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Old Fitzgerald discontinued?


GAbiker
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Had a customer from Lexington KY stop by today. As always we got to talking bourbon. He asked if I has seen any Old Fitz around. Explained to him that Old Fitz hadn't been distributed in GA since around 2009 to the best of my knowledge and was only available in KY, IN and Wisconsin. He told me that he had heard EVERY iteration of Old Fitz had been discontinued, and that scrounging around Lexington there were only a few handles left anywhere on the shelves.

I haven't heard anything about it. Bought a few bottles of Old Fitz BIB when i was in Louisville around Easter.

Anyone heard anything about this?

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I know from being told at the gift shop, that VSOF is pretty limited... I think I heard four States, including those mentioned by GAbiker, and (I hope I'm remembering right...) New York...?

I think other lines within the brand are more widely available. HH should be able to give the States where each is actually distributed.

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Last time at HH (April?), no mention of the Old Fitz line as a whole being discontinued. I seem to recall that they were discontinuing the OF 1849? And I wouldn't be surprised to see them curtain distribution of Old Fitz in order to have more wheated bourbon for Larceny.

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Utter :horseshit:

More fear mongering by sleezy liquor store owners, the same folks who brought us Elmer T. Lee hoarding.

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I asked Bernie Lubbers about OF BIB recently. Not discontinued but still only in regional markets.

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A year ago I sent Heaven Hill an email about VSOF, as it is one of my favorites and was hard to find. I was told that it had been discontinued. I think all of the bourbon that was to go to VSOF is now redirected to Larceny. I really miss VSOF. If anyone knows of a stash somewhere, please share that info.

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Gary, I was also at HH in April (I think...Easter weekend anyway). They had just put out some VSOF, so I grabbed 3 bottles (since NO OF in GA).

Since it was Saturday before Easter, weren't many people around and they weren't giving tours at all. The gift shop lady told me she wasn't sure how long they were going to keep getting VSOF, which at that point was only being sold at the gift shop. She did tell me that OFBIB was still being shipped. And that was all the info I got.

But I agree with you that VSOF may be even further curtailed to go into Larceny. And it's not the Old Fitz that was my regular go to bourbon when I lived in Luavull in the 80's and 90's. But its still a good pour

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I miss OF 1849: I think I paid $13 a bottle and it was delicious. How does something like that get discontinued?

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I miss OF 1849: I think I paid $13 a bottle and it was delicious. How does something like that get discontinued?

Larceny has much better profit margins, so it makes good business sense to divert the barrels into that label, as frustrating as it is to the consumer.

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Larceny has much better profit margins, so it makes good business sense to divert the barrels into that label, as frustrating as it is to the consumer.

How do you know this?

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4 year old whiskey sold at $13 or

4 year old whiskey with some older stock thrown in for color: $23

I think it's pretty self explanatory

FWIW I also really liked the 1849, or at least the QPR.

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4 year old whiskey sold at $13 or

4 year old whiskey with some older stock thrown in for color: $23

I think it's pretty self explanatory

FWIW I also really liked the 1849, or at least the QPR.

:lol: I see you both work at Heaven Hill, then, and have it all figured out! :lol:

If you can, please let us know the proportion of the ages in the Larceny to just get that "color". Think there's some 8 yr on there? Maybe, older? What exactly is the extra cost to HH for each year a barrel sits in their rickhouse? Can you compare the marketing budgets of the different whiskies, too? Don't forget packaging, promotion, and spiffs.

I'm sorry, I'll admit that I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, and things aren't so self explanatory to me, sometimes. And, it seems there are a LOT of variable present that determines the margins on a product, particularly an aged spirit . I just think it's difficult to make such statements of fact from where we sit...unless Andrew has information not generally available. Thus, my question.

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VSOF selling for $39.99 at the gift shop. Bought the OFBIB for $13 a 750. I'm not enough of a math genius to figure out margins but if I vat a bottle of each together I get an average of 8 YO Old Fitz at a slightly higher proof for around $26 a bottle. Might have to try that.

:lol: I see you both work at Heaven Hill, then, and have it all figured out! :lol:

If you can, please let us know the proportion of the ages in the Larceny to just get that "color". Think there's some 8 yr on there? Maybe, older? What exactly is the extra cost to HH for each year a barrel sits in their rickhouse? Can you compare the marketing budgets of the different whiskies, too? Don't forget packaging, promotion, and spiffs.

I'm sorry, I'll admit that I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, and things aren't so self explanatory to me, sometimes. And, it seems there are a LOT of variable present that determines the margins on a product, particularly an aged spirit . I just think it's difficult to make such statements of fact from where we sit...unless Andrew has information not generally available. Thus, my question.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Larceny is a quality pour for the price, especially these days. Much, much better than OF Prime. I can imagine how a rumor like this could get started. OF isn't what it used to be, that's for sure. Sometimes I think that the label is just around for the old men that still come into the stores to drink the brand they've been drinking since 1960.

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OF isn't what it used to be, that's for sure. Sometimes I think that the label is just around for the old men that still come into the stores to drink the brand they've been drinking since 1960.

I turned 21 in 1986, but my decisions were heavily influenced by a cache of 1950s magazines I had that all touted bonded bourbon in their ads. So I started off drinking Old Fitzgerald, Old Grand-Dad, Old Taylor (my absolute favorite), and Old Forester, all BIB expressions. An acquaintance of mine saw my bottles (I usually kept one of each around) and laughed; he was a bartender and said that he and his colleagues referred to those brands as "World War Two Veterans' Whiskey".

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  • 10 months later...

Sorry to bump an old thread - anyone know when OF 12 changed from plastic to wax coated (or vice versa)? 

 

Thanks!

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3 hours ago, beasled said:

Sorry to bump an old thread - anyone know when OF 12 changed from plastic to wax coated (or vice versa)? 

 

Thanks!

We don't see OF12 in the states any more, and haven't for some time, so I have no clue.

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You could try looking on the bottom of the bottle.  Two numbers may indicate the year the bottle was made.   

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I just went on-line to Heaven Hill, and Old Fitzgerald is still listed as one of their brands.

However they also stated that Larceny is the latest expression in their wheated bourbon, and almost gave the impression that it is the latest in continuing the Old Fitzgerald line.

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