A.H. Hirsch 16 Year

[WsmataU]

Any AH Hirsch at $50 is a great buy. I have some bunkered and I'd buy the lot if I found it at this price. That said, I wouldn't trade any Pappy 15 for it let alone a decanter set.
Bottom Line: You made a good buy. Now you just need to decide if you want to drink it or barter, and if you barter, do you prefer quantity or quality? This is pretty much your only chance to sample it at that price unless you find a bar with an open bottle. But if there is something else you have been dying to try this could be your opportunity.

[BFerguson]

Since I started this hobby in 2007, I have seen Pappys at retail too many times to count.

While this has generally been my experience also, it seems more frequent, at least reporting by folks posting, that the prices they see are often above retail.

Still, a hell of a good find no matter where you are. Just seeing one still in the wild at any price is a pretty rare feat.

B

[Res/st-or]

Last I looked, there were 2 bottles of the gold foils at a store near me. I believe they were going for 350 a pop.

[TheDude]

Did he mention where he got his time machine?

And he's writing from Kentucky?

I don't know about this ...

It's no time machine Chuck. Actually, I went back in to a local, small package store in Louisville (that I won't reveal) because I had found a bottle of VWFR there a few days before. before. I thought maybe they would have some word on the "rumor" that the spring release of Van Winkle was shipped for Kentucky.

I did an obligatory browsing in the bourbon section and noticed the lone Hirsch bottle. I must have overlooked it the prior week after my eyes caught the VWFR. I wasn't intimately familiar with the whole history of it, but knew some of the A.H. Hirsch was valuable. The sticker on the bottle was $43.95....and it went home with me. Honestly, I don't think the proprieter had any idea what that bottle was, and who knows how long it had been on his shelf. I didn't discuss it with him...just handed him my money and let him put it in the bag.

I was shocked when I got home and saw what these are selling for now. If it had been close to a $100 bottle, I likely would have walked out and left it there. I imagine its a once in a lifetime find, especially around here. But I will be going back this week to see if the owner has any more lurking around in the storeroom that he would like to get rid of!

[CaptainQ]

The Dude, congrats on your find! I've never owned a bottle of the AH Hirsch and I've only tasted it once. It's nice to own a piece of history.

By the way, love your sig line.

[StraightNoChaser]

Drink it and lets trade samples

[TheDude]

Drink it and lets trade samples

I may do that. I've thought about trading for some Pappy (which I'm quite fond of), but as someone already pointed out, Pappy is still available and I think I'm positioned to get a bottle or two with the upcoming spring release if things work out.

I may just keep the Hirsch in my collection. At least for awhile. Some of the reviews haven't been all that great for the gold foil, but others seem to like it very much. Tast is a purely subjective thing, so maybe I need to just try the Hirsch for myself.

[awachatz]

I currently have a bottle of the gold foil opened. Very good. Also have a gold wax in the bunker. Is there much difference between the two versions?

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

[LikeItWasSodaPop]

I've found a few bottles of this recently. I paid $140. It's still out there. $140 felt fair for my area, and this was reinforced when I found it at a local (i.e. West Suburban) Binny's (PM me if you want it, it's way overpriced) for like $285.

I think that one problem with boards like this is that a certain collective / conventional wisdom develops and it can be self-sustaining. For example: I found some early 90's Wild Turkey Old No. 8. Then I slept on it, let some idiot buy the last few handles. Felt terrible. Then found some late 90's Old No. 8. Board consensus: it's crap. So I left it. After all, the board consensus is that it's crap! And y'all know better than I do, right?

Finally bought some. Guess what: it's not crap! It's 1000 times better than current WT and lots of people like current WT! Now, is it crap relative to the early 90's stuff? I dunno. It's not as good, sure. But should I rate it relative to the stuff I can NEVER FIND AGAIN (or probably won't) or against the stuff on the shelf today? Because this 98 WT Old No 8 is pretty freaking awesome relative to stuff on the shelf today.

So with the Hirsch 16 Gold Foil, my thoughts are: (1) you're paying for history (2) you probably won't see it again and (3) unless you've had the gold wax, blue wax, fuchsia wax, or the truffle-oil infused wax versions (i.e. the stuff you really, really will never find), then it's probably worth tasting, if only for the educational experience. And my point is that, you know, all you wonderfully experienced members who have tried each of these and find the gold foil crappy and underwhelming, can you really say so w/r/t those of us who have never tried any of them? Can you tell us that you'd find the gold foil crappy if you hadn't had its superior siblings? My guess is that you can't.

And that's fine. But sometimes the bragging about having had all sorts of superior unavailable stuff gets to be annoying to some of us newer members. I think the advice around here is 99.5% awesome and 100% well-intentioned, but I do think sometimes you gotta think about perspective. And from my perspective, I'm gonna spend $140 on a Hirsch Gold Foil and I'm gonna high five the OP for swooping it up, and I'm gonna enjoy my pours from my Hirsch 16 for what they are, undiminished by what they aren't.*

* I realize this sort of mimics the really stupid "is what it isn't" line, but here, we're talking about what the Hirsch 16 is, which is amazing bourbon distilled at the Michter's distillery, totally rare and considered awesome if somewhat tamed by time in stainless vs. THE EXACT SAME BOURBON, either aged a bit more and then tanked in stainless, or simply bottled and sold earlier. When it comes to the Makers Mark commercial, the real question is what they're comparing it to, and the whole assumption is that we, the audience are f'ing idiots. Because when you say "is what it isn't" relative to MM, it begs the question of what it isn't. And what it isn't is: any of 1/2 dozen markedly superior wheated bourbons, from ORVW to Pappy to Parker's Heritage 10 year, etc. So it isn't something good. OK, fine. But here I'm saying, what Hirsch 16 isn't is that amazing bourbon YOU had that I will never taste. But should I not taste it? Should I not pay $140 for it? Or more?

Who I want to hear from are people who have had the gold foil and NOT the other expressions. Because from reading about 10+ threads on this, it's always people saying "gold wax is great, gold foil is shite" and it's like, fine, OK, that's NOT the debate we're having.

(For the above, I am assuming you, the audience, know of, and are annoyed by the new Marker's Mark slogan: "It Is What It Isn't." I am mocking that slogan above so if all the is's and isn't's are confusing you to the point where you don't know what the definition of is is, then put away the cigar, kick out the intern, and re-read the post, I swear it makes grammatical sense.)

[BFerguson]

Who I want to hear from are people who have had the gold foil and NOT the other expressions. Because from reading about 10+ threads on this, it's always people saying "gold wax is great, gold foil is shite" and it's like, fine, OK, that's NOT the debate we're having.

I completely get the regret thing.

I've had the gold foil, and have said publicly and privately, that one of my major regrets in my buying history was not purchasing more of this when it was readily available and unknown to most. I vividly remember the day when I bought it, and thinking that my wife would kill me if I walked out with a case. Instead I walked out with two an have regretted it ever since.

I'm sure The Dude had the same feeling as I did when he stood there looking at the bottle, who amongst us doesn't like love that moment when walking the shelves and your eyes spy something that countless others have previously passed. We love the thrill of he hunt.

It's not just about owning a very good bourbon, but owning a piece of history that is also the allure to me.

While it has been now a number of years since I had had it, it still ranks up there in my tasting history as a very good bottle. And yes, maybe some of that was influenced by my previous knowledge of what it was, but nonetheless, it still stood on it's own merits.

Given the right opportunity, and "price" of of course, I'd love to have another.

B