Andy Traxel Posted September 15, 2001 Share Posted September 15, 2001 One of the better stocked liquor stores here now has some Fleischmann's Straight Rye Whiskey. A very florid metallic purple label with the brand name in yellow. A real eye sore. Price is cheap. $10/bottle. Same as Rittenhouse is at the same store.The label says it comes from Owensboro and Frankfort. My guess is this must be some old Monarch/Medley/Glenmore rye for the original Rittenhouse brand. Which is supposed to be where the Van Winkle rye comes from, right? And I suppose either Ancient Age/Buffalo Trace or Beam is bottling it.Anybody out there know anything about this stuff? $10 is a cheap experiment. But I've got so many open bottles going and just as many waiting to try (incl 13 yr old VW Rye, Sazerac Rye and Lot #40 from Canada) that I'd just as soon save the time, money and the cabinet space for it if its nothing special.Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted September 17, 2001 Share Posted September 17, 2001 What you have may be an old bottle that has simply been on the shelf for awhile. The Fleischmann's brand has moved around a lot. In one sequence, I know Medley had it, then Glenmore got it when they bought Medley, and UDV got it when they bought Glenmore. I know UDV unloaded it, but I don't recall where. The combination of Owensboro and Frankfort on the label is a little hard to figure. Owensboro could mean Medley or Glenmore. Frankfort could mean Ancient Age/Buffalo Trace, or Jim Beam, which has warehouses and a bottling line there at the old Forks of Elkhorn/Old Grand-Dad plant.<A target="_blank" HREF=http://cowdery.home.netcom.com>--Chuck Cowdery</A><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by cowdery on Mon Sep 17 12:09:05 2001 (server time).</FONT></P> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Traxel Posted September 22, 2001 Author Share Posted September 22, 2001 I did a search on Fleischmann's Rye (don't know why I didn't think of it earlier). Turns out Barton is now using the Fleischmann's brand name. The rye I saw is a current product according to the website.Do you know anyone with Barton who could clue us in on where the rye came from?Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted September 22, 2001 Share Posted September 22, 2001 My guess would be that it is theirs, made at the Barton distillery in Bardstown.<A target="_blank" HREF=http://cowdery.home.netcom.com>--Chuck Cowdery</A> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Traxel Posted September 23, 2001 Author Share Posted September 23, 2001 Has Barton ever sold a straight rye before? I wonder how it happened that they have some rye ready now when they just acquired Fleischmann's as a brand. Suppose they made some for flavoring for a blend? If they're making it in Bardstown, I wonder why the label says Owensboro and Frankfort.Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest **DONOTDELETE** Posted September 23, 2001 Share Posted September 23, 2001 Barton has warehousing and bottling facilities in Owensboro=John=<A target="_blank" HREF=http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey>http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey</A> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest **DONOTDELETE** Posted September 23, 2001 Share Posted September 23, 2001 When U D sold brands to other companies they always included enough aged whiskey to support the brand until the new owners could produce their own whiskey for the brand. In 1996 U D sold the Fleischmann's line of products to Barton and the rye whiskey in the bottle you purchased was probably some of their rye whiskey made either at the Medley distillery in Owensboro or the Ancient Age (now Buffalo Trace) distillery in Frankfort. United Distillers had a lot of rye in storage in Frankfort. This whiskey was made for the Schenley blends before Ancient Age went independent and afterwards under contract to Schenley.Remember, Fleischmann's rye was never a big seller and a few thousand barrels could last a lifetime for that brand.Mike Veach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted September 24, 2001 Share Posted September 24, 2001 I think that's the old Glenmore facility, that they got from UD.<A target="_blank" HREF=http://cowdery.home.netcom.com>--Chuck Cowdery</A> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted September 24, 2001 Share Posted September 24, 2001 Those are all good questions, Grasshopper.I do recall Jerry Dalton, when he was Master Distiller at Barton, telling me that they did make some rye whiskey there, though I don't recall why. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://cowdery.home.netcom.com>--Chuck Cowdery</A> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Just bringing forward this thread on Fleischmann's rye whiskey, now sold by Barton's (at least it is advertised on its website), because now I see that the Fleischmann's Preferred Blended Whiskey I admire and whose rye character I identified evidently is the associated blend of the straight rye whiskey, i.e., the Fleischmann's rye is all or a good part of the straight whiskey component of the blend. The ownership tree of the Fleischmann's brand seems rather complicated, it seems to have been a Medley brand 20 years ago or more before moving to Glenmore, UDV and then Barton's. If anyone has a bottle of the Fleischmann's rye whiskey in their bar or bunker I would be interested in reading their taste notes. Maybe the Sazerac I added to my Fleischmann's Preferred Blended Whiskey was made in the same plant as the Fleischmann's rye added by Barton's to the blend and that's why it tastes so good! One other thing, in doing some other reading I learned that something called OTS wine (other than standard) is added to some American blended whiskey. Often this is made from, get this, orange peels. I felt Fleischmann's Preferred Blended Whiskey has a scent and taste of what I called "orange bitters" and I wonder if orange peel wine might be one of the flavourings added to this product. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boone Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Yeah, you are right about adding "Cheap wine" to blend ... If the consumer does not read the label...The price "should" ring a bell...Then...the puke factor is the key to learning the difference... "You know the old saying, "Ya get what ya pay for". I am referring to the cheap stuff...like, 80-20...or 70-30...Not the "Good Blended Whiskies". Bettye Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Yes Bettye Jo, taken on its own, few people likely would want to drink orange peel wine (or prune wine, etc.). Still, some blended whiskey is good - a valid product unto itself. Price alone should not deter someone from trying it as an alternative to Bourbon. In other words, we should judge the final product on its merits (after all, who would drink, say, Angostura bitters straight!). I have found some blended whiskey pretty bad but some very good. Speaking of the category, does HH make a blended? If it makes more than one, which is considered better?Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 6, 2004 Share Posted January 6, 2004 I don't know from OTS, but American Blends can pretty much contain ADT (Any Damn Thing) without running afoul of the labeling regs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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