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Old Murphy Whiskey


T-roy
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Hello,

I have a pint bottle of "Old Murphy" Whiskey from 1912. A friend of my Dads found a case of it under the porch of his house and gave it to him many years ago. My brother had been keeping it, unfortunately he stored it on its side & the cork failed so most of the whiskey was lost, about a third of a pint is left. We officially opened it this past Christmas Eve and had a few sips, it tasted great, smooth and kind of flowery. We still have a bit left for next Christmas. I haven't been able to find much information about it online.

The front label reads “Old Murphy Whiskey, the kind Father used to drink, bottled in bond at the distillery in old Kentucky for Dinan Brothers 10th and Abbott Sts Detroit Michâ€

The back label says it was bottled by the Burks Springs Distillery CO. distillery no. 440 5th dist., Ky. P.O. Loretto, KY.

When I searched ‘Burks Springs Distillery’ I ended up at the Makers Mark website. I gave them the same information I've posted here & hope to hear from them.

Has anyone ever heard of Old Murphy?

I've pictures of the bottle and labels but they’re kind of large, I'm not sure how to post them here but I'll figure it out. If any one is interested I'd be happy to e-mail the pictures.

Thanks for any help.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I got a reply from Makers Mark, not much info but something.

“Sorry for the delay in reply - please see our Master Distiller's reply below. He also wanted to know if you had a digital picture you could send? You can send it to me if you'd like and I will happily forward along”.

“Yes, this was bottled at the distillery where we currently operate ... but well before we had anything to do with it. Before prohibition, the Burks family did a whole lot of contract bottling ... this was obviously one of those situations ... probably they produced the whisky under contract, and then bottled it under a house name. I'd love to get a good quality digital photo of the label for my collection...”

I sent them some pictures of the bottle.

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Post them here too if you don't mind. Many here would be interested in seeing them too.

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Lets see if this uploads...Yes it did!

Some nice people at another site have provided some info. I'll paraphrase here. The Dinan brothers were wealthy & contributed lots of money to The University of Detroit. They probably were well known around Detroit. Apparently they had the Burks Springs Distillery bottle up some bourbon. The bottle I have may simply be this bourbon. The trouble is, it's a pint bottle but the front label says 1/2 pint. It may be a just case of the wrong amount on the label or, possibly someone relabeled another brand of bourbon with a locally well known label.

When it came into our possession (in the 70's) the seal was intact & the Gentleman that found the case had tasted some. Everyone who tried it at Christmas agrees that is good tasting bourbon. Unfortunately none of us know enough about bourbon to be able to compare the taste to anything else.

Any information and or speculation would be appreciated.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Lets see if this uploads...Yes it did!

Some nice people at another site have provided some info. I'll paraphrase here. The Dinan brothers were wealthy & contributed lots of money to The University of Detroit. They probably were well known around Detroit. Apparently they had the Burks Springs Distillery bottle up some bourbon. The bottle I have may simply be this bourbon. The trouble is, it's a pint bottle but the front label says 1/2 pint. It may be a just case of the wrong amount on the label or, possibly someone relabeled another brand of bourbon with a locally well known label.

When it came into our possession (in the 70's) the seal was intact & the Gentleman that found the case had tasted some. Everyone who tried it at Christmas agrees that is good tasting bourbon. Unfortunately none of us know enough about bourbon to be able to compare the taste to anything else.

Any information and or speculation would be appreciated.

T-Roy, love the photos. Have you heard anything additional from Maker's Mark or the other message board regarding this Whiskey?

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Haven't heard anything new, a person on the other board was going to do a bit of research. Maybe something more will turn up.

I was asked what it tasted like:

When we decided to try it I was a little worried, when I opened the bottle and took a sniff, my worries vanished, it smelled just like modern bourbon. It tasted very smooth I think over time some of the alcohol must have evaporated. It had a somewhat sweet floral taste that I really liked, a bit like brandy but I thought the aftertaste was a little strong (another person who tried it loved the aftertaste). My brother said it tasted smokey. I've asked a couple of the people who've tasted it to give me an opinion, I'll post them.

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