Head to head · same category, comparable price
Elijah Craig Small Batch vs Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon
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
| Elijah Craig Small Batch | Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Bourbon | Bourbon |
| Origin | Kentucky, United States | Kentucky, United States |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | 47% ABV | 45.7% ABV |
| Cask | New oak barrel, Level 3 char | Fire-charred new American white oak, air-seasoned 18-60 months, toasted before charring |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £43 | £58 |
| Per 10cl | £6.14 | £8.29 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £131 | £181 |
| 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: Elijah Craig Small Batch in new oak barrel, level 3 char, Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon in fire-charred new american white oak, air-seasoned 18-60 months, toasted before charring.
Neither states chill filtration.
Colour: Elijah Craig Small Batch natural colour, Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon natural colour.
What the price buys
Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon is £15 dearer a bottle than Elijah Craig Small Batch.
Strength keeps that ordering: £131 a litre of pure alcohol for Elijah Craig Small Batch against £181.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Elijah Craig Small Batch is 11th cheapest and Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon 25th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Elijah Craig Small Batch | Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet | 7 | 7 |
| Fruity | 5 | 5 |
| Spicy | 6 | 6 |
| Woody | 7 | 7 |
| Sherried | 1 | 1 |
| Cereal | 4 | 4 |
| Oily | 7 | 7 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is peaty, 0 against 0.
Identical on peaty, sweet, fruity, spicy, woody, sherried, cereal and oily.
Each bottle in its own right
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 →Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Rich caramel and baking spice with unusual depth for the strength. Genuinely small batch.
Actually small batch, unlike most bottles using the phrase: Michter's states each batch is held in a tank sized for a maximum of twenty barrels. It also publishes a barrel entry proof of 103 against the 125 legal maximum, which is unusually low and unusually disclosed.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Elijah Craig Small Batch for value and old fashioned, Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon for sipping neat.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Elijah Craig Small Batch and Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon: elijahcraig.com, michters.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.