Overview: Most commemorative sports bottles are the standard juice in a dressed-up package. This one is different. To mark the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink in Pennsylvania, Heaven Hill bottled the small batch at 108 proof instead of the usual 94, pulling barrels from Rickhouses N and S. And here’s the part I can’t let slide: this was the 108th playing of the championship. 108th playing, 108 proof. Coincidence? Sure, let’s call it that. I’d still like to think somebody at Heaven Hill was grinning when they set the fill. It turned up as an allocation in my whiskey club locker, and at around $37 it’s worth a closer look than the label alone would suggest.

Age: No age statement. Elijah Craig Small Batch carried a 12-year age statement until 2016, when Heaven Hill dropped it in favor of a NAS blend generally understood to mingle barrels in the 8-to-12-year range. This commemorative draws from the same stock, so don’t go in expecting a dramatically older bourbon — what’s been changed here is the proof and the barrel selection, not the maturity.

Proof: 108 (54% ABV)

Mashbill: 78% corn / 10% rye / 12% malted barley

Nose: Classic Elijah Craig, but more concentrated for the extra proof. Citrus zest and clove come first, then it settles into caramelized sugar, vanilla bean, and cinnamon. Give it a few minutes in the glass and the oak steps forward — seasoned and a little dry, the kind of barrel note that tells you these staves had some years on them. There’s a faint ethanol nip at 108, but nothing sharp enough to get in the way.

Palate: The proof bump shows up first in the texture — thicker and oilier than the standard 94-proof pour, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Dark butterscotch and brown sugar lead, followed by a pop of dark berries and black cherry. The rye spice cuts through mid-palate with cinnamon and nutmeg, anchored by toasted oak that keeps the sweetness from running away. It reads as a fuller, more confident version of the EC profile I already know, and the extra 14 proof earns its keep rather than just adding heat.

Finish: Long, and the best part of the pour. The caramel and berry slowly give way to dry oak, leather, and lingering baking spice. There’s a warm Kentucky hug on the back end that stays put without turning harsh or medicinal — no small thing at this proof. By the second pour I’d stopped thinking about the golf tie-in and was just enjoying the whiskey, which is about the highest compliment I can pay a commemorative bottle.

Final Thoughts: This is the bottle for anyone who finds standard Elijah Craig a touch too gentle but isn’t always reaching for a full barrel-proof scorcher. It splits the difference and does it for under $40 — an easy daily sipper that happens to come with a golf keepsake attached. The one catch is availability. This is a limited commemorative tied to the tournament, not something you’ll reliably pull off the shelf the way you can with standard EC, so it doesn’t earn the “gettable” badge I hand out to bottles like Rare Breed. But if you spot one near the event or in a market that landed an allocation, and you already like the standard expression, it’s an easy yes at this price.

Rating: Top Shelf - Link to ratings explanations

If You Liked This, Try…

• Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel — same brand, a different lever pulled. Where the PGA edition leans on proof, the Toasted Barrel leans on a secondary toasted-oak finish for its added depth.
• Wild Turkey Rare Breed Barrel Proof — the next rung up the proof ladder, and a genuinely gettable barrel-proof bourbon if the 108 leaves you wanting more punch.
• Larceny Barrel Proof — for the contrast: what full barrel strength does to a sweeter, wheated profile instead of a traditional rye-recipe mashbill.