Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye Review - Y725
- Ben Rhodes
- Sep 10, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 23, 2025
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye Review
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye Review
If you have the chance to visit the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience in Bardstown, KY, there are plenty of experiences to tour their operations, taste whiskies, and learn about what they're doing. For the 'You Do Bourbon Experience', four different whiskey batches from their portfolio are brought out for a tasting that you can only find in this experience. After tasting, you get to choose your favorite to bottle, label, and take home with you (we were fortunate to pick two bottles each - something they said was special during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival). They typically have a batch of Bernheim Barrel Proof, Larceny Barrel Proof, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, and one wild card. On our last visit in 2024, the wild card was a Malt whiskey, and now it was their first release of the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye!
Nose
Fresh Baked Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Icing, Mint Whipped Cream, Grated Nutmeg, Cherry Coke, Faintly Herbaceous, Hay Loft
Palate
Syrupy oily thickness that immediately coats the mouth, pleasant warmth without being overbearing, Dr Pepper, Molasses, slight feeling of effervescence, sweet mint leaf, ginger spice, worn leather, faint vanilla
Finish
Long finish that lingers, rye bread, a little drying and grippy like extra dark chocolate
Complexity
It is pleasantly approachable and complex at the same time. Layers and layers of flavor balancing sweet, earthy, and herbal notes. This is one that you could sit with and sip for an hour and still find changes in the flavor nuances.
Uniqueness
After the Parker's Heritage Cask Strength Rye, the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye Y725 is only the 2nd time that Heaven Hill released a barrel proof rye (and it's the highest proof rye they've ever released). It's also one of the few barrel proof 51% ryes that I've had. For flavor, it doesn't throw any curveballs, but is well balanced and delivers in waves.
Value
At $79.99 (~$120 if you also include the cost for the tasting & bottling experience), it punches well above it's price point - I don't know what it would take for a rye to be any significant order of magnitude beyond this. It could stand up against any rye on the market right, limited release or shelfer.
Final Impression
Early in my whiskey 'journey', it took me a while to warm up to ryes, but when I got there, I found they bring so much complexity to the table. I'm already a fan of low-rye ryes to begin with, and this delivered on everything I would want from a rye. Rich, complex, tempered spice, great mouthfeel, no overwhelming dill, a little herbal character.
This is a bourbon drinker's rye, hands down. If you're a barrel proof bourbon fan and are looking to get into ryes, or if you are looking to grab a rye that isn't a cinnamon red hots/mint/dill bomb, this is it. I can see myself coming back to this again and again as fall comes around.
With the success they are having with this release, and knowing that they have these aged stocks of rye stashed away, I can only assume we're going to start seeing Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye releases joining along side their barrel proof line of the Elijah Craig Bourbon, Larceny, and Bernheim. If that happens and it matches the quality here, I think this will be a new go-to for ryes! Update: 4 days after posting this review, Heaven Hill announced that Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Rye will be joining their product lineup. That will start with Batch A925, coming in at 12 Years and 3 Months old and 108 proof (54% ABV). It is expected to be available at the end of September 2025 (this month) with an MSRP of $74.99. They expect to continue on a normal release schedule next year, lining up with their other barrel proof offerings by releasing A, B and C batches in January, May and September. We are definitely going to be on the look out for the first nationally released batch to see how it compares to the Y725 release that was only available at the Bourbon Heritage Center!
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