thadp Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Can anyone tell me about this bottle? Doing a little research here it seems something that was started by Cecil Withrow for the Japan market while he was trying to start up Old Taylor again. Perhaps purchased and bottled by his son perhaps with the help of Jullian Van Winkle. Guess I'm looking for a little more detail. So the back story is that my buddy and I were out drinking at a bar here in Taipei owned by a Japanese guy. The bar is known for infusions and Japanese whiskey but not bourbon. We, being totally ignorant, noticed the bottle on the shelf and we're kinda laughing at. We ask to look at it and upon closer inspection we decided we need to try it. I knew as soon as I smelled it that it would likely be the best bourbon I've ever had...and it was. We just started giggling like kids at how amazing it was. In short, we ended up rescuing the bottle after working the owner really hard (he didn't want to part with it). Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FasterHorses Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 (edited) Not sure if this is a small piece of the puzzle..very limited info out there. https://www.straightbourbon.com/community/topic/7969-dsp-of-the-stone-castle/ Also about 12 posts down in this thread..it talks about making this bourbon and shipping it to Japan. Koi is the poster. https://www.straightbourbon.com/community/topic/3764-two-historic-distilleries-are-threatened/?tab=comments#comment-40268 Edited October 29, 2017 by FasterHorses 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thadp Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 9 minutes ago, FasterHorses said: Not sure if this is a small piece of the puzzle..very limited info out there. https://www.straightbourbon.com/community/topic/7969-dsp-of-the-stone-castle/ Also about 12 posts down in this thread..it talks about making this bourbon and shipping it to Japan. Koi is the poster. https://www.straightbourbon.com/community/topic/3764-two-historic-distilleries-are-threatened/?tab=comments#comment-40268 Thanks, that's about the only thing I was able to find too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FasterHorses Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 (edited) Wanted to copy and paste but dont know the rules...about three posts down by "strayed" http://www.bourbonenthusiast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=531&view=unread same bottle as michters.. Edited October 29, 2017 by FasterHorses 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thadp Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 38 minutes ago, FasterHorses said: Wanted to copy and paste but dont know the rules...about three posts down by "strayed" http://www.bourbonenthusiast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=531&view=unread same bottle as michters.. This is why I think Julian was involved in whatever is in the bottle. I forgot to add that the bar owner said he purchased it 20 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Comp Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 I found a bottle of this in Chicago in 2010 and brought it to the Straightbourbon gazebo Sampler table in 2011. Here is what the late and great bourbon aficionado, Tim Sousley, posted on it in the Bourbon Sampler 2011 thread: “Despite not hanging around long enough to experience the brunt of the bourbon tables (and missing the company of Chuck and Randy), there was no dearth of fine drink available. Maybe the greatest surprise to me was the unique bottling of Stone Castle brought by Thad (TComp) -- the only whiskey issued by Cecil Witherow during his ownership of the Old Taylor distillery, so not just a one-off, but a one-ever. It was startlingly good! Whatever its provenance -- which, of course, we debated:grin: -- it's a shame it's essentially long gone from shelves and pantries.” I went back to the store to buy more after tasting how good it was but of course the 6 to 10 bottles on the shelf were gone. For some odd reason back in those days it was not unusual to come across Japanese export bottles in the smaller neighborhood type liquor stores. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thadp Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 Seems like unless Cecil's son discloses it we'll never know. Would still love to hear any wild speculation though, just for fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EHM Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 (edited) Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I’ve been looking for details on Stone Castle too. It’s a hidden gem for me and I’m trying to learn more about the source. I found some details and thought it might be best to keep it all in the same thread in case others are looking. I came across an article in Whiskey Magazine written by Jim Murray as a tribute when Cecil passed away. Jim was a very close friend of Cecil’s and likely would have known details about the Stone Castle bottling. In the article, Jim talks about Cecil being excited about his Stonecastle label and it being sad that he passed away just 2 weeks after celebrating the bottling of “the Buffalo Trace whiskey”. It seems odd to me that BT would be the source for this though. I know Buffalo Trace (the bourbon brand) was released around that same time, but it also seems weird that Cecil would be celebrating that release. It seems more plausable that Jim was talking about the distillery in his article and casually mentioning it as the source for Stone Castle. Am I missing something here? Any and all thoughts would be appreciated. Here is the article that sent me down this rabbit hole: http://whiskymag.com/story/tribute-to-a-whiskey-dreamer Edited November 21, 2018 by EHM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts