Old Fitzgerald Questions

[MJL]

I stopped at an out of the way little Liquor Store today on the way home from work. They had a few 750ml bottles of Old Fitzgerald that I glanced at quickly but in reflection I think I ought to have picked up. From my memory this is what I recall. I think they were 80 proof and appeared to be old stock. I quickly examined one bottle and it had the number 91 on the bottom so I assume, please correct if I am wrong on this one, that this bottle may date from 1991. The bottles were $15. Are these something I should go back and get? I have never seen Old Fitzgerald in this area before and I suspect these bottles may date from the early 90s. Are these something I should go right back to and pounce on or pass? Is there any way to confirm a date from examining the bottles? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

[cowdery]

They could be some old stock from 1991, in which case they are Stitzel-Weller whiskey and certainly worth $15 a bottle. Although it seems impossible, people are constantly finding bottles that have been on the shelf 10, 15, 20 years, even more.

[MJL]

Thanks for the answer. Is there anyway to tell how old the bottles are? Is that price good if these turn out to be much later production?

[craigthom]

Do current HH Old Fitzgerald bottles say Louisville or Bardstown on the label? That would be an easy way to tell if they say "Bardstown".

Is there a fake tax strip across the top? The 1849 I found six weeks ago (for $13.99!) had fake tax strips and real Georgia tax decals.

[mozilla]

Check the UPC on the back of the bottle. Also, Gov't warning started in 1989....most Fitz's will say Louisville...not a good way of checking. I don't think 91 will have fuax tax strip, though I am not positive.

Bottle date should be accurate. How about a julian date? Style of bottle? Old price tag?

[barturtle]

I may be wrong, but I don't remember the UPC changing for Old Fitz products after the sell out...too lazy to actually look it up.

[ThomasH]

I have a Weller Antique 107 Gold Vein that was bottled around 1993 that has a faux tax stamp. If the bottom says 1991 it may very well be SW!

Thomas

[mozilla]

I may be wrong, but I don't remember the UPC changing for Old Fitz products after the sell out...too lazy to actually look it up.

Well, if it is something other than 88076....then it will be easy to track down. 88076 won't tell us too much.

The main thing is...if it seems to be before say 93-95 at a four year age statement....you should probably give it a shot.

[OscarV]

All Old Fitzgerald will say Louisville because after Heaven Hill got the label they also got Old Fitzgerald whiskey that was distilled in Louisville.

HH never distilled a wheater in Bardstown.

After the fire all HH is distilled in Louisville but they only label OF with the Louisville location.

This is to make it look like a separate independant distillery to the consumer.

All spirits, wine and beer producers do this to make a product look special.

Ever read the label of Land Shark beer?

It says it is from, Margaritaville Brewery, Jacksonville, FL.

No such thing as a Margaritaville Brewery, but there is an Anheuser-Busch brewery there.

[MJL]

Thanks for all the answers. I went back and picked up one of the two bottles they had. I am sorry to say that my memory was not good when I was writing up my original post. First the bottle is a one liter bottle. Second the bottom of the bottle is stamped 01 94 so I assume this means January 1994. The UPC on the back of the bottle is 88076 22540. I also got the price wrong. The price was $13.99. So, what do I have here? Is this worthy of going back to pick up the last bottle? Is this Stitz-Weller bourbon or Heaven Hill made bourbon?

[BourbonJoe]

88076 is United Distillers. I doubt that you went wrong for 14 bucks, no matter who made it.

Joe :usflag:

[OscarV]

88076 is United Distillers. I doubt that you went wrong for 14 bucks, no matter who made it.

Joe :usflag:

Yeah, what he said.

Man I'd give you $14 so fast for an old UD 750ml bottle that you'd didn't know what hit you.

[gblick]

The price was $13.99. So, what do I have here? Is this worthy of going back to pick up the last bottle? Is this Stitz-Weller bourbon or Heaven Hill made bourbon?

Well, your best bet would be to just taste it and then decide whether you think it's worth picking up the other bottle. I would think that a 1994 bottling would still be S-W. But In my experience, most all of the Old Fitz all the way up through 2001 is good (I have some 2001 OFBIB that's fantastic), but I much prefer the BIB over the Prime. $13.99 is priced kind of high for Prime which usually can be found for under $10, I've got some OFBIB that were bought for under $10.

[cowdery]

A 1994 bottling is SW beyond a doubt. Could not possibly be anything else. That's probably true across the board until at least 1997, probably longer.

Buy them all!

[MJL]

Hmm, thanks for all these wonderful answers and information. I reckon I ought to find my way back to secure that last bottle.

[OscarV]

Hmm, thanks for all these wonderful answers and information. I reckon I ought to find my way back to secure that last bottle.

[QUOTE][/QUOTE]

yeah,...and then mail it up to me.

[mozilla]

The 88076 upc has stayed with the label for quite a while now. As Joe said...it was a UD upc that when sold to HH, went with OF.

If your bottle date is in the lower right hand corner, of the base, when laid on its side....then it is really a 94. Which, is good for you. It won't blow you socks off....but it will have flavors and intricate balances that are not found in todays labels for $13.

Enjoy the one you have....and by all means....go get the rest of it. Don't forget to ask if there is more in the back room of the store and....if they have any sister stores with the same stock.

[MJL]

Jeff,

Yes, that is where the date is located. I believe is the manufacture date of the bottle. For what it is worth, the place I bought this from is located in an area that was just devastated by hurricane Andrew in 1992. It is highly likely that this was stock bought upon their return as it was at least 2-3 years before much of the stores and infrastructure in that area of town were functional. I will make an effort to fetch that last bottle and inquire about any more they may have in stock. I do not expect this bourbon to be anything fantastic but as the remnant of a long lost and apparently highly respected distillery I think it is wise to obtain what I can of this for future reference.

[cowdery]

It's SW whiskey, but it's four-year-old SW whiskey. Maybe a better way to say it is it's only four-years-old, but it is SW four-year-old whiskey.

[MJL]

Thanks for the advice on this bourbon. I opened the bottle this evening and drank some with ice while I smoked my pipe. This was a very smooth wheat type bourbon that drank very nice. It was not as refined nor as complex as, say, Makers Mark but still very nice with a smoothness you do not find in many of todays products. I shall endevour to obtain that last bottle in the store. Again, much thanks.

[MJL]

I went out Friday looking for more dusty old bottles and found three more of these. I talked a friend who accompanied me into buying one of the three and I took home two more bottles.

[shoshani]

All Old Fitzgerald will say Louisville because after Heaven Hill got the label they also got Old Fitzgerald whiskey that was distilled in Louisville.

HH never distilled a wheater in Bardstown.

After the fire all HH is distilled in Louisville but they only label OF with the Louisville location.

This is to make it look like a separate independant distillery to the consumer.

All spirits, wine and beer producers do this to make a product look special.

The Bottled In Bond version at least gives a clue; the label says it is distilled at DSP-KY-1 (Bernheim) but bottled at DSP-KY-31 (Heaven Hill Bardstown). If lower-proof expressions required this sort of labeling it would be easier to tell when S-W juice ended and HH began.

I suspect that there is more S-W in bottles later than the nominal 1996 bottling season, because after all S-W was closed due to their overproduction of wheated bourbon. Unless Julian was able to buy out remaining S-W stocks for his Van Winkle bourbons (which could be, one never knows), I would imagine there was a period in which S-W whiskey was mingled with product from both Heaven Hill (four expressions of Old Fitz and possibly Cabin Still, which HH wound up owning) and Buffalo Trace (three or more expressions of Weller/at least three expressions of Old Rip Van Winkle). Not to mention Rebel Yell, which is still wheated and is produced by one of the two, and I forget which one it is. (A Luxor representative gladly told me, too. I probably have the email somewhere.)

Ever read the label of Land Shark beer?

It says it is from, Margaritaville Brewery, Jacksonville, FL.

No such thing as a Margaritaville Brewery, but there is an Anheuser-Busch brewery there.

In the Jewish community we have Old Williamsburg; no idea who makes it although I've tried to ferret it out. And I'm about to try another boutique bourbon that a good friend of the family is bringing back from her Thanksgiving trip to Miami: Corner Creek. (The young lady is Elliot Levin's niece.)

CC is much easier to figure out since the label proudly proclaims Bardstown. Barton and KBD aren't known for client bottlings but HH is, so their cover is kinda blown. . (I do wonder why the fascination with the number 8, as the stuff is 8 years old and bottled at 88 proof...)

[shoshani]

Based on that I'd say you have a Heaven Hill bottling, but quite possibly of Stitzel-Weller or even Pre-HH Bernheim whiskey. I have a bottle of Old Fitz BIB that I bought on Friday and that is current HH production; it has those OW-prefixed code numbers (such as the one next to your UPC) on both front and back labels.

Bettye Jo could tell you in less time than it takes to char the inside of a barrel. She's gotta be around here somewhere...

(Edited to clarify producer as opposed to bottler)

[ggilbertva]

A bottle of BIB with DSP KY 1 will be Bernhiem, DSP KY 31 will be HH and DSP KY 16 will be SW.

[tommyboy38]

I'm guessing those are HH bottles circa 2001. Bottles from 1994 had slightly different labels.