Old Fitzgerald Question

[Bmac]

Hi all. I was talking with a store manager who had acquired several lots of alcohol from an old liquor store that had filed bankruptcy. He said he had several bottles of Old Fitzgerald that he knew to be about 20 years old. I tried to ask him what the description of the label was and he said it's a white label. I tried many times to see if it was a dark silver/grey label with a white stripe with red lettering and he said no. It's a white label.

This makes me think it could be the Very Old Fitzgerald label, which is a 10yr correct? He's going to have it shipped to his store so I'll have a crack at it, but I am curious; was Very Old Fitzgerald still being sold in 1990?

[clingman71]

Maybe he's smoking crack and it's Old Forester.

[White Dog]

Who knows, but you should PM me the store's name and address just to to be sure.

[Bmac]

Who knows, but you should PM me the store's name and address just to to be sure.

You comin' to Texas?

[Bmac]

Maybe he's smoking crack and it's Old Forester.

I doubt it. He started the conversation with "Have you heard of Fitzgerald bourbon?" He's been in the industry for years. He has Old Forester at his store, I seriously doubt he would bid on stuff he already has.

[Bmac]

Well...so much for my high anticipation. Turns out it's regular Old Fitzgerald (Gold Label) at 80 proof. It's definitely old but I don't know HOW old or even whether it's SW or HH. So i figured I drove all that way I picked up 3 750's and 2 1.75s. I left 3 750s still on the shelf; PM me if you want the address.

[Bmac]

I picked through the old threads and found one where some people were speculating on the age of this very type of bottle. Does the community have ways of determining? Here the facts I know:

it has the UPC of 88076 marking it as UD (possibly) and it has the sub code next to it of OW12521. The stamped numbers on the bottom of the bottles have no determinable pattern. Like one that says A2 24 039 0 0416. 0 could mean 2000 but the 1.75 liter has different markings such as 07 in the same spot for the 0. It has a different OW number: OW12356. So are they different production years or just that it's different for 1.75 versus 750?

I cracked one of the 750s and it's not bad! Very enjoyable actually! Light years better than Rebel Yell, and more enjoyable than Larceny. So...either way it's good but I would love to know how old it is. Any help?

[cowdery]

If the label says DSP-16, and the price is reasonable, buy it. No brainer. Not every bottle, especially of Gold Label, was stellar but it's still DSP-16 whiskey so you can't go too far wrong.

[CaptainQ]

If the label says DSP-16, and the price is reasonable, buy it. No brainer. Not every bottle, especially of Gold Label, was stellar but it's still DSP-16 whiskey so you can't go too far wrong.

[cowdery]

No? I thought even the Prime label had the DSP on it.

[Bmac]

No? I thought even the Prime label had the DSP on it.

[LikeItWasSodaPop]

Well, older Prime will still say Stitzel Weller Distillery. As for DSP ... well, I have Prime from the very first release in the 60s through some from the 80's and none of it has DSP number on it whatsoever. Doesn't mean that some didn't, but not any I've seen.

[cowdery]

At those prices, I'd probably pull the trigger.

[humchan2k]

Well, we know one thing for sure, based on your UPC code....it's not SW juice in there. Once HH acquired Old Fitz, the UPC changed from 88508 to the 88076 numbers you have on your bottles. The fact that it has a UPC code is also a way to know that the bottle isn't too old, early 80's, I'd guess. If it has a tax stamp paper on it, it's from before '83, cuz they stopped doing the tax stamp after about '83-'84, (I'm sure Chuck or someone else has better info than I do on the UPC history piece)...so it sounds to me like you have Heaven Hill, bottom/midshelf Fitzgerald...but it was $6, so you did great!

[Bmac]

Well, we know one thing for sure, based on your UPC code....it's not SW juice in there. Once HH acquired Old Fitz, the UPC changed from 88508 to the 88076 numbers you have on your bottles. The fact that it has a UPC code is also a way to know that the bottle isn't too old, early 80's, I'd guess. If it has a tax stamp paper on it, it's from before '83, cuz they stopped doing the tax stamp after about '83-'84, (I'm sure Chuck or someone else has better info than I do on the UPC history piece)...so it sounds to me like you have Heaven Hill, bottom/midshelf Fitzgerald...but it was $6, so you did great!

You may be right, but it didnt taste like bottom or midshelf. So for 6 bux it was a steal. Here's hoping the 2 handles of it i got arent crap.

[luther.r]

Every dusty bottle of OF Prime I've found has had a date on the bottom of the bottle.

Also, it could have been SW for 3-4 years after SW closed, because the aging stocks would have been transferred with the purchase. I have some DSP-KY-16 OFBIB that's from 1996. I'd say if the bottle date is 1992 or prior it's definitely SW, and if it's 92-96 it's probably SW.

[Bmac]

Every dusty bottle of OF Prime I've found has had a date on the bottom of the bottle.

Also, it could have been SW for 3-4 years after SW closed, because the aging stocks would have been transferred with the purchase. I have some DSP-KY-16 OFBIB that's from 1996. I'd say if the bottle date is 1992 or prior it's definitely SW, and if it's 92-96 it's probably SW.

Can you make sense of the codes? I see them stamped on the bottom of the bottles. The only segment that could be a date is the 2nd to last. The 750s are all 0, so presumably it's from 2000. The handles have 07 in the same spot. So presumably they are from 07. The only reason i am inclinded not to believe that date is back in 2009 when i was looking to buy OF, Sigel's was the only.store carrying and was only available in a plastic bottle 1.75 l. I could wrong...numbers don't lie

[BradleyC]

Does the front label say "Distilled, Aged, and Bottled" by Old Fitz? Or does it say "Distilled" by Old Fitz? My experience says that if it says all 3 it is more than likely SW.

Wripvanwrinkle and I found HH made bottles from 2005 with the 88508 UPC. I'm not much of a fan of OF Prime even if it did come from SW. I've had some from the 80s that made me think of colored watered down white dog. These '05 "88508" bottles were worse than those. Free samples to anyone who doesn't believe me :grin:.

I have also noticed that the older UD bottles had smooth dull gold labels. The HH labels are much shinier and have thin horizontal black lines that create a "ridged" effect.

[theDon]

Let's talk bottle shape. Are they short, squat bottles including the 1.75's from the UD days or tall skinny bottles?

[Bmac]

@Brad - It says Distilled by Old Fitz and the gold is shiney and the logos have raised surfaces but the ridges in the gold arent created by lines that i could tell

@Don - theyarent squat bottles like OWA or enlarged ORVW bottles, they are just like George Dickel handles. Not that tall and not that skinny

[tommyboy38]

According to the code on the bottom of the bottle, it's pretty evident that the bottle is from 1924.

C'mon people...this aint rocket science.

Seriously though, post a pic.

[Bmac]

According to the code on the bottom of the bottle, it's pretty evident that the bottle is from 1924.

C'mon people...this aint rocket science.

Seriously though, post a pic.

Fair enough, I will get some.pics up on Monday. I will see if I can get good.enough lighting to.catch tje bottle.codes.

[Bmac]

As promised here are the picks of what I got:

Here are the bottle codes (I know the pics are weird but it was the only way I could capture them):

In case you can't see the codes they are:

1.75 Bottles: 03 23 066 07 2135

750 Bottles: 42 24 035 0 0416

So, does this mean the 1.75's are from 2007 and the 750's are from 2000 or am I reading these codes wrong?

Thanks everyone for your input.

[cowdery]

The picture of the two bottles shocked me. Heaven Hill has really cheapened the look of this brand, from the shapeless bottle to the rounded-corner labels. It looks bottom shelf and I suppose it is. Too bad. Sad.

What about the code actually embossed in the glass itself?

Edited October 15, 2012 by cowdery

[Bmac]

Well, as I said earlier, it doesn't taste bottom shelf. I expected it to taste worse than Rebel Reserve and it didn't. It was actually very good, so it beat my expectations.

As to the glass:

If the Forward and Backward "P" is the bottom then: 00 57 (left) and 42 BM (right) That's on the 750's

Thw two 1.75s say 58 and the other 47.