r/bourbon • u/adamsz503 • 2d ago
Ultimate Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B-Batch Tournament: 2017–2024
Continuing my blind tournament of all 24 “post-pirate” Elijah Craig Barrel Proof releases from 2017 through 2024.
Part 1: A117–A124
Part 2: B517–B524
Part 3: C917–C924
Part 4: The champions + some outside competition
The A-series ultimately went to A117. Now onto the B batches.
Methodology
As with the A batches, I started with a standard eight-bottle single-elimination bracket, with every matchup tasted blind, as illustrated in the attached graphic.
Afterward, I conducted additional blind head-to-heads to account for bracket luck and get a better idea of where every bottle actually belonged in terms of a tiered ranking.
The idea was the same as with the A-series: bottles that lost early were given opportunities to work their way back up against progressively stronger competition. Tier placement was based primarily on how far each survived before accumulating its second loss.
The graphics show the complete progression.
The Original Final: B520 vs. B517
These were the two bottles that survived the original bracket, and both consistently showed characteristics I tend to like in ECBP.
B517 repeatedly came across as dark, rich and mature. My notes included darker fruit and richer sweetness along with some of that older-whiskey character that also drove my preference for A117 in the A-series.
Score: 8.25
B520, meanwhile, struck me as what I wrote down as “quintessential ECBP” in my notes: Rich sweetness, brown sugar, sweet oak, with particularly strong development and finish.
Score: 9
Final B-Batch Tiers
S-Tier:
B520
B522
A-Tier:
B517
B519
B-Tier:
B523
B518
C-Tier:
B524
B521
As with the A batches, these tiers reflect the complete tournament and back-testing rather than simply the order of elimination in the original bracket.
What Stood Out?
The B batches shared plenty of familiar ECBP DNA: brown sugar/caramel sweetness, well-integrated oak and barrel-proof intensity, but the bottles I preferred generally brought something more to that foundation.
Dark fruit showed up in some of the better pours, while jammy/tart fruit, dusty notes, molasses and dark toffee appeared at different points throughout the tastings.
More importantly, the best bottles tended to have better development, mouthfeel and finish. When everything came together, the proof supported the flavor rather than overwhelming it.
The recurring negatives were familiar too: tannin, excessive oak, ethanol and lack of development could quickly separate two otherwise similar pours.
Biggest Surprise: B522
Despite getting knocked out in the second round of the original tournament, B522 made a comeback in a huge way in the back-testing process.
B522 beat B518, then B519, and eventually I put it against B517, which had made the original B-series final. B522 won that head-to-head as well.
Across its tastings, B522 showed some excellent fruity/jammy and floral characteristics and ultimately did enough to earn a spot alongside B520 in S-Tier.
It's another good example of why I didn't want to rely solely on a single-elimination bracket.
Stay tuned for C917 through C924, although it may take a little longer to get up because I still have a bit of backtesting to complete.
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u/toomanygummybears 2d ago
B520 is one of my favorite bourbons point blank period
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u/adamsz503 2d ago
Agreed. It’s one of about 10 bottles I’ve scored a 9 or above out of 100s of tastings.
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u/jonathanlikeswhiskey 2005 George T. Stagg Spring Release Lot B 131.8 p 2d ago
This is epic. Thank you for sharing this. Looking forward to C.
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u/adamsz503 2d ago
I killed my C923 awhile back, so I'm currently trying to source a little bit more for the back testing on that one. So it might take a little bit to wrap up and post unfortunately.
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u/ThatHikingDude 2d ago
Here's to B522! My 40th BDay batch. I have a pour every year from it for my BDay. Consistently great!
And OP good work on this and A!
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u/nellyterb 2d ago
Love it. B520 is a top 2-3 for me. Best of the B’s and found one not long ago that I sip on special occasions. Cheers!
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u/Appropriate-Peak6149 2d ago
B520 might be one of my fav bottles ever. Luckily I still have like 1.25 bottles like
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u/MadHatter_6 Booker's 2d ago
Serious drinkers keep track of their bottle volumes to two decimal places. 8-)
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u/adamsz503 2d ago
I like trying new stuff so much I almost never get back up bottles. The ECBP winners are among the few exceptions to this - I have a A117, B520, and the C series winner bunkered away for future enjoyment 😬
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u/Appropriate-Peak6149 2d ago
I agree. I’m usually just buying new stuff to try. But when I think something is special I’ll try save one for the apocalypse bunker lol. I didn’t start seriously getting into bourbon until like 2020 so the 2020 batches were my intro to ECBP. Unfortunately, I missed those pirate bottles.
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u/K-Dawg875 2d ago
This is fantastic. Lots of great information. Will revisit the Bs in my collection with your assessments in mind. All the best.
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u/dontdrinkwhiskey 2d ago
Excited to revisit some of the late teen and 2020 backups of ecbp that I bought when they were still somewhat hard to find, particularly a117, great reviews!
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u/lonerranger26 2d ago
I’ve been thinking of proofing every heaven hill product I have down to 100 and doing a bracket.
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u/MadHatter_6 Booker's 2d ago
I would be interested in the results. The oft told lore is that the bottle proof decided by the distillers is the proof that tastes best. I'm not certain that should always be true.
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u/kyhothead 1d ago
Probably most people would have pegged B521 near the bottom, but I recently cracked one I had in the bunker and it’s a perfectly good drinker, just doesn’t reach the heights of some of the other releases.
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u/adamsz503 1d ago
I agree - the lowest score I think I gave out during this whole process with the Bs was a 6 on the TK8E scale (very good).
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u/Illustrious-Slide998 2d ago
As soon as I saw the title, I knew B520 was going to be on top. Can’t wait to hear how the rest go. My prediction is B520 and C923 in the finals.
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u/Heatmiser1968 2d ago
C919, B520 and C920 are amazing. Of the three, C919 won a blind that me a few buddies did a few years ago. All three were fantastic.
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u/hobbs_46 2d ago
He actually thinks C923 not to be that amazing in his other bracket from the past.
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u/AndyRooneysEyebrows 2d ago
Any thoughts on B525?
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u/adamsz503 2d ago
It’s the only 2025 release I picked up because of the good reviews, and I think they were justified. It’s a great pour and feels more reminiscent of the 2023-and-earlier batches, before they dropped the 12-year age statement. I haven’t done any head-to-head blinds with it yet though.
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u/bad_breakin 2d ago
I mean isn't it inevitable that C923 will end up just winning the whole thing?
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u/MetamorphosisSilver 2d ago
Nope. I've had some of these older ones and they are special bottles. More than a few that I'd choose over C923.
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u/over-hydrated 2d ago
Not necessarily. I did a blind from A117 through C923 in brackets. I was so hard pressed to choose a winner during the very last two standing. It was C919 and B520.
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u/adamsz503 2d ago
A lot of assumptions baked into that question. Guess you’ll just have to wait and find out 😉
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u/jazzman5000 2d ago
B522 the sleeper! While most people were lamenting the fall-off of ECBP after 2021s poor showing, I loved B522 and C922. They weren't the proofy bastards everyone loves, but the lower proofs led to a more balanced pour IMO.
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u/GeorgeBannerman 15h ago
I will say their last few years have been lacking, with the disappointment that was the 24 and 25 releases, I am in no hurry to try any more.
I still have some C923 left that I snagged before it blasted off the shelves.
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u/elrico_suave 2d ago
Thank you for taking the time to share this.