| Whiskey | Elijah Craig Rye Cup 2025 Limited Release |
| Distillery | Heaven Hill Distillery |
| Region | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Type | Bourbon |
| Mash Bill | 78% Corn, 12% Rye, 10% Malted Barley |
| Proof / ABV | 94 Proof / 47% ABV |
| Aging | Undisclosed Age Statement – but likely 8 years similar to their standard Small Batch and then aged for an additional 8 weeks in toasted sugar maple and applewood staves |
| Filtration | Chill Filtered |
| MSRP | $60 |
| Release Year | 2025 |
Elijah Craig Ryder Cup Tasting Notes
Appearance: Dark Golden Honey
Nose: Rich caramel, vanilla, toasted oak, maple notes, light fruits, citrus, banana cream pie or creme brulee, cinnamon, rye grain, leather notes, nutmeg, light almond or walnut
Palate: Nicely toasted oak, vanilla, caramel, reminds me of Goetze’s Caramel Cream candies or Cow Tales candy, light rye spice, earthy tobacco notes, citrus, heavy on the light fruits
Finish: Very nice and full, rich finish that coats your mouth with delicious flavors for well over 30 seconds – mostly rich fruit and citrus notes, caramel or maple brown sugar sweetness, with a hint of rye spice and pepper on the tail end
What is the Elijah Craig Ryder Cup 2025 Release?
Elijah Craig Ryder Cup is a 2025 limited-release bottle that offers a nice improvement over its standard Small Batch offering.
This bottle is finished for an additional 8 weeks in toasted sugar maple and applewood staves.
Each Ryder Cup release of Elijah Craig uses wood staves from the region where the Ryder Cup will take place – in this case – New York.
The 2023 Limited Release was finished in European toasted oak barrels which were selected to highlight the flavors of the Lazio wine-growing region of Italy which was the host for that year’s cup.
The toasted sugar maple staves pay tribute to New York’s official tree and applewood staves to represent “The Big Apple”.
Is Elijah Craig Ryder Cup an Approachable Whiskey?
To begin, I always think Elijah Craig is an excellent whiskey to give anyone getting into whiskey.
Whether they are brand new or an experienced whiskey drinker, almost everyone I know loves Elijah Craig.
It offers one of the most traditional bourbon flavors regardless of what budget you have for the bottles.
Elijah Craig was a Baptist preacher, educator, and entrepreneur who is credited as being the first distiller to age whiskey in new, charred oak barrels which is the standard for nearly all bourbon whiskey today.
So it’s no wonder the brand today still holds true as one of the quintessential brands mentioned when anyone discusses traditional bourbon flavors.
With that being said, is this Ryder Cup limited-release approachable and easy to drink?
It most certainly is.
While it costs $30 more than the base Elijah Craig Small Batch, it also offers a much richer flavor profile and a delightful finish.
This is a whiskey everyone will enjoy and offers all the best flavors of a bourbon in this price range.
Is Elijah Craig Ryder Cup Complex?
This Elijah Craig Ryder Cup offers quite a bit of complexity and depth of flavor.
It has all your traditional flavors of caramel, vanilla and toasted oak, and even some rye grain and spice.
But in addition, it most certainly pulls a ton of citrus and light fruit notes from the applewood staves as well as adding just a bit more sweetness from the toasted sugar maple staves.
I’m not completely sure how toasted/charred the additional staves and barrels are for the applewood and toasted sugar maple, but I definitely feel like I’m getting a nice additional layer of charred oak on this pour compared to the standard Elijah Craig Small Batch which is quite nice.
The finish on this is significantly better than your base Elijah Craig Small Batch for sure.
Granted, it is 7% higher ABV so the alcohol content is a bit higher, but I don’t think that is what is contributing so nicely to the finish.
My guess is that the additional aging in the toasted staves has allowed more of the oaky tannic spice to create a nicer finish on this one.
It’s not quite as rich and bold a finish as on the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bottles, but it’s a nice middle-ground between the two.
What are Elijah Craig Ryder Cup’s strongest attributes/flavors?
Surprisingly, the strongest attribute for this 2025 Elijah Craig Ryder Cup bottle is the nice fruit flavors on the finish.
Each time I smelled and tasted this bourbon, I got more and more fruit notes that covered a wide spectrum.
One time I definitely smelled banana cream pie, the next time I smelled more citrus.
Another I got apricot and apple pie.
The fruit is the real highlight on this pour for me.
As an honorable mention, I would like to highlight the charred/toasted oak notes that are quite prevalent in each sip.
The addition of the toasted sugar maple and applewood staves have thoroughly enhanced this bottle.
Is Elijah Craig Ryder Cup a go-to whiskey?
Elijah Craig Small Batch is already a go-to whiskey for me.
It’s one of my most common whiskey choices for both sipping neat and for cocktails, so this bottle is just bigger and better than the original.
Granted, it does cost $30 more, but if I could get this bottle all the time, I would probably purchase it on a regular basis instead of the standard Elijah Craig Small Batch.
But since this is a limited-release bottle for the 2025 Ryder Cup, I bought myself a backup immediately after tasting and will sip on this one over the next year or two until the next Ryder Cup release in two years (now I wish I had gotten the 2023 Ryder Cup Edition).
Is Elijah Craig Ryder Cup priced accurately to its quality?
Elijah Craig Ryder Cup is most certainly worth its price tag.
It’s one of the better Elijah Craig bottles I have tasted and I have tasted a lot of Elijah Craig.
The only bottle in the lineup that I think I enjoy more is the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof which is always a top-tier bottle for me.
Also, you get some very nice packaging with the additional box to promote this bottle that looks quite nice and has a smooth cap on the box and looks like a nice collector’s edition bottle.
Conclusion for Elijah Craig Ryder Cup
Overall, the 2025 Elijah Craig Ryder Cup bourbon is an excellent purchase and you should 100% purchase it if you see it on the shelf.
I specifically say this because I saw this bottle on the shelf at my local liquor store and didn’t think anything of it because I thought it was the base Elijah Craig Small Batch.
My dad was actually the one that purchased this bottle for me because he noticed it said that it was a limited-release bottle and I am quite glad he did.
He brought it over and we tasted it and we immediately went back and bought a backup bottle because we were quite impressed.
So thanks to my dad for making sure I didn’t miss a limited-release bottle from one of my favorite distilleries.
Bottom line, Elijah Craig always makes excellent whiskey and any time they put out a limited-release bottle you should buy it.
I have never been disappointed by their whiskey quality or their pricing.
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