US: Heaven for aged bourbon

Heaven Hill Distilleries is to launch a limited edition 20 year old bourbon.

Elijah Craig 20 year old single barrel Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey will be launched in ‘selected markets’ across the US.

According to the company, Heaven Hill holds the world’s “second largest inventory of bourbon”.

The new bottling will retail for approximately $130 for the 750ml size. Around 80 barrels will be dumped, yielding fewer than 1300 bottles.

In order to manage stock levels in the warehouses, Heaven Hill has temporarily suspended bottling of the 18 year old Elijah Craig single barrel that it has offered for a number of years, but plans to “augment the Elijah Craig line with future extra-aged single barrel limited editions”.

The first 20 year old single barrel release, which will start to appear on shelves in 36 states in late May or early June, will be packaged in the traditional Elijah Craig single barrel bottle, but with a brown face label which carries the 20 year old age statement. The new expression will be bottled at 90 proof (45% abv).