Collector's Item Bourbon

[pepcycle]

Today, I acquired an interesting bottle.

Its called "Collector's Item" bourbon. Distilled in 1955 and bottled in 1975. It has neck tag with a note from Ben Ripey (its script, it might be Rijay or Rijey) It has a green stamp across the seal and is in a mesh net. Its distilled at DSP 51, , but it says bottled by Kentucky Distilling Company, Lawrenceburg, KY, DSP 112, which should be Commonwealth Distllery Its 100 proof BIB. The neck tag says bottled by Dowling Distilleries, Lawrenceburg.

I got to taste some from a opened bottled and was pleasantly surprised by the maple syrup sweetness and long dry finish. Any clues?

[cowdery]

Everyone turn to page 56 of your Cecil. Ben Ripey ran a bottling operation at Hoffman/Commonwealth before Julian Van Winkle III took it over. RD #112 (p. 52) is T.B. Ripy & Co. at Tyrone, near where Wild Turkey (formerly Ripy Bros.) is now.

[pepcycle]

Thanks Chuck.

I couldn't find a reference for DSP #51 where it was distilled.

[bobbyc]

I couldn't find a reference for DSP #51 where it was distilled.

Ed,

Sam has a reference to Greenbrier, and Double Springs in Nelson County with a registry number of 51. This may not help at all to determine the source of your bottling. It seems production was "spasmodic" and a lot of business was done buying distressed warehouse receipts where and when they turned up.

[brendaj]

Bobby,

Sam has a reference to Greenbrier, and Double Springs in Nelson County with a registry number of 51.

This distillery was located where the American Greetings Plant (and surrounding subdivision) stands today. I had the chance to walk thru some of the old buildings (bottling house, warehouse) in the 80's.

Because my farm was located in the little burg south of Bardstown called Greenbrier, I stumbed on a pretty funny story.

It seems the Greenbrier/Balltown area was well known for moonshine. My farm even had an old 'moonshine road' that ran thru it. (I traveled it several times on horseback.) There was also a long 'hollow' that ran the whole area, and evidently it was full of stills... 'Revenuers' were not welcomed warmly...

It seems the Double Springs homeoffice sent 2 or 3 guys to Nelson County to check on the Greenbrier Distillery and they got lost. When they asked for directions, they were sent to the Greenbrier area, not the distillery. When they rolled into Greenbrier, they were then mistaken for 'revenuers' and it went badly from there...

This whole incident was recounted in a memo to their home office. I think it was Mike Veech that told me this story, taken from documents on file at the Getz Museum.

Here's a shot of the bottle of Greenbrier Whiskey (notice they don't call it Bourbon anywhere on the label) in storage at the Getz.

BJ

[bourbonmed]

Hey, Mr. Patty!

You are a fortunate man. It's a fantastic bourbon. I brought the 21y version to the festival last year and passed it around. Everyone loved it. There's also a 16y bottle of 'Collector's Item' by Dowling.

Omar