Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond 9 Year (Spring 2020)

N: Sweet buttery spice little vanilla P: Oily butterscotch at the front sweet wheat spice at the back. F: Oak and tobacco

On the nose I get oak and caramel, followed by apple, barrel char and a slight pleasant medicinal cherry. On taste this is viscous and has a buttery mouthfeel. I get butterscotch pudding, vanilla, and a slight hint of bananas. It finishes strong with a burn predominately made up of oak and cinnamon. Overall, this is a fantastic pour! I look forward to see how it opens up.

BACKGROUND: The Old Fitzgerald bourbon brand was trademarked in 1884 by Charle Herbst, a Milwaukee wine and spirits wholesaler who also owned the Old Judge distillery in Frankfort, and by the dawn of Prohibition in 1920, it had become among the bestselling bourbons in the nation. Once distilling operations were shut down by the federal government, however, Herbst sold the trademark to Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle, who changed the mash bill from rye to wheat and began making the product at the legendary Stitzel-Weller distillery following passage of the 21st Amendment. Many of the buildings and smokestacks at Stitzel-Weller, which currently serves as an aging and bottling facility as well as a popular Louisville tourist attraction, are still painted with the Old Fitzgerald logo. In 1999, Heaven Hill acquired the brand, and it resides there today. The origin story of the bourbon’s name offers solid proof that the Barnum-like hokum and ballyhoo that is used to market and promote many brands today is nothing new to the liquor industry. Upon introducing Old Fitzgerald to the public, Herbst claimed it was named after John E. Lawrence, a supposed 19th Century distiller who allegedly sold his high-quality bourbon exclusively to railroads, steamship lines, and private clubs. Contemporary research shows, however, that John Fitzgerald was actually a bourbon thief, not a bourbon distiller. Employed as the U.S. Treasury Department agent who held the keys to Herbst’s Old Judge warehouses, Lawrence was known to let himself in at night, identify the best barrels, and help himself to copious amounts of bourbon they contained. Thus, Herbst and his employees began calling barrels that were particularly good or had obviously been tapped as “Fitzgerald barrels.” Thus, naming the brand after him was a bit of an inside joke. In 2012, Heaven Hill developed another bourbon in memory of Lawrence’s frequent theft and named it Larceny. Each spring and fall, Heaven Hill releases a new edition in its Old Fitzgerald Bottled In Bond series, which is bottled in a heavy decanter reminiscent of those from the 1950s. An ornate “tax strip” resembling those that were once required on all liquor bottles is affixed to the stopper, and the color of the front label denotes each different release, which have ranged in age from 9 to 15 years. The highly-allocated bourbon is made under the precepts of the 1897 Bottled In Bond Act, which requires it to be the product of a single distillery from a single distilling season, aged a minimum of four years, and bottled at 100 proof. This Spring 2020 release was aged for 9 years and retails for $90 as Heaven Hill generally prices Old Fitzgerald BIB at $10 for each year it was aged. The 15-year, for example, retailed for $150. NOSE: The nose is a bit delicate upon first impression, but scents of leather, caramel, and deep oak barrel char begin to predominate. Some hay and perhaps even a bit of fruity apple linger bashfully in the background. PALATE: The mouthfeel is syrupy almost to the point of being chewy, which is something I enjoy greatly. In fact, it is so viscous that too big of a sip can be a bit overwhelming. Butterscotch pudding and vanilla pair nicely with leather and butter notes . FINISH: Oak and cinnamon stand solidly front-and-center on the finish. Though it is an easy-sipper, this 100 proofer gives you a brief kick in the tonsils on the way down just to let you know that it ain’t a candyass. FINAL ASSESSMENT: Only two experiences in my life have fully lived up to the hype - attending the Masters golf tournament and drinking the Old Fitzgerald Bottled In Bond. Of course, my opinion may be biased by my deep love for wheated bourbons and anything that is bottled in bond, but make no mistake, I believe anyone would find this release provides a wonderfully satisfying and thoroughly enjoyable experience. I rank Old Fitzgerald Bottled In Bond 9-year with a rare but well-earned 9 on a 10-point scale.