AH Hirch 16 year old with Gold wax top.

[Geo]

I found some AH Hirsh 16 year with the Gold wax top in my store for $77.95 each.

Are these rare? I did not buy one yet.

[Gillman]

Any Hirsch 16 is rare because it contains whiskey distilled in 1974 at Michter's, the long-defunct Pennsylvania distillery. Michter's made a whiskey which was called Original Sour Mash. This was a recipe which used 50% corn, 38% rye, the rest barley malt. Because of this spec it was not quite a rye or a bourbon but rather a whiskey presenting aspects of both. In general though one might view it as a type of rye whiskey, the type associated with the North East that today is not made anymore (rye whiskey is still made, but in Kentucky, and most do not taste like Pennsylvania rye or Maryland rye did or Michter's did). There is a new version or versions I should say of Michter's out, these are whiskeys in various styles (bourbon; rye; whiskey aged in reused barrels, etc.) sourced from Kentucky distilleries in bulk and while good do not by reports attain to the palate of the original Michters. Hirsch bought up the last barrels after Michter's closed and sold it in two ages, 16 and 20. The 20 is gone. Some 16's are still around. The 16 was bottled in three runs: blue wax; gold wax; gold foil. By common agreement of those on this board the blue and gold waxers are the best and the gold foil is not as good. When the gold foil version was released it was priced lower than what had been asked for the earlier bottlings so it seemed the vendors knew it wasn't quite as good (although still worthy). So, all this to say, if you can afford it, buy the gold wax version. When Michter's in Pennsylvania existed the Original Sour Mash was put out without an age statement but reports indicate it was around 4 years old. The Hirsch 16 is much older and shows the difference in the palate but there is still a connection in the taste as I saw at the recent Gazebo where both forms of the whiskey were on the table. So, the Hirsch 16 gold and blue wax bottles offer a good idea of how the original Michter's Original Sour Mash tasted and some would say the Hirsch 16 is a special luxury version. Oh, how could whiskey made in 1974 be sold today at 16 years old? It was tanked in stainless quite a while back to retard further aging. But maybe it aged anyway which may explain the lesser flavour of the gold foil. Or there may be some other explanation. Why is the Hirsch called "bourbon" on the label? This I cannot answer. Maybe that particular batch made in '74 WAS a bourbon (51%+ corn content), atypically I would think for the distillery, but that is possible. Even if it is, it still tastes a lot like the Original Sour Mash based on that Gazebo comparison I did and Tim Sousley feels the same I know. Or maybe it was felt at 50% corn content Original Sour Mash was close enough to bourbon to be called that and the difference is not material. Anyway, the Hirsch 16 gold or blue waxers are ultra-good whiskey, amongst the best I ever had.

Gary

[Geo]

My mistake, they were the foil tops. But not a bad price.

[Gillman]

Well, a chance anyway to sum up the history of this bottling. The gold foil is as I said earlier certainly worthy but IMHO not quite in the class of the gold wax bottling or blue wax bottlings. Of the current Michter's bottlings, I like the regular rye whiskey, I think it is 4 years old. That is quite close I think to what the original Michter's whiskey was like and is very good (in any case) in its own right. That whiskey is really one of the few, too, that reminds me of the Maryland and Pennsylvania whiskeys I tasted at the last Gazebo gathering. Rye whiskey seems to be gathering pace, slowly but surely..

Gary

[TNbourbon]

Around here (Middle Tennessee), it is getting rarer and rarer to find the gold-wax Hirsch 16 and, as a result, the gold-foil version is inching to almost equal standing price-wise -- both around $75 before tax. I've not had the gold-foil version because I managed to lay in several gold-wax and a blue-wax one, but the fact is that there is no more to bottle, ever, so it's only going to get rarer. It likely won't get cheaper, either.

As Gary noted, I do indeed see a sibling relationship between the Hirsch and original 4yo Michter's -- a recent experiment with vatting the two confirmed that even more solidly, since the common flavors in both combined to really tamp down the drier woodiness of the 16yo.

[Docholiday]

Today I stopped in at five stores and found nothing I didn't already have, either open or bunkered. I was about to give up and go home when low and behold I came upon a shop with four bottles of Hirsch 16 (blue tops) at just under $70 WITH TAX. Bought two. I would love to get a gold top just to put one of each of the 16s on the bar and look at them together. I wonder how long it would be until I would have to open them for comparison. Are they indeed the same?

[TNbourbon]

...I came upon a shop with four bottles of Hirsch 16 (blue tops) at just under $70 WITH TAX. Bought two...

Good find!

[dougdog]

Gary, wasn't there a 19yo version as well? I think there were 190 cases bottled at that age statement...

Maybe Julian can help here?

Best regards, dog

[Gillman]

Quite right and a number of posters have a bottle. I have never seen one. They are so rare that even Julian had to jog his memory to recall he had bottled some. I know a picture was posted on the board of such a bottle, I believe it had a blue wax top.

Gary

[TNbourbon]

Here's the thread about the Hirsch 19yo, with pic:

http://www.straightbourbon.comhttp://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/20275/page//fpart/1/vc/1