do so among over 20 entrants.
Elijah Craig received a Silver Medal in the Wine & Spirits International - 2001 International Spirits Challenge
"About as compete as bourbon aroma as you are likely to find…one of the most beautiful noses found anywhere in the world today.
A bourbon to keep in the mouth forever… Toffee apples and malt rise above the gentle oaky notes and there is a very late arrival of burnt sugar and rye.
The very final notes are extremely complex… near perfection. Perhaps one of my favourite five or six bourbons and certainly the superstar in the Heaven Hill portfolio. It is a bourbon of almost unfathomable depth and has something for everyone. Brilliant."
Jim Murray
Classic Bourbon, Tennessee, & Rye Whiskey
Tasting Notes Provided by Heaven Hill Distilleries
Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Single Barrel
Nose: A weighty nose with a depth of honey where there had once been fruit. Perplexing coastal feel for something distilled 1,000 miles inland!
Palate: Lighter bodied than the 12, with a more simplistic oakiness. Honey and rye cling together.
Finish: Toasty with a residual rye oiliness and a soft vanilla sweetness.
Comments: A solid and charming bourbon. Rating 8."
Jim Murray
Whisky Magazine
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