Rittenhouse Rye BIB in KY

[birdman1099]

OT BIB, ER 101, Old Fitz BIB etc!

If you want to try the Ritt 21 rye I have one open.

Tony

Thats it..... Im coming over !!!!:grin:

[ACDetroit]

Threats! That's all I get from you Bird!! You know where I live and I'll find some blankets for ya!

Tony

Thats it..... Im coming over !!!!:grin:

[birdman1099]

The time is nigh !!!!!:grin:

Be prepared for the second coming of the BIRD !!!!

[2highcal]

Just purchased this on Sunday in Seattle. Waiting until I finish the Sazerac until I open it or should I do a comparison??? Ohh the dilemmas I am in. These are my first ryes.

[DeanSheen]

Been sipping on it the last two nights thanks to Callemox.

It's a hellova value for an everyday pour I'd say. I still prefer Saz Jr, VWFRR and RRRye over this with OO being below.

[DeanSheen]

I got inspired to try out the SB proof calculator today. I just took this down to 90 with my wife laughing at me.

Anyways, I'm now getting some green apple and toffee. I def. like it better this way although I will have to follow this up with a straight pour and test the breathing concept out. Reason being, this bottle has been sitting about 1/3 gone for a couple weeks and now I'm curious.

[cowdery]

Was she laughing because she thought you were a weeny for cutting the proof, or because she thought you were a nerd for using the calculator?

Or was it because she's your wife and everything you do that doesn't amuse her infuriates her, so laughing is good?

[DeanSheen]

I think it was pretty much B: "she thought you were a nerd for using the calculator?"

She is used to my hobby inspired eccentricities but sometimes they still amuse her.

It's better when she's amused and laughing at me than watching her eyes glaze over while being the recipient of some long winded explanation on minutia that only the obsessed care about.

Kinda like this one!

[cowdery]

I recently learned that current Rittenhouse Rye is based on an old Brown-Forman recipe for a straight rye they sold many years ago. I forget the name, because it was unknown to me when I heard it. On the one hand, there was no effort on either BF's part or Heaven Hill's to duplicate the original Rittenhouse, but at least this recipe has its own historical pedigree.

[DeanSheen]

The question is, when did the "new" bottlings start?

[BourbonJoe]

I recently learned that current Rittenhouse Rye is based on an old Brown-Forman recipe for a straight rye they sold many years ago. I forget the name, because it was unknown to me when I heard it.

Can you ask again? I, for one, would like to know.

Joe :usflag:

[cowdery]

The pattern followed that of many.

Rittenhouse Rye was, I believe, originally a Publicker brand. Rittenhouse Square and the Rittenhouse Hotel are Philadelphia institutions. The square received its name in 1825, in honor of the astronomer-clockmaker, David Rittenhouse.

In the early 1980s (I don't know exactly when), Publicker stopped distilling but continued as a non-distiller producer, contracting with Heaven Hill to make the product. After a few years of that, Publicker sold Heaven Hill the brand and exited the business. Heaven Hill made it at its Bardstown distillery, using its own rye recipe that it had made since the distillery's founding after Prohibition. That continued until that distillery was destroyed by fire in November of 1996. That's when it began to be made by Brown-Forman at its Shively distillery (DSP 354), where it continues to be made on Heaven Hill's behalf.

The rising popularity of Rittenhouse Rye has all happened since the BF-made product was introduced, but most of that may be coincidence.

[funknik]

I think what Joe was getting at, and what I'd like to know, is what that BF rye with the historical pedigree was called. Thanks, Chuck.

[cowdery]

I know. I'm working on it.

[funknik]

I know. I'm working on it.

That's why you're the man, Cpt. Cowdery! :grin:

As a side note, I'm pleased to learn that BF distills Rittenhouse as that would mark the first product by them that I really enjoy.

[cowdery]

Old Watermill Rye is the brand name. It was an Old Kentucky Distillery Co. (OKD) label that came with BF's acquistion of that distillery in 1940. OKD was a Louisville distillery, the last vestiges of which were demolished in 1960.

To give all credit where credit is due, although BF distills Rittenhouse, Heaven Hill barrels the new make and ages it.

[funknik]

Old Watermill Rye is the brand name. It was an Old Kentucky Distillery Co. (OKD) label that came with BF's acquistion of that distillery in 1940. OKD was a Louisville distillery, the last vestiges of which were demolished in 1960.

To give all credit where credit is do, although BF distills Rittenhouse, Heaven Hill barrels the new make and ages it.

Right On, Chuck -- thanks for the info!

[cowdery]

This web site has this to say about the Old Watermill trademark.

Word Mark OLD WATERMILL Goods and Services (EXPIRED) WHISKY. FIRST USE: 1895. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 1895 Filing Date March 5, 1896 Registration Date March 31, 1896 Owner (REGISTRANT) MELLWOOD DISTILLERY COMPANY CORPORATION KENTUCKY LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY

Mellwood was also a Louisville Distillery. There is a little more information about the history of both on pages 84-85 of Cecil.

[JeffRenner]

In the early 1980s (I don't know exactly when), Publicker stopped distilling but continued as a non-distiller producer, contracting with Heaven Hill to make the product.

That is at odds with a bottle I have of Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky [sic] BiB with "89" embossed on the bottom, presumably indicating that it was bottled in 1989. On the front label it states, "Bottled by Continental Distilling Corporation, Owensboro, KY."

On the back label is "Distilled by Medley Distilling Company DSP-KY-49 Owensboro Kentucky, Bottled by DSP-KY-24."

The UPC is 85676 70275. Tht UPC is not listed in the handy pocket guide that Dawn (luv2hunt) made up a few years ago.

Sadly, I have only about an ounce left in the bottle. A friend picked it up seven or eight years ago in WV at a store where his sister was manager. He said that she had a case, which I asked him to get next time he was there (it was great whiskey, and this was before there were many ryes available), but he never got back. I just sipped a half-capful, and all I can say is, damn!

Jeff

[cowdery]

You are right and, worst of all, I knew that. It was Medley, not Heaven Hill, that picked up the baton on Rittenhouse. It was Pikesville that Heaven Hill made through that period, and perhaps some others. In other words, the pattern is as I described it, I just got the player wrong.

I'm not sure exactly when Rittenhouse entered the Medley stable, but in the late 1980s Medley bought Flieschmann, then was itself bought by Glenmore, so that by 1989 both Continental and Medley were just DBAs for Glenmore. Then in 1991, what is now Diageo bought Glenmore. Subsequently, there were several big brand sell-offs and Heaven Hill acquired Rittenhouse in one of these.

The attached picture is from a Sales Pre-Planning Manual I did for Glenmore in 1990. Is that your label?

This photograph was is intended to show their preferred shelf set, their products vis a vis the competition. The manual lists Rittenhouse as their only straight rye and shows ryes in the same shelf set as blends, GNS and corn whiskey.

(The document was distributed in a 3-ring binder, hence the black hole.)

[JeffRenner]

The attached picture is from a Sales Pre-Planning Manual I did for Glenmore in 1990. Is that your label?

[cowdery]

Yes, that was some of it although that, I believe, is all gone. The Cream of Kentucky rye was the rest of it.

[boone]

Heaven Hill made it at its Bardstown distillery, using its own rye recipe that it had made since the distillery's founding after Prohibition. That continued until that distillery was destroyed by fire in November of 1996. That's when it began to be made by Brown-Forman at its Shively distillery (DSP 354), where it continues to be made on Heaven Hill's behalf.

I've had serious doubts about a couple of issues in the discussion about Rittenhouse...

We completed major additions to our Bernheim Distillery so that we could produce more product IMO there's no way they would do all that and not produce our only straight rye...

I finally remembered to ask Craig about who produces the Rittenhouse now and did BF have a hand in it's creation...

This was his response:

We have been doing the rye Whiskey at Bernheim for the past year & BF didn't have anything to do with the creation.

Hope all is well with you.

Craig

[Josh]

I've had serious doubts about a couple of issues in the discussion about Rittenhouse...

We completed major additions to our Bernheim Distillery so that we could produce more product IMO there's no way they would do all that and not produce our only straight rye...

I finally remembered to ask Craig about who produces the Rittenhouse now and did BF have a hand in it's creation...

This was his response:

We have been doing the rye Whiskey at Bernheim for the past year & BF didn't have anything to do with the creation.

Hope all is well with you.

Craig

Craig's statement could be interpreted in a number of ways. What it makes me wonder is whether the new, Bernheim-made Ritt will be made with a different recipie than what is currently on the shelves as Rittenhouse Rye?

[boone]

Craig's statement could be interpreted in a number of ways. What it makes me wonder is whether the new, Bernheim-made Ritt will be made with a different recipie than what is currently on the shelves as Rittenhouse Rye?

I don't have to ask on that one :grin: I know Craig :grin: He's using the same recipe taught to him by his Daddy (Parker) and Parker's Daddy (Earl) taught him :grin: Handed down, three generations, from father to son to grandson :grin: :grin: :grin: