Whiskey & Wagyu: Elijah Craig Partners with Snake River Farms, Offering Employee Coupon Code
Whiskey & Wagyu: About the Partnership
Elijah Craig is excited to partner with Snake River Farms, an award-winning American Wagyu beef producer, for their first ever “Whiskey & Wagyu” series pairing award-winning Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon with delicious cuts of premium Snake River Farms beef. The idea of a collaboration was first sparked four years ago when Snake River Farms Marketing Manager, David Yasuda met Whiskey Ambassador, Jack Choate at the Boise Bourbon Bash in Idaho. Fast forward to fall 2020, Elijah Craig is proud to partner with Snake River farms for the “Whiskey & Wagyu” series, which aims to reframe beef pairings from the traditional red wine or craft beer. Whiskey, specifically Elijah Craig Small Batch, offers a sweet, spicy flavor profile featuring cherry and oak which compliments the deep rich flavor of beef. Yasuda explains further why Elijah Craig and Snake River Farms beef are the optimal pairing:
There’s one other thing that Elijah Craig Bourbon and Snake River Farms beef have in common: unique flavor profiles and tasting notes.
“You go and talk to people in the whiskey world and they have these flavor wheels,” says Yasuda. “Well, there are beef flavor wheels as well. And when you look at them side by side, you see how these components really match up well.”
Yasuda recommends mixing an Elijah Craig Old Fashioned to go with a picanha steak, or sipping our Small Batch Bourbon neat alongside a ribeye. The picanha, or coulotte steak, comes from the sirloin and offers a tremendous amount of flavor and texture. “Now imagine that with the Elijah Craig Old Fashioned,” Yasuda explains. “You have simple syrup and bitters complementing the sweetness and spiciness of the Bourbon, and the smokiness playing off the char you’ll get in the meat. It’s just a great thing.”
Don’t feel like mixing a cocktail? No problem. For a cut of ribeye, which has more marbling and tenderness than the picanha, Yasuda keeps it simple with a neat pour of Small Batch. “A ribeye is more luxurious…it delivers a mouthfeel of fat and really deep beef flavor,” he says. “And at 94 proof, Elijah Craig Small Batch is able to cut through that nicely. I always found Elijah Craig to have notes of oak and cherry wood, and with all that fat, it’s just a really nice complement.”
Snake River Farms doesn’t just care about the quality of their animals; they care about the quality of the people who are raising them. Like Elijah Craig’s parent company, Heaven Hill Distillery, Snake River Farms is family-owned and operated—and has been producing “ranch-to-table” beef for over fifty years. Their partnerships with small family-run ranches also go back decades.
“There are a lot of other people making American Wagyu beef out there, but what makes ours special is that we control all aspects of beef production from start to finish,” says Yasuda. “We are unique in that way.” He estimates that the whole process—from breeding the cattle to butchering and delivering to consumers—can take upwards of five years. And everything is done more or less in-house.
“What it comes down to is that, if you really want to do something awesome, you have to have some say in every point,” he says. “A lot of thought and care goes into the beef – and you can taste the difference.”
Learn more about the partnership and what makes Snake River Farms beef unique on the Elijah Craig blog here.
Snake River Farms Employee Discount Code
We are extremely excited about this partnership, bringing our two like-minded companies together. To celebrate, Snake River Farms is offering Heaven Hill employees a special discount code so you can try out an Elijah Craig, Snake River Farms beef pairing at home.
Use code SRFCHEERS20 for 15% off of your order on snakeriverfarms.com. Code is valid 12/1/2020 through 12/11/2020. Please note, when choosing a shipping date for your order Snake River Farms recommends shipping the week of 12/7 and no later than 12/14.
