Brown-Forman 8 Year Single Barrel circa 1960's

[dukeofsandwich]

Hi All,

A few days ago I found the bottle pictured below, and I'm trying to find out if there is any information available for it. From research so far, it seems to have been bottled in the 1960's.

http://www.lawhiskeysociety.com/myimages/IMG_1125.JPG

http://www.lawhiskeysociety.com/myimages/IMG_1126.JPG

http://www.lawhiskeysociety.com/myimages/IMG_1127.JPG

http://www.lawhiskeysociety.com/myimages/IMG_1128.JPG

According to The Encyclopedia of Louisville, George Garvin Brown II was president of the company from 1951 to 1966, so I guess this is from before 1966...

http://books.google.com/books?id=pXbYIT ... GAPIvNjkXw

The glass is embossed with "Federal Law Prohibits Sale or Reuse of this Bottle", which according to the link below was stopped after 1964..

http://www.bottlebooks.com/federal_law_prohibits_.htm

[cowdery]

I don't know the full story of this series, but I had some President's Choice from 1965 at the George Garvin Brown birthday celebration last week. My assumption is that it was done as a gift for wholesale customers and other business partners, which is how Booker's started in the 80s. Chris Morris has pointed out that the President's Choice series bottlings were also the first single barrel bourbons, pre-dating Blanton's by two decades. They were among the first barrel proof bottlings, although Stitzel-Weller was doing barrel proof bottlings at about the same time.

At the time, Brown-Forman was operating two distilleries in Louisville, as well as what is now Woodford Reserve. This would have been made at the Old Forester Distillery, which was on the site of the current corporate headquarters campus.

[Gillman]

I believe barrel proof bottlings were also done of Old Overholt in the late 30's and 1960's (the wooden boxed bottles, discussed here some time ago).

Gary

[dgonano]

Yes, there was an Old Overholt 6 1/2 yr barrel proof bottled in 1940. It was distilled just after Repeal. I have a 113 proof bottle that was both distilled and bottled at Broadford, PA. I have seen others that were only bottled at Broadford-probably distilled at Large Distllery.

[dukeofsandwich]

I don't know the full story of this series, but I had some President's Choice from 1965 at the George Garvin Brown birthday celebration last week. My assumption is that it was done as a gift for wholesale customers and other business partners, which is how Booker's started in the 80s. Chris Morris has pointed out that the President's Choice series bottlings were also the first single barrel bourbons, pre-dating Blanton's by two decades. They were among the first barrel proof bottlings, although Stitzel-Weller was doing barrel proof bottlings at about the same time.

At the time, Brown-Forman was operating two distilleries in Louisville, as well as what is now Woodford Reserve. This would have been made at the Old Forester Distillery, which was on the site of the current corporate headquarters campus.

So was the 1965 President's Choice good?

[cowdery]

It was good. It was lighter than the 22-year-old, naturally. It wasn't this bottling and it wasn't 8-years-old, more like four and change. It had that wonderful, old wood wintergreen flavor but otherwise tasted like modern Old Forester.

They're right about the continuity, through many years and several distilleries, because although there is variation, it always tastes like Old Forester.