Head to head · same category, comparable price
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon vs Elijah Craig Small Batch
No flavour axis separates these two, so the choice is price and occasion.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Elijah Craig Small Batch | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Bourbon | Bourbon |
| Origin | Kentucky, United States | Kentucky, United States |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | 45% ABV | 47% ABV |
| Cask | New charred American oak | New oak barrel, Level 3 char |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £32 | £43 |
| Per 10cl | £4.57 | £6.14 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £102 | £131 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both Kentucky whiskies, from different distilleries.
Neither carries an age statement, so neither discloses its youngest spirit.
Cask as each producer describes it: Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon in new charred american oak, Elijah Craig Small Batch in new oak barrel, level 3 char.
Neither states chill filtration.
Colour: Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon silent, Elijah Craig Small Batch natural colour.
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Elijah Craig Small Batch is £11 dearer a bottle than Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
Strength keeps that ordering: £102 a litre of pure alcohol for Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon against £131.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon is 5th cheapest and Elijah Craig Small Batch 11th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Elijah Craig Small Batch |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet | 7 | 7 |
| Fruity | 5 | 5 |
| Spicy | 6 | 6 |
| Woody | 6 | 7 |
| Sherried | 1 | 1 |
| Cereal | 4 | 4 |
| Oily | 6 | 7 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is woody, 6 against 7.
Identical on peaty, sweet, fruity, spicy, sherried and cereal.
Each bottle in its own right
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Brown sugar, vanilla and a clean pepper finish. The bourbon benchmark for the money.
Full record →Elijah Craig Small Batch
Vanilla, toffee and charred oak at 47%. Still one of bourbon's better value propositions.
Heaven Hill removed the 12-year age statement in the week of 27 January 2016 and now ships an 8-to-12-year blend — it chose to hold the price and keep wide distribution rather than let the bottle go scarce, which is the opposite of what most brands did.
Full record →Both listed for old fashioned and value; only Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon for first bourbon.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon and Elijah Craig Small Batch: buffalotracedistillery.com, elijahcraig.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.