Dating an I.W. Harper for a cocktails and history session

[Paulbrad25]

Greetings Ladies and Gents,  

 

I've stumbled across an old bottle of I.W. Harper 101 Proof that's apparently been sat unopened in somebodies liquor cabinet for over forty years. 

 

I've fielded some pictures to some friends who have an interest in this sort of thing, and we've made some progress as to dating it, however I intend to drink and share it and usually give a short contextual presentation on the era and history of any vintage bottles I'm lucky enough to open as I find it adds to the appreciation of the liquid.

To that end, I was wondering if you more knowledgeable folk could fact check and perhaps flesh out my below summary on the attached bottle, especially regarding the liquid itself, the mashbill and the brand and distillery history.

 

- The design of the label is clearly post-1960s and pre 1990s, and it has no Japanese labels anywhere on it.

- The Maryland stamps on the shoulder of the bottle bear a signature, this is Louis Goldstein who was tax comptroller between 1958 and 1998.

(I'm confused as to why there are two stamps with the different volumes of 1/8 and 1/10 gallon, the back label states 4/5 quart)

- The design of the tax label dates it as 1961-1977

- The tax label across the top of the bottle has an earlier number than a compared 1975 bottle and we're assuming that these are consecutive. 

- The stamp on the foot of the bottle has an '8' where a compared to a 1972 bottle of the 'Gold Medal' that has a '7' in what appears to be the only consecutive numbering system molded on the bottle, and I assume is the mold number.

 

So, I'm making a few assumptions here, but cautiously dating it as between 1972-1975.

 

I'd be interested to learn more about what the numbers and symbols on the base of the bottle and label reference if anybody knows?

 

I know very little about the brand, and gleaned the following mostly from the internet and the few books I have, so please pick faults and fill holes in my timeline if you wish to;

 

- Isaac Wolfe Bernheim and Bernard Bernheim along with silent partner Eldridge Palmer began a wholesale whiskey business (Bernheim Bros.) in 1872.

- Isaac decided that selling whiskey in glass was preferable to ceramic as it gave consumers more faith in the quality of the product.

- The I.W. Harper brand was originally trademarked in 1879 by Isaac Wolfe Bernheim who decided that his friend's anglo name 'Harper' was a more marketable brand.

- In 1885 at the New Orleans Exposition the brothers won the first of six gold medals that later adorn their label, including the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, the Exposition Universal in Paris in 1900 and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904.

- in 1888 company bought shares in Pleasure Ridge Distillery in Louisville where their whiskey was produced.

- There was an incident where the U.S. government attempted to impose taxes on a warehouse full of whiskey that had been lost in a fire.

- In 1897 construction was completed on the Bernheim distillery and the Brothers were finally distilling their own whiskey.

- During prohibition the brand stayed in production, and was sold initially via mail-order from wet states to dry states, and later when the ban spread nation-wide, as medicinal whiskey.

- The Bernheim brothers sold the distillery and brands when they retired after prohibition to Chicago whiskey brokers Leo Gerngross and Emil Schwarzhaupt

who in turn sold to Schenley Distilleries in 1937.

- It's brand-called in Ian Fleming's 1963 Bond book 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' where Bond is served it by his father-in-law, Marc-Ange Draco.

- In 1987 Schenley Distilleries was bought by United Distillers. 

- In the early nineties quality of the product had declined and sales were mostly reduced to the export market, especially Japan and Italy.

- Around 1990 the brand was withdrawn from the U.S. market entirely to prevent scalpers buying in the U.S. taking advantage of the high price of resale in the Japanese market. 

- The Bernheim distillery is torn down and rebuilt, reopening in 1992 under master distiller Edwin Foote (from Stitzel-Weller)

- 'I.W. Harper Gold Medal 15yr old 40%' won a gold medal in the 1996 International Spirits Awards in London.

- Bottlings in this era also included the export only releases; 'I.W. Harper Gold Medal 40%', 'I.W. Harper 12yr old 43%' & 'I.W. Harper President's Reserve 43%' 

- United Distillers is ultimately reinvented within the merger and restructure of it's parent companies as Diageo in 1997/1998.

- 2012 I.W. Bernheim is inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame

- Recently (2015) Diageo have regenerated the brand under their Heaven Hill umbrella and relaunched it in the domestic market as a NAS/4yr(?) and a 15yr, the mashbill (of the new release NAS at least), is 73% Corn, 18% Rye and 9% Barley and by all accounts it's mediocre at the price and is being used as a vehicle to sell off surplus whiskey endangered by a fungus at Heaven Hill's warehouses, the 15yr is better regarded and is blended from many different undisclosed sources.

 

Chuck Cowdry notes that the original I.W. Harper 'had an extremely low rye content, about 8%'

 

So, thats all I have, not very much really and I'd be interested in any other info, anecdotes or opinions anyone has to add, or other intelligence that confirms or disproves my estimates of the date.

 

 

appreciated,

 

 

Paul

 

[PaulO]

Paul,

You cautiously dating it between 1972 - 1975 seems in the ballpark. 

It might help if we could decipher the numbers on the red tax strip.

I believe the numbers on the bottom of the bottle only have to do with the glass mold in manufacturing, not the date.  Sometimes there are numbers that correspond to date, sometimes not.  It appears to depend on brand.

Also, if we knew when the 101 proof was available, that might help.

I.W. Harper vintage bottles I've seen were 86 proof, or 100 proof bottled in bond. 

[Paulbrad25]

Thanks for the feedback, 

 

Agreed, I struggled to find any info on a 101 at all, i turned up a few later bottles that were Japanese export only with a distinctly different label.

https://jwhisky.com/i-w-harper-101-101-proof-japan-only#description

 

This Portuguese Import of the Gold Label dated 1972 looks slightly older but also has the same generation label which gave me the comparable info from the heel of the bottle, putting it firmly post -'72. I originally thought it might be a 1980/1 due to the heel stamp having an 8 instead of the 72 on the attached.

https://whiskeyid.com/i-w-harper-5yr-86pf-portugese-import-1972/

 

But this 1975 bourbon bottle (Old Grandad) having a later tax stamp serial number is what makes me hedge towards a pre-'75 bottling. https://whiskeyid.com/how-to-date-id-your-whiskey/ (also attached)

Of course the tax label may have been bought earlier and used later, but I very much doubt that would account for more than a single year or two at most, in disparity.

 

The 123 on the heel of the bottle refers to the liquor bottle permit for Star City Glass Co. 

 

My oldest bourbon books in hand are both by Gary Regan and refer to the 1990's bottlings and include a bit of history so I'm going to have a dive into my digital library today and see what I can find, followed by a dive into the internet on the history of Bernheim Distillery and Star City Glass Co.

 

 

I'm most interested in the conflicting Maryland stickers, might they have been used to denote a bottle volume that falls between the two stamps?

and any info on the liquid, the mash bill, and who was doing the distilling for Schenley at Bernheim at that time.

Edited May 3, 2022 by Paulbrad25

[fishnbowljoe]

I’ll see if I can find my copy of Sam Cecil’s book, Bourbon:The Evolution Of Kentucky Whiskey. Might be able to glean something from it. 
 

Biba! Joe

[PaulO]

The Maryland stamps and lack of any foreign writing would indicate this was someone's souvenir brought from the U.S.

I don't believe it could be later than 1979, since that's when we switched to metric 750ml bottles.

4/5 Quart bottles before 1965 had "FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROHIBITS REUSE OR REFILL" embossed on the bottom of the bottle.

So, just looking at the bottle itself, could be a window of 1965 - 1979.

I think you're on the right track, mid 1970s, because of label.

[fishnbowljoe]

Not much in Sam Cecil’s book. The only mention of I W Harper was in regards to the purchase of the Bernheim distillery.

 

 

 

 

[fishnbowljoe]

There was a little more about I W Harper in the Regan’s book: The Book Of Bourbon And Other Fine American Whiskeys. More history and timelines, but not dates of when any different iterations were available. However, there were some tasting notes.

 

 

[Paulbrad25]

Thank you folks, I have both of Regan's books, his tasting references are for the 1990s bottlings when the distillery was owned by United Distillers and exporting to the Japanese market, a lot had changed since the seventies including the liquid in the bottle.

 

The Sam Cecil reference is helpful, thanks a lot for that, it gives me a couple of new names to look up.

 

I did find this, so I'm currently at 1974/75 which is as close as I could want to be. 

 

'1974 - I W Harper 101 is introduced. It is the first time
Schenley offered a bourbon with a proof over 100
(What's New At Schenley, Nov. 1974)'

 

I have a couple more links to add that I haven't typed out the bullet points from yet. 

 

https://bernheim.org/bernheim-at-90-a-toast-to-bernheim/

 

http://www.bourbonenthusiast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1660

 

I'm starting to get frustrated with official libraries that store collections of newspapers and magazines and then hoard their archives like a Tolkienian dragon instead of making the contents available for digitisation and keyword searching to benefit the human race.

 

 

[PaulO]

On 5/3/2022 at 10:23 AM, PaulO said:

The Maryland stamps and lack of any foreign writing would indicate this was someone's souvenir brought from the U.S.

I don't believe it could be later than 1979, since that's when we switched to metric 750ml bottles.

4/5 Quart bottles before 1965 had "FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROHIBITS REUSE OR REFILL" embossed on the bottom of the bottle.

So, just looking at the bottle itself, could be a window of 1965 - 1979.

I think you're on the right track, mid 1970s, because of label.

Correcting my own post,

Above quote should read "FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR REUSE OF THIS BOTTLE".

That was on liquor bottles from 1935 - 1964.

[mbroo5880i]

I have never dated an IW Harper but, after seeing the pictures, I must say "she sure looks pretty!"   

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist.