WhistlePig, Elijah Craig, and Woodford Reserve in a Final Round of Pre-Memorial Day Releases

Barrel staves toasted in a smokeless fire pit? That’s a new one for us. In an unusual partnership, Vermont WhistlePig has teamed up with Solo Stove, a maker of portable stainless steel fireplaces for the backyard and beach, to toast its barrel staves. Elsewhere around the whiskey world, Elijah Craig is out with this year’s Batch B, and it’s a bit older than Batch A—closer to the 12 year old level that was the norm before Elijah Craig owner Heaven Hill removed the age statement last year. Westland Colere has a new edition, and there's a new whiskey in the Woodford Reserve Distillers Series.

Elijah Craig 11 Year and 2 Month Old Barrel Proof Bourbon (Batch B524)

ABV: 65.3%
SRP: $75
Availability: Nationwide

The newest batch of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, B524, was aged for 11 years and 2 months—featuring slightly older liquid than the previous batch released in January.

Only three batches of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof are released each year, and they follow a naming convention similar to Heaven Hill’s other barrel proof whiskeys: The first letter—either A, B, or C—denotes whether the batch is the first, second, or third release of the year, while the numbers represent the month and year of release. (In this case, 524 means May 2024.) The final Barrel Proof bottling for this year will be released in September.

In mid-2023, Heaven Hill announced that it would remove Elijah Craig’s 12 year old age statement and replace it with age statements that vary with each release, sometimes older than 12 years. The third release of last year Batch C923, was aged over 13 years, but this year’s first release, Batch A124, was aged significantly less at 10 years and 9 months. It also had a relatively low ABV of 59.5% compared to previous expressions. This second release of the year is 5 months older at 11 years and 2 months, with an ABV that’s in line with the normal Elijah Craig Barrel Proof levels.

Heaven Hill’s high-proof whiskeys have been perennial favorites over the years, with Larceny Barrel Proof and Bernheim Barrel Proof netting impressive scores. But Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is truly in a class of its own. Nine separate batches are rated at 93 points or higher, with the majority of those scoring 94 points. One of the 94-point batches, B517, was named our No. 1 Whisky of 2017.

Woodford Reserve Toasted Bourbon

ABV: 45.2%
SRP: $65/375 ml
Availability: Limited; Kentucky

Woodford is calling its newest Distillery Series whiskey a happy mistake. Back in 2017, Woodford Reserve Double Oaked barrels were accidentally filled with new-make bourbon, as opposed to already aged bourbon; unlike Woodford’s standard bourbon barrels, which are lightly toasted and heavily charred, Double Oaked barrels are heavily toasted and lightly charred. Eighteen barrels were filled before the distillery team realized they were using the wrong wood; instead of scrapping them entirely, master distiller Elizabeth McCall decided to keep them, taking a wait-and-see approach.

The barrels were then moved to Woodford’s Warehouse C, where they aged for six years. The resulting whiskey blends the flavor profiles of Woodford Reserve’s classic bourbon and Double Oaked; it’s available at the distillery now, and will soon go out to Kentucky retailers. Woodford’s Distillery Series offers slightly new and unusual expressions of the brand, with previous releases including a bottled in bond wheat whiskey, an oat grain bourbon finished in heavily toasted barrels, and a bourbon with notes from a chocolate malted rye that carried over into the next batch of whiskey.

WhistlePig CampStock Wheat Whiskey

ABV: 43%
SRP: $75
Availability: Limited; nationwide

WhistlePig’s latest release is a limited edition wheat whiskey, crafted from 85% wheat and 15% rye. The whiskey was made in collaboration with Solo Stove, a maker of smokeless fire pits for consumer use. The whiskey was finished in barrels that were toasted by the flames of a Solo Stove Bonfire model, a portable, smokeless fire pit made of stainless steel. After bottling, the barrels were broken apart for firewood pieces intended for use in a Solo Stove fire pit. The partnership will offer a limited edition WhistlePig-branded Solo Stove Mesa XL tabletop stove.

If you’re only interested in the whiskey, it’ll set you back $75, but the distillery and Solo Stove are also offering various bundles: one includes the whiskey, the limited edition Solo Stove, and the firewood, and goes for $200 on WhistlePig’s website; on the Solo Stove website, a separate bundle also includes two etched whisky glasses and an ice mold, priced at $250. There are four bundle options on Solo Stove, each including a different Solo Stove fire pit.

The launch is being accompanied by Camp WhistlePig, which will be in session at the Shoreham, Vermont distillery throughout June and will include Solo Stove cookouts and cocktails. Interested parties can seek to enroll via a contest hosted by WhistlePig and Solo Stove that’s running now through June 3rd on both companies’ social media.

Westland Colere Edition 4 American Single Malt

ABV: 50%
SRP: $150
Availability: Limited; nationwide and westlanddistillery.com

The Colere expression is conceived as Westland’s exploration into barley, and the fourth edition of this annual release uses Fritz barley developed at Washington State University’s The Bread Lab research center. The grain was malted by Skagit Valley Malting, and the resulting whiskey was aged 5 years and 9 months in a combination of barrels. Some 95% of those were refill Westland barrels, half of which were heavily toasted and lightly charred, while the other half were lightly toasted and heavily charred. The remaining 5% of the total were bourbon barrels. 3,084 bottles are available.

Westland has worked with The Bread Lab, Skagit Valley Malting, and local farmers since its inception, distilling over 20 different varieties of barley over the years. Each batch of Colere is notably different from the last, given that the barley varietals used—which eschew the commodity farming system and highlight flavor as opposed to yield—are entirely unique. Last year’s release of Colere (3^rd edition) was scored at 93 points by our tasting panel.

Ghostwood Chardonnay Cask Finished Blended Bourbon

ABV: 45%
SRP: $70
Availability: Retailers in California, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and online

Montana-based Ghostwood Distilling Co. has released a new cask-finished expression. It features Ghostwood’s flagship four-grain blended bourbon, that undergoes a 6-month finish in chardonnay casks from Napa Valley. The blend itself has a mashbill of 52% yellow sweet corn, 32% rye, 10% Montana red winter wheat, and 6% Montana malted barley.

Ghostwood Distilling Co. started laying down barrels around 2015 in Rockford, Illinois. Founder Lucas Perks started distilling as a hobby three years earlier, setting up shop in his ranch’s horse barn and using a 5-gallon still he bought off eBay. The operation would eventually move to its current home in Bozeman, Montana and its first whiskey would be released in 2020.

Its flagship four-grain bourbon is a blend of the distillery’s own make and a whiskey from an undisclosed distillery in Montana. The source is likely Dry Hills Distillery, one of the few whiskey distilleries in the state that offers contract distilling services.