Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch C925 Arrives September 2025

Since debuting in 2013, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Bourbon has grow to be one among American whiskey’s most beloved bottles — and one among Heaven Hill’s hallmark merchandise. Usually launched thrice per yr, it’s acknowledged as a daring, flavorful drink that followers can reliably discover, bottled uncut and unfiltered for optimum affect. Age-wise, this yr’s third and ultimate batch is a slight variation from the same old. 

Like all Elijah Craig bourbons, the whiskey begins with Heaven Hill’s commonplace mash invoice of 78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% rye (usually referred to as “HH Reg”). After getting older, the Kentucky straight bourbon is bottled at batch proof, sometimes between 118 and 136 proof, although it could possibly often exceed 70% alcohol by quantity.

Between 2013 and 2023, the barrel proof bourbon constantly carried a 12-year age assertion on the label, indicating the youngest whiskey in every batch was not less than a dozen years previous. In mid-2023, Heaven Hill shifted to extra exact age statements, which might land each above or under the 12-year mark. The primary launch after this transformation was Batch B523, which got here in at 11 years and 5 months previous. The next launch was Batch C923, which bore the road’s oldest-ever age assertion at 13 years and seven months. Since then, ages have usually settled into the 11-year mark, give or take six months. 

The third and ultimate batch for 2025 options the youngest age assertion we’ve ever seen from Elijah Craig Barrel Proof: 9 years and 1 month. It’s dubbed Batch C925, named for the discharge quantity (“C”), launch month (“9” for September), and yr (“25”). The bourbon, bottled at a hefty 129 proof, is the strongest ECBP this yr. 

Heaven Hill grasp distiller Conor O’Driscoll says that whereas C925 could also be comparatively younger, he hopes drinkers choose based mostly on high quality, not simply the age assertion. “It’s all par for the course for our followers, who know that Barrel Proof age and proof range from version to version,” O’Driscoll tells Meals & Wine. “That’s a part of the enjoyable and the journey, for them and for us. We let the whiskey inform us when it’s prepared and when you do this launch, you’ll perceive. What by no means varies with Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is consistency of high quality, owing to the stringent choice course of our grasp tasters have adhered to for greater than a decade.”

Moreover, O’Driscoll emphasised that as a result of bourbon barrels age at totally different charges, the optimum time for bottling will range from batch to batch. “Although simply barely younger by our conventional Barrel Proof requirements, our proprietary getting older course of can deliver sure barrels to a peak steadiness of taste and character prior to anticipated. Such is the case right here.”

Model tasting notes describe Batch C925 as “daring but refined,” with notes of heat vanilla, caramel, and light-weight char that the expression is commonly identified for. 

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Bourbon C925 can be obtainable nationwide beginning September 2025. Its steered retail value is $75.