Larceny Bourbon By HH

[OscarV]

Heaven Hill is launching a new one,

HEAVEN HILL DISTILLERIES ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF LARCENY KENTUCKY STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY

New Wheated Super Premium Bourbon Celebrates the “Taste Made Famous By An Infamous Actâ€

For 2012, Larceny will be available in the 1.75 liter, 1 liter, 750ml and 50ml sizes in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, New York, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. At an average national retail price of $24.99 for the 750ml size, Larceny is a true small batch Bourbon produced from dumps of 100 or fewer barrels that have been selected from the 4th, 5th and 6th floors of Heaven Hill’s open rick warehouses in Nelson County, Kentucky. Larceny is drawn from barrels that have aged from 6 to 12 years at this high storage, and is bottled at a full-bodied 92 proof, or 46% alcohol by volume.

It is actually the story of the Old Fitzgerald brand, made famous by the late Julian “Pappy†Van Winkle Sr., that forms the historical basis for Larceny Bourbon. According to industry lore, John E. Fitzgerald had founded his distillery in Frankfort , KY shortly after the Civil War ended, making his Bourbon available only to steamship lines, rail lines and private clubs. This story was furthered by S.C Herbst, who owned the “Old Fitz†brand from the 1880’s through Prohibition, and “Pappy†Van Winkle, who purchased the brand during Prohibition and made it his signature label. However, it was revealed by Pappy’s granddaughter, Sally Van Winkle Campbell, in her 1999 book But Always Fine Bourbon—Pappy Van Winkle and the Story of Old Fitzgerald, that in fact John E. Fitzgerald was not a famous distiller at all. He was in reality a treasury agent who used his keys to the warehouses to pilfer Bourbon from the finest barrels. His discerning palate led those barrels to which he chose to help himself being referred to as “Fitzgerald barrelsâ€.

Now Heaven Hill has launched Larceny, whose tagline—“A taste made famous by an infamous actâ€â€”sets history straight.

[luther.r]

Interesting price point. Based on that and the bottle/label design, it seems they're attempting to compete with Maker's and KC on the shelf.

[Tony]

No Michigan yet, darn, I want to try this it sounds good.

Thanks for sharing.

Best regards, Tony

[GaryT]

Looks interesting, but waiting until I can get a taste before making room in the cupboard. Already have so many bottles in the $20-30 range that are damn fine pours, I don't want to add another one unless it is either fairly unique from the rest, or better than something else.

[bllygthrd]

It sounds very appealing, and I will certainly buy it when I make my next Lexington pilgrimage ... but, I don't particularly care for the name [except for the "Old Fitz" part], and the bottle is a bit "metro-sexual" for my taste.

[Tucker]

I'll buy a bottle. But at that price point it should be at least as good as Weller 12 and a far sight better than WSR in order for me to buy a second.

[Bourbon Boiler]

I look forward to a taste. The price point makes it worth a shot, unlike most of the releases of the last couple years.

[cas]

92 proof. That seems unusual. Should be good though, lower than about 90 and the character diminshes quickly. Is it available yet?

Craig

[BFerguson]

I love the marketing on this one, "Super Premium.....$24.99"

That just seems to cheapen the definition of "super-premium" to me.

Gotta love them marketing folks.

B

[White Dog]

It's the HH Wheater many of us have been waiting for. Whenever someone gets their hands on it, please post tasting notes.

The Shapira's are certainly doing wink-wink labeling, with the "very special" on the label. I do wish people would stop using "small batch," but whatever.

Bring it on, as there are just not enough Wheaters on the market. HH has made one good, make that great, Wheater, so let's hope this will join the ranks.

[Young Blacksmith]

Saw this today at Dean's Liquors in Collinsville, IL, just outside St. Louis. Already blew my bourbon budget for this trip, so it didn't make it into the car.

[redbear]

John and Lew have both tried it:

http://www.whiskyadvocateblog.com/2012/07/27/some-new-bourbon-and-rye-whiskeys/

http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2012/07/heaven-hills-larceny.html

[callmeox]

I love the marketing on this one, "Super Premium.....$24.99"

That just seems to cheapen the definition of "super-premium" to me.

Gotta love them marketing folks.

B

Value/Premium/High End Premium/Super Premium are categories defined by DISCUS and are based on the supplier revenue per 9 liter case.

For Bourbons (and Canadians) their examples of each are:

Value: Early Times, Black Velvet

Premium: Jim Beam White, Seagrams VO

High End Premium: JD, MM, JB Black

Super Premium: Woodford, Crown Royal

Larceny can certainly live in the "Super Premium" category along with everything else that's ~25 bucks a bottle and up.

[doubleblank]

Wade, Tom and myself tried this yesterday at Tales of the Cocktail. I'm currently looking at a 50 ml sample bottle. We tasted it with Rob Hutchins with HH. We all enjoyed it. Preferred it to the recent EW SB. But perhaps slightly less than Weller Antique 107. Will definitely buy a bottle.

[Lazer]

I love the marketing on this one, "Super Premium.....$24.99"

That just seems to cheapen the definition of "super-premium" to me.

Gotta love them marketing folks.

B

Seriously, bourbon doesn't taste good unless its at least $60. I think all the bourbons should raise their prices then I'll buy more of them and look cool too. :cool:

[bllygthrd]

Seriously, bourbon doesn't taste good unless its at least $60. I think all the bourbons should raise their prices then I'll buy more of them and look cool too. :cool:

Best line I've read all day.

[mosugoji64]

If it's really at least 6 years old, wouldn't it be nice if they included an age statement? Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to trying it. I'm a sucker for wheaters and $25 is reasonable for a "buy-before-you-try" bottle.

[cowdery]

It's the HH Wheater many of us have been waiting for. Whenever someone gets their hands on it, please post tasting notes.

The Shapira's are certainly doing wink-wink labeling, with the "very special" on the label. I do wish people would stop using "small batch," but whatever.

Bring it on, as there are just not enough Wheaters on the market. HH has made one good, make that great, Wheater, so let's hope this will join the ranks.

I've got a bottle. The fact that I'm about 1/3 through a 750 ml probably says it all. Most new products I get sit around here for years with one drink out of them. I like this stuff a lot.

It is, exactly as you say, "the HH wheater many of us have been waiting for," in that it's a bit different, as wheaters go, good different, and I'll probably be drinking a lot of it.

I think they've got something going here in this very particular combination of barrels between 6 and 12 years, all aged at high storage, and mixing it in batches of 100 barrels at a time, which actually gives them some legitimacy for using 'small batch.' This isn't any of the current Old Fitzgeralds, it isn't the Parker's 10-year-old wheater. It's its own thing.

If you like big wood notes in your bourbon, you won't like it. There's very little char. So in that sense it's not comparable to Weller 12. It's hard to describe. I predict I'm going to have to drink a lot more of it before I really have a handle on it, probably the rest of the bottle.

It definitely justifies the price point.

[MyOldKyDram]

Well, haven't seen it yet, but it looks like I'll have to keep an eye out at any rate.

Sounds good.

[cowdery]

They're saying September, but maybe it's out early in some places.

Maybe the guy in Collinsville got a review copy and put it on the shelf.

[tmckenzie]

Glad to hear that HH has a decent priced good tasted wheater out. I did pick up a bottle of the current old fitz prime the other week. It is just not good at all.

[LongBeachScott]

It would be great to have another good wheater at this price point. I love Weller but it would certainly be nice to have another choice as long as it is different. If I can find a bottle, I might do a side-by-side of Weller, MM, and Larceny.

[MyOldKyDram]

I read earlier that this would be available in September. Correct?

[Lost Pollito]

Pat and I cracked open our sample bottle today. Smells damn good. Pat did a side by side with some OFBB,DSP- 16 BTW, and preferred the Larceny. Yes, I was shocked. I look forward to tasting it tomorrow with some other coworkers.

[Rorschach]

Hey everyone, new to the forum here but I just came across a press release for Larceny. Here it is:

"For 2012, Larceny will be available in the 1.75 liter, 1 liter, 750ml and 50ml sizes in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, New York, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. At an average national retail price of $24.99 for the 750ml size, Larceny is a true small batch Bourbon produced from dumps of 100 or fewer barrels that have been selected from the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th floors of Heaven Hill’s open rick warehouses in Nelson County, Kentucky. Larceny is drawn from barrels that have aged from 6 to 12 years at this high storage, and is bottled at a full-bodied 92 proof, or 46% alcohol by volume. All barrels of Larceny, just like all other barrels of Bourbon, rye, wheat and corn whiskey from Heaven Hill, are produced under the skilled hand and watchful eye of 6^th and 7^th generation father and son Master Distillers Parker and Craig Beam."