I.W. Harper

[Hedmans Brorsa]

Couldn´t find anything about the bourbon I.W. Harper on this site. A brand I have yet to taste (very hard to find where I live). Could someone please enlighten me? 12 or 15 years old? Or is it recommendable at all?

[cowdery]

I.W. Harper was, for many years, the flagship bourbon of Louisville's Bernheim Distillery. Issac Wolfe Bernheim, the owner, is responsible for the "I.W." part of the name. The "Harper" part was the name of a friend, possibly a salesman. At the time, Bernheim reasoned that "I.W. Bernheim" didn't sound like the name of a bourbon. Today the brand is owned by Diageo. It isn't a big factor, sales wise, in the U.S., but is very popular in Japan. For a time, the company actually limited U.S. availability to discourage "gray market" exporting to Asia. If you can't find Harper but can find Old Charter, they are essentially the same whiskey. I have always found it a quality product, but nothing special.

- chuck

[bobbyc]

Thanks Chuck, I realize this is an old post but it relieved a concern that I had . I had walked past the I W Harper Gold medal at Liquor Outlet to purchase things like Beam, HH ,and the like . One day it was gone and after checking found it to be unavailable ,needless to say I beat myself up over that. There still seems to be plenty of Old Charter presently.

[koji]

Hello,
Yes IW Harper is a big brand name in the asian market.Well atleast in Japan.There are four available bottles right now.
I.W.Harper Gold Medal 80P
I.W.Harper 101Proof
I.W.Harper 12Years 86P
I.W.Harper President Reserve 86P
My favorite would be 101Proof,from the taste and price wise.

Koji

[bobbyc]

I got to taste a bottle of the Gold Medal I W Harper and was very happy with it , I guess that was why I was so dissappointed when I could not find it . There may be a bottle somewhere I haven't gone looking for treasures lately. It was priced a little steep relatively speaking about $35.00 for 750ml and at 80 proof .

Bobby Cox

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Bobby let me reccommend a twelve year old version of Old Charter called 'Classic 90'. It's only $14 at Liquor Outlet and quite delicious in every way, with a fine finish.

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

[cowdery]

I second Linn's endorsement of the Old Charter "Classic 90." That is my choice when I want one of the Bernheim bourbons.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://cowdery.home.netcom.com>--Chuck Cowdery</A>

[texascarl]

I figured that if Linn and Chuck both recommend Old Charter 'Classic 90' 12 year old, it's got to be worth a try.

They were right, boy howdy, they were right in spades. I've since bought up every bottle of 'Classic 90' at my local discount likker store, have them ordering more for me. The 'Classic 90' is now one of my daily pours.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by texascarl on Mon Apr 8 05:23:28 2002 (server time).</FONT></P>

[**DONOTDELETE**]

You got that right Carl! I also agree with Chuck when he opined that you must live in "bourbon heaven". Party at Carl's!

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

[Gillman]

Just bumping this thread and trying to obtain a coherent overview of Harper.

Koji describes various brands available in Japan 4 years ago.

My questions:

i) are all these still available in Japan? (Ed, feel free to reply since I am not sure how often Koji looks in to the board)

ii) if not, which are the brands of Harper currently available in Japan?

iii) who made the ones available in 2002 in Japan?

iv) who makes the ones available in Japan today?

v) UDV/Diageo sold Bernheim in about '96 to Heaven Hill. Does this mean all Harper on the market today was made before the sale? Presumably any 12 and 15 year old Harper on the market (anywhere) today was made by UDV/Diageo, but what of the younger whiskeys? Does HH (or someone else) make it under the Harper label (i.e., did HH or another company buy the Harper label when the plant was sold? This would seem unlikely because Chuck said recently HH makes only one rye-recipe bourbon and I doubt they would fill current Harper bottles with that. If as I think is the case Diageo still owns the label, who makes the whiskey for them (unless all current inventory is pre-plant sale stock)?

I guess I am looking for a synthesis of the older threads to understand the I.W. Harper picture and whether taste changes can be noted as a result of different plants making the brand.

Gary