Elijah Craig Straight Rye 47% 700ml

Measured Heat, Kentucky Weight

Elijah Craig doesn't make a rye for the sake of it. When Heaven Hill finally gave this whiskey its label, it came with intention: a low-rye mashbill, a classic build, and a clear message - rye doesn't have to shout to leave a mark.

This is not the 95% rye spice bomb made famous by Indiana's stills. Instead, it's built on a Kentucky-style mashbill - 51% rye, balanced by corn and malted barley. That makes a difference. You get structure, yes - pepper, clove, a trace of mint - but you also get weight. Mid-palate grip. Texture. Familiarity. This is rye as Elijah Craig would make it: layered, oak-led, and comfortably full-bodied.

On the nose, there's early warmth - cinnamon bark, cracked pepper, and toasted cereal grain - followed by honeyed biscuit and a curl of orange oil. A touch of mint and menthol flickers in and out, but it's grounded by the corn: round, slightly sweet, unmistakably Kentucky.

The palate is where it opens. A firm hit of rye spice on entry - anise, black tea, clove - that folds quickly into brown sugar, toffee, and charred oak. The corn softens the sharp edges, but never mutes them. The result is balanced tension: lean where it should be, full where it matters.

The finish carries dry oak, mint, and a little dark chocolate. It doesn't vanish. It doesn't cling. It stays.

This is a rye made by a distillery that understands structure - and refuses to trade it for trend. There's no marketing stunt in play, no flash-finish or double-oaked trickery. Just a classic rye profile dialled in with the same quiet confidence that's long defined Elijah Craig's bourbon.

At 47%, it's built for proper use: a rock-solid Manhattan base, a rye Old Fashioned with presence, or a neat pour that rewards attention without demanding effort. It holds the glass without needing to explain itself.

Elijah Craig Straight Rye isn't a reinvention of the style - it's a reset.

One that shows what happens when spice meets gravity, and the result is balance you can feel.