OldFitzgerald-100*

[vasshopper]

Has anyone tried the Old Fitz -BIB-made by Heavenhill now that they've taken over that label? was wondering if it is better than the Stitzel-Weller stuff.

Life is Good!!!!!--den

[cowdery]

HH hasn't owned the brand long enough to be bottling any of their own whiskey. In fact, the purchase included aging whiskey. Also, I have heard they are still in the process of getting Bernheim running the way they want, so it may be sometime before any Old Fitz is truly HH-made.

--Chuck Cowdery

[vasshopper]

Hello Fellow BOURBONIANS!

Still wondering about H-Hs OLD FITZ because back in Feb.22 i had posted a question about a bottle of VSOF-12yr-90* that really tasted bad and was glad to take it back to my very kind liquor store owner. the # on the lower rite label started with O W just like some 750ml i recently bought. for some people that might not be too aquainted with OLD FITZ100* the #16 on the label sure does taste really great because it was made and aged at louisville. the #16 and #24 on the label of newer bottles shows it was made at louisville and aged at owensboro and is imo not quite as good as the #16. now for the newer bottles that show the #1 and #31 on the label which is H-Hs and starts with the O W in the lower right corner, that bourbon has a hot finish and not as good as the other #ed bottles. this is just my opinion and also from my travels to various parts of Kentucky i keep hearing of the Japanese buying up old bottlings of whiskey, especially OLD FITZ.

let me know what you all think.

life is good--den

[bluesbassdad]

I wish I had seen your post before my most recent liquor-buying trek.

Someone had mentioned Old Fitz BIB as a good, entry-level bourbon, along with some other suggestions. (I'll bet that the recommendation was based on one of the earlier bottlings.) I saw a bottle when I drove down to Hi-Time Wine Cellars; so I grabbed it.

I opened the bottle yesterday afternoon, and I didn't know what to make of the experience. Without delving into my limiting tasting vocabulary, I'll just say that it smelled good, tasted fair to good, and then exploded into a dry heat at the finish. Surprisingly, if I took small enough sips, I could almost sneak past the unpleasant finish.

Even more disturbing than the actual flavor, after a few sips it left my lips and tongue feeling swollen and parched, similar to the aftereffect of gargling salt water when I have a sore throat. Late in the evening I tried it again, just to be sure, and I had the same physiological reaction. This morning my lips still feel slightly swollen.

All of this was so perplexing that I did a search here for more information on Old Fitz, and I came up with your post. Armed with the information you provided, I could easily see that my bottle is in the latest category (#1/#31) and a number that starts with "OW".

Needless to say, I will avoid future purchases of this bottling, and I'm not sure how I'll dispose of the remainder of this bottle. (Come to think of it, it might make great bourbon balls, for which I usually use the cheapest straight whiskey I can find.)

In another thread there has been discussion regarding identifying the distillery that produces any particular BIB product. I was led to believe that in general it is not possible to pinpoint the source of a particular bottle. Now I'm not sure what to believe.

Questions to all:

Do these distillery numbers (if that's the right term) appear on all bourbon? Just BIB? Are the numbers a matter of public record?

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

Retiree, Musician, Dog-Lover, Whiskey-Drinker