Hey guys,
t8ke here,
It’s been a wild couple weeks but boy do I have news for you! If you haven’t caught the news of my announcement, I'm now the Managing Editor and Spirits Critic for WhiskeyRaiders.
Rest assured, it won’t change how barrels are run this year, or next year, or aaaafter that, so don’t stress. A ton of you have asked after seeing the announcements. Theres tons of booze to go around. You'll get emails from me regarding updates, lotteries, sales and releases and more. We did more barrels than ever this year, and we'll do more next year still. It's going to be awesome. If you haven't signed up and would like to, DO SO HERE
Now let’s get to the barrels. I'll make sure each one gets a full review up at Raiders as well if any of you are curious about bottles that may slip through your paws due to their limited nature.
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r/Bourbon Russells Reserve
The barrels have landed! The stickers have landed! Everything is at the retailer! They are checking everything, applying stickers and getting these good to go.
If you are in the lottery for these (if you're on the email list, you're in the lottery) then you are good to go! This week or next, when I have gotten the thumbs up that they are good to sell, I'll reach out via email to alert winners. I will post to r/bourbon as well when winners have been selected.
If you are selected and have questions, just reply to the email. If you have questions related to shipping and state support, email t8ke@t8ke.review. If you have other questions, toss them in the comments here. You'll get a shot to buy one bottle from either barrel, but not both. These are EXTREMELY high in demand. They will sell out immediately.
r/Bourbon Smooth Ambler Old Scout barrels
Both barrels have been bottled! Things are moving right along on schedule, and you should hear of a shipping notification in the next week or two I imagine. edit This notification will come as an email from me, that shipping will be beginning and what to expect. One barrel came out one bottle short - so I may ask for one person to potentially take two bottles of the other barrel, but will reach out via email to figure that out. If nobody volunteers, there's no issue, I am happy to give up mine. These both were super awesome, and Justin's House of Bourbon is a great shippe
... keep reading on reddit ➡
https://preview.redd.it/ugalzg2mfqu61.jpg?width=1145&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=288e9205be66d5dbfa1e6b060e3abbae285f92b7
This, and other reviews, can also be found on my whiskey blog "The Whiskey Shelf": https://www.thewhiskeyshelf.com/elijah-craig-small-batch-vs-heaven-hill-7-year-bottled-in-bond-comparison/
Overview
There was some controversy when Heaven Hill discontinued their 6 year old bottled in bond bourbon, a sub-$20 bourbon that was lauded as one of the best budget bourbons, and replaced it with a 7 year old bottled in bond bourbon at double the price. While I haven’t had the 6 year, I have had a lot of other Heaven Hill bourbons including the 7 year Bottled in Bond and Elijah Craig Small Batch. I mention this because after reviewing the 7 year bottled in bond, I was very curious to find out how it compared to Elijah Craig Small Batch since I still had some sitting around to use.
Bear with me here – I believe that Elijah Craig Small Batch is one of the best bourbons under $30 (at least around me) while Heaven Hill 7 Year is ok. While that sounds outrageously biased, I do my best to put my past experiences and biases aside for these comparisons because I truly want to know which one is better. This comparison is probably even more important for many (including myself) because Elijah Craig is everywhere while Heaven Hill 7 Year Bottled in Bond is only distributed in a few states, none of which are anywhere near where I live. Let’s find out if we’re missing out on anything in this Elijah Craig Small Batch vs Heaven Hill 7 Year Bottled in Bond comparison.
The below table outlines key facts and figures for each bourbon.
https://preview.redd.it/5r2kh0d7gqu61.jpg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d83400facee9480913d99ae1e4b605309491e4b
How Do They Compare?
https://i.redd.it/l6f7naqtfqu61.gif
https://preview.redd.it/3f6gpjqtfqu61.jpg?width=610&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=920a6f79be36fab0a487890a9092e359267d8b74
And the winner is...Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon
Based on price alone, Heaven Hill 7 Year Bottled in Bond should win, but oh boy is that wrong. I can tell immediately that Elijah Craig Small Batch is richer, more co
... keep reading on reddit ➡
ECBP is hands down my favorite bourbon. I've had several batches and I love how it delivers tons of bold sweet notes (caramel, raisin, chocolate, molasses, vanilla) but also balances those sweet notes with oak and spice notes. To me it delivers a sip that is intense and complex but also balanced and sipable. I’m searching for bourbons that delivers a similar experience.
Initially I thought that high proof was what I wanted. I’ve tried 1792 full proof, bookers, rare breed, rare breed rye, and barrell dovetail. I enjoy these all on their own merits, but none remind me of ECBP. The closest I’ve found so far is surprisingly knob creek 12. To my palate it has a similar profile, but with more oak and a drier finish. Maybe profiles with more age and more oak are what I’m looking for?
What should I try next? I’m happy continuing to drink ECBT… but trying new stuff is half the fun. I’m willing to hunt a little but I want to avoid big secondary market mark ups.
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