Heaven Hill Distillery. Bardstown, KY © 2021
Think Wisely. Drink Wisely. ®
Charred to start. Toasted to Finish. This unique expression takes fully
aged, award-winning Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon and finishes it
in a custom-toasted barrel for even more sweet oak complexity.
Proof: 94 Proof
For Heaven Hill Distillery, Bourbon in the 21st century is all about preserving time-honored
methods while pushing the industry towards new levels of creativity and innovation. Barrel
finishing is just one of the techniques that allows us to help nurture the future of Bourbon and
develop new, nuanced flavor profiles.
In finishing, we place fully-matured American Whiskey in a specialty "finishing" barrel,
either one that has been used to hold flavorful goods (other spirits, coffee, etc)... or a new
kind of barrel, something altogether different and exciting.
Fully matured Elijah
Craig
Small Batch
Bourbon
Finished in toasted
new oak barrels
Left to develop more
complex, sweet oak flavors
Bottled at
94 proof
For Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel, we worked with our cooperage partners to craft entirely
new barrels that were custom toasted and then flash charred to our exact specifications.
These finishing barrels fall squarely under the legal definition of "charred new oak
containers," and maintain all the requirements to be a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
Conor O'Driscoll, Master Distiller
Toasted oak, just before it
is flash charred.
As any American Whiskey fan knows, without a charred oak barrel, there is no Bourbon. But the high-heat charring process does much more than simply creating a blackened surface on a barrel's interior. In fact, the "char layer" has little to no impact on the final flavor, but serves an entirely practical function: filtration. This top layer of black, broken down wood fibers is essentially charcoal, and affects the spirit in the same way as the charcoal water filter in your refridgerator or those used to process other spirits like vodka: it removes off flavors and odors.
Level 3 Charred The intense heat of charring creates a blackened surface with fissures in the wood. Elijah Craig Bourbon ages in these traditional barrels until it meets peak maturity.
Toasted & Flash Charred The lower temperature darkens the oak but leaves the surface intact. The aged Bourbon is finished in these barrels, adding depth and complexity.
Instead, the beloved barrel-aged flavors of Bourbon come from the "red layer" that lives just
beneath under the char layer. Here, the intense flame from the charring process caramelizes
the hemicellulose and breaks down the lignin in the oak, forming the necessary flavor and
aromatic compounds that give Bourbon its signature taste and color. Typically, Heaven Hill's
barrels are a level 3 char, blasted with heat for about 45 seconds.
Our custom toasting process affects that same red layer, albeit in a different way. By using a
lower intensity heat over a longer period of time, toasting creates a thicker red layer, with a
unique concentration of flavors that the Bourbon can then absorb. Imagine cooking food over a
screaming hot grill vs. the low and slow approach in barbecue. Both delicious, just different.
A medium-low heat to start with a slow and
steady increase in temperature created the
perfect flavor balance to complement
Elijah Craig Small Batch.
Andrew Wiehebrink, Independent
Stave Company
Once poured in the glass, the sweet oak complexity rings forth. The sipping experience is
excited by chocolate notes, spice, pepper, and just a hint of smoke.
The finish is exceedingly smooth and conveys the nuance of the toasted oak.
- Conor O'Driscoll, Master Distiller
Play the video to see the making of Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel
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