Rye Whiskey from 1872

[fussychicken]

Although I've never purchased any whiskey off of eBay, I occasionally look around as you can find some interesting bottles. In can sometimes be a fun way to look into the past. In any case I just found the following very interesting unopened bottle.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150193905348

Of course this brings up many thoughts and questions:

• Is it just me or does the tax stamp looks too modern for 1872?
  
• Also, is it just me again, or is it strange to see whiskey this old being aged for 9 years? Most whiskey back then was hardly aged at all right?
  
• The fill level seems very good for a 135 year old bottle!
  
• The mash bill is very interesting! 2/3 rye and 1/3 corn
  
• From what I have read, some of you guys and gals have some early 1900s bourbon, but I have never read about anyone here having any pre-1900 whiskey. Does anyone know of anyone that has any whiskey this old?

I guess what I am really trying to say is this for real? If so, although $480 is nothing to sneeze at, it actually sounds like a good deal.

[Jono]

Google brings up info on Murdoch Whiskey

http://speccol.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/catalog/cfm/dsp_unit.cfm?speccol=5646&box_no=&folderno=&serno=1&item=554&level=item&id=90053

http://speccol.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/catalog/cfm/dsp_number.cfm?speccol=5646

It may be legit.

Though Murdoch is not mentioned...here is an informative Maryland Rye site:

http://www.ellenjaye.com/maryland-baltimore.htm

And: http://www.fohbc.com/PDF_Files/FarmerDistillersofMd_Sp2006.pdf

[JamesH007]

Wow!! Nice looking bottle.....would love to give that a try . Incredibly great condition. I agree, fill level looks high for its age. Wonder if the whiskey is still any good?

[cowdery]

I don't think tax stamps were used before 1897.

[bourbonv]

I have seen tax stamps on early whiskey, but only because they were bottled early on but not sold by the distillery or distributor to a customer and ended up in the whiskey stocks of the company during prohibition. The whiskey had to be stamped to be sold after prohibition. I have also seen similar bottles bought by a distributor from an estate sale and to be sold to customers there was a stamp requirement. This happened in the 1930's when companies were looking for aged whiskey to be sold. Even so, this was a very small percentage of the whiskey sold nationwide and rare. Looking at the tax stamp on this bottle, I would say it was placed there in the 1930's. Whether it was placed there by the government or someone selling bootleg (and adulterated whiskey) I would not venture to say.

Mike Veach

[Jono]

I would not taste it without knowing it was safe....not knowing the real source or handling...somebody could have filled it with any fluid, be it wood alcohol or kerosene...even if unlikely. I would require chemical analysis...maybe some university or private chemist / food lab could do it.

[cowdery]

I worded my short post as I did because what Mike says is certainly correct, but there at a minimum one can be confident that the tax stamp was not applied when the product was allegedly bottled in 1872. It was applied at a much later date, though perhaps legitimately.

Frankly, you'd either have to be insane or have money to piss away to buy this or any of the similar pre-Prohibition bottles that appear from time to time. It really is a pig in a poke.