As secondary barrel finishes for American whiskey became commonplace across all the major producers and craft distilleries in recent years, I feel like there has been a push-pull relationship between how “toasted barrel” releases are often marketed, and how they actually present to the drinker. In theory, putting mature whiskey, be it bourbon or rye into a second, newly toasted (and sometimes charred) barrel can result in an enhanced charge of so many of the sweeter and spicier elements that are prized in both styles. In practice, however, I often find that secondary finishes in toasted (and uncharred, in particular) barrels end up extracting more of the character that is not necessarily so desired, particularly in the form of strongly astringent tannins. In this way, many toasted barrel whiskeys of the last five years marketed as being richer, sweeter or more decadent than their original versions actually have read as less sweet, and more tannic, dry or bitter, at least in my opinion. The toasted barrels just seem like they can be a tad … finicky, perhaps.
Heaven Hill has been an industry leader, when it comes to exploiting and marketing American whiskeys with toasted barrel finishes. Their Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel Bourbon was one of the first examples of the style in wide release, but at the time I thought it perhaps didn’t quite live up to its full potential, seemingly drawing more heat and tannin from the secondary finish than would be desired. In the four short years since that release, though, it certainly seems like the art of utilizing toasted barrels has grown more finessed across the industry, with results becoming progressively stronger. With Heaven Hill now returning to the format for its new release of Elijah Craig Toasted Rye Whiskey, I couldn’t help but wonder if this might represent a new era for “toasted” releases.
This new expression is meant to function as an upgraded version of the standard Elijah Craig Straight Rye, a solid cocktail rye that has represented a good value since its initial release. As with the Toasted Barrel Bourbon being more or less an upgraded version of the classic Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon, this begins with fully mature EC Straight Rye (non-age stated, but likely 4-6 years old), re-entered into a second, newly toasted and briefly charred proprietary barrel that Heaven Hill designed in partnership with Independent Stave Co. It’s made from the usual Kentucky style Heaven Hill rye recipe (51% rye, 35% corn, 14% malted barley) and carries the usual 47% ABV (94 proof) strength for the Elijah Craig series. MSRP bumps up a couple notches to $55.
So with that said, all that remains is to taste this against the original Elijah Craig Straight Rye and see how these toasted barrels have enhanced the spirit.
Visually, the first thing you note here is that you can indeed see that the Elijah Craig Toasted Rye is a shade or two darker in color, although it is a fairly subtle evolution. The difference is arguably even more striking in terms of aroma than appearance–where the original EC Rye features more honey roasted peanut, butter toffee and grassy rye, the EC Toasted Rye is far more distinctly woody on the nose. I’m getting a whole lot of baking spice here, along with toasted coconut, woodpile and toffee sweetness, chased by nutty brown butter. That freshly toasted oak is coming through in an assertive but pleasant way.
On the palate, EC Toasted Rye trades the sweet honey and caramels of the standard EC Straight Rye for a much more baking spice-oriented profile, with assertive notes of brown sugar cinnamon and ginger molasses cookie, settling comfortably into warm baking spices, coconut and milk chocolate. There are occasional pops of black pepper and dried herbs poking through, evocative more of the original profile, but they’ve been reduced in assertiveness from the prior version of this whiskey. One thing that I can appreciate is that this isn’t carrying too much tannin, which keeps the finish from becoming unpleasant dry or astringent. This allows the sweeter impressions to remain in the foreground throughout.
All in all, my impression here is that Elijah Craig Toasted Rye Whiskey represents a positive evolution for the company’s use of toasted barrels, likely reflecting what they’ve continued to learn about whiskey/barrel interaction since 2020. What we have here is a nice cocktail rye with layers of toasted oak spice/baking spice, which would probably play well in any number of classic cocktails. Perhaps your next Manhattan could use a bit of toasted oak influence? You wouldn’t have to ask me twice.
Distillery: Heaven Hill
City: Bardstown, KY
Style: Straight rye whiskey
ABV: 47% (94 proof)
Availability: 750 ml bottles, $55 MSRP
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.