Old Fitz 1849 - endangered?

[Sijan]

Today I was at a liquor store in the North End of Boston that normally carries a substantial stock of Old Fitz 1849 - it is my only source for it in the area. But this time there was a big, empty space where the Old Fitz usually is - I picked up the last bottle they had. The manager told me that he thought it would be "very difficult" to get any more, according to their distributor. Anyone know if it has been discontinued or something?

I talked to one of the guys from Heaven Hill at WhiskyFest 2004 in NYC and was told that Old Fitz 1849 was in no danger of being discontinued. Has this changed? Or is it just a distribution problem in Boston?

[smokinjoe]

I don't know about a discontinuation, but the last few bottles that I picked up in Louisville during the KBF in September have main labels that have the 8 year age statement covered up with another small label, and the neck label is missing the "8 years". I guess these probably have younger whiskey in them than previous years. I think it was Randy who said here that Heaven Hill had told him of at least a temporary shortage in longer aged bourbon in their inventory. Maybe they're making less of the 1849 because of this? Diverting the longer aged to other brands perhaps? It has been one of my favorite pours, so I hope it's just a temporary thing. Let us know if you hear more.

JOE

[fogfrog]

Well where I shop there is regular old fitzgerald, is this what you are talkign about? As far as I can see this is bottom shelf stuff. Now I am not a believer in bottom shelf meaning I would like to try it because I like finding the cheaper stuff that still tastes good.

What do you think of regular Old Fitzgerald? is this what you are talking about?

Thanks,

Paul

[Sijan]

Nope, I'm talking about Old Fitz 1849: http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/bourbon2/img1031876987.jpeg

I like Old Fitz BIB pretty well. I also like VSOF 12. I'm not sure if I've had the regular Old Fitz.

Old Fitz 1849 is fairly cheap bourbon, but quite good. From what I've learned in the past few weeks, it appears that Old Fitz 1849 is going through some changes. It is evidently no longer 8 years old. It has recently gone through two bottle variations, where the 8 year old age statement was removed. Evidently the most recent iteration states that the bourbon is "charcoal filtered."

There's a bit more discussion in this semi-hijacked thread:

http://www.straightbourbon.com/ubbthreads/showthread.php?t=5135