Unopened Bottle Lexington AAA Rye Whiskey-Wood,Pollard Co.

[Becky M.]

Hi,

I have an unopened,company sealed bottle of Lexington AAA Rye Whiskey, a blend distributed by Wood,Pollard Co. Of Boston. Can anybody shed some light on this bottle, such as age and possible worth. It is in near mint condition. It has been in my family for at least 50 years and belong ed to my Great Aunt way before we got it from her estate. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Becky M. seaside@myfairpoint.net

[Josh]

It won't bring much cash, but its sentimental value is through the roof!

[barturtle]

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/announcement.php?f=9&a=3

[Bentrod]

As far as age goes, I would say it is at least 50 years old.

[cowdery]

As far as age goes, I would say it is at least 50 years old.

"Age" in whiskey parlance is determined by time in wood, not time in the bottle. Time in the bottle is meaningless. In fact, this whiskey probably was bottled more than 100 years ago but to say its "age" is 100 years would be a misuse of the term.

Wood, Pollard & Co. was a Boston liquor dealer in the late 19th century. Dealers typically created their own brand names using whiskey they may have acquired from a number of different distilleries. Lexington AAA was such a brand.

Dealers in those days also sold as 'whiskey' products we would not consider whiskey today, at least not straight whiskey. The "AAA" suggests this may have been an all-whiskey blend, but not necessarily. In other words, the whiskey may be nothing special and actually might be pretty nasty by our standards. It may have been aged a little, a lot, or not at all, as colorings and flavorings were often used to simulate age, and since there were no truth-in-labeling laws, label claims are also meaningless.

Since this was apparently labeled a blend, it likely was bottled after 1909, which is when the word "blend" came into common use (because by then there were truth-in-labeling laws).

The Wood, Pollard & Co. listing on pre-pro.com says that in 1892, the company was being supplied by warehouses of the Mayfield distillery (RD #229, 5th District of KY). Pre-pro only has the company documented for 1900 (city directory) but that doesn't mean it, or at least the company name, wasn't still around all the way up to 1920.

Mayfield was in LaRue County, in Athertonville, and was one of several distilleries there. All were eventually owned by the Trust.

Most of these dealers did not come back after Prohibition because of the different way that the industry was structured then, so this is most likely pre-Prohibition. The original poster didn't indicate the size. If it is a pint bottle it may be Prohibition-era medicinal whiskey, made before 1920 but bottled and sold between 1920 and 1933.

As for value, the sticky note referenced above tells you everything you need to know.

[Becky M.]

Thank you for your information, the bottle is a quart size bottle just for further info. Sorry I didn't include that on my first post. I find the history of this subject quite interesting and am going to do some more research. Thanks again for your help.

[cowdery]

If it's a quart and says "blend" on the label then it probably was bottled between 1909 and 1920.

[B.B. Babington]

There are collectors that buy sealed bottles. There are people that buy old bottles to sip to compare flavors. And there are people that keep heirlooms in the family. Unless you want to toast grandma or like trying flavors, I'd keep it sealed.

[Josh]

And there are people who make up stories in order to get free estimates on their bottles, or to know how high to go on ebay auctions.