Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Holds It’s Own Next To Parker’s Heritage
Top Tier Cask Strength Releases From Heaven Hill
For six generations every Master Distiller at Heaven Hill since their inception back 1935 has been a member of the Beam family. Parker’s Heritage is of course the annual release named after long time Master Distiller, Parker Beam. The Parker’s Heritage Collection speaks to his preference of barrels in the warehouse, with a different focus every release.
It also serves as a fundraiser, bringing awareness to ALS, the condition that Parker battled until he passed in 2017. This is the 14th edition of Parker’s Heritage, on the show we focused on the latest release, 10 yr Heavy Char along with an all-time favourite, the instant classic, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.
It’s a tall tale of sorts to call Elijah Craig ‘The Father of Bourbon’ but bourbon is loaded with these types of larger than life narratives.
My first dance with EC was back when Goose Island Pub Brewmaster, Jared Rouben explained that it was his barrel of choice for BA release he entered into FOBAB. Jared love that bourbon because it was the first one that he shared with his father.
Named For 6th Generation Heaven Hill Master Distiller, Parker Beam
Elijah Craig barrel strength all things considered might be the best whiskey in the Heaven Hill lineup. They are affectionately known as the ‘kings of the bottom shelf’ in some circles for their presence on the lower shelves at every liquor store ever with solid, budget friendly screw top options that always taste pretty fucking good.
JTS Brown is my go to on Sundays when I Zoom with mom. That whiskey was also featured in The Hustler starring Jackie Gleason back in ‘61.
There’s JW Gant, Evan Willams (top selling bourbon in the U.S.) and of course Rittenhouse Rye. The rye is actually where the L5 char story begins. Heaven Hill whiskeys usually all enter Level 3 barrels for aging with the exceptions including Rittenhouse Rye and this last Parker’s Heritage Heavy Char.
Entry Number 14 in the Parker’s Heritage Collection
The process refers to barrels that are torched for 1 min, 30 seconds (Level 5) compared to the traditional 40 seconds (Level 3). Heavier barrel charring means a deeper penetration of the liquid into the wood creating richer flavors.
Much like wanting to understand premium offerings from Michters and Old Forester, we feel its our duty to compare limited releases to their more widely distributed counterparts.
On the show we tried relay that as much as we enjoy the leather, toasted pecan and cinnamon spice of Elijah Craig, the PH just takes that idea and remasters it. So hints of ginger, more sweet oak, big Red Hots candy spice, these layers of complexity that don’t reside in the Elijah Craig are present. It’s one of the few examples where the limited release is clearly more pronounced with more depth than the standard.
PH is worth hunting down as it captures the essence of Heaven Hill’s ethos by executing on classic bourbon flavors but with an unexpected concentrated profile of those notes that you love.
—The Neat Pour
Other Notes:
-Be sure to check out Episode 31 of The Neat Pour Podcast our thoughts on these massive releases from Heaven Hill.
Heaven Hill Heavyweights