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Elijah Craig Small Batch vs New Riff Single Barrel
Elijah Craig Small Batch and New Riff Single Barrel sit on opposite sides of a familiar divide: an old-guard, classically built classic versus a new-wave, rye-forward craft style.
Key Specifications
| Feature | Elijah Craig Small Batch | New Riff Single Barrel |
|---|---|---|
| Type / Style | Traditional Bourbon | High-Rye Bourbon |
| Mash Bill | 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley | 65% corn, 30% rye, 5% malted barley |
| Age | No age statement | 5 years |
| Proof | 94 proof (47% ABV) | 105 proof (52.5% ABV) +11 proof |
| Approx. Price 1 | ~$28 – $35 ~$31 less | ~$55 – $70 |
- US shelf prices as of 2026-08; they vary widely by market.
AG’s Rating and AG’s Notes
Elijah Craig Small Batch
Not rated yetNo notes yet.
New Riff Single Barrel
Not rated yetNo notes yet.
Flavor Profile
Elijah Craig Small Batch New Riff Single Barrel
Axis by axis, biggest gap first
spice 5/9 spice: Elijah Craig Small Batch 5 out of 10, New Riff Single Barrel 9 out of 10
heat 4/7 heat: Elijah Craig Small Batch 4 out of 10, New Riff Single Barrel 7 out of 10
sweetness 6/4 sweetness: Elijah Craig Small Batch 6 out of 10, New Riff Single Barrel 4 out of 10
oak 7/6 oak: Elijah Craig Small Batch 7 out of 10, New Riff Single Barrel 6 out of 10
fruit 4/5 fruit: Elijah Craig Small Batch 4 out of 10, New Riff Single Barrel 5 out of 10
nuttiness 4/3 nuttiness: Elijah Craig Small Batch 4 out of 10, New Riff Single Barrel 3 out of 10
Flavor Profile Differences
The gap between these two is mostly about spice.
- Elijah Craig Small Batch: A heavily oak-driven pour for the money, with vanilla bean and brown sugar riding on top of real char and smoke. The extra age shows up as wood depth rather than harshness.
- New Riff Single Barrel: The single-barrel expression of New Riff's 30% rye mash, non-chill-filtered and at higher proof than the bonded version. As dry and peppery as bourbon gets before it stops being bourbon.
Which One Should You Choose?
- Go with Elijah Craig Small Batch if you want the best oak-forward value on the shelf, with more wood character than its price suggests.
- Go with New Riff Single Barrel if you want the most aggressively spice-driven bourbon in this list, with single-barrel variation on top with more proof behind it.
Best enjoyed neat, rocks, old-fashioned (Elijah Craig Small Batch); neat, old-fashioned (New Riff Single Barrel).