DSP Questions

[cigarnv]

Several questions have been raised regarding DSP's on other threads but rather than thread-jack or have them buried I thought I would raise them here. The question I initially raised was-

Enjoying some Old Fitz BIB that I recently picked up. The bottle says it was produced at DSP-1 and bottled at DSP-31. This would suggest that this was a 1996 or earlier bottling???

Tnbourbon responded-

No, it could be current. DSP-1 is Bernheim, HH's current distillery. They continue to bottle at DSP-31, the Bardstown facility, which lost only its distillery (and several warehouses) in the November 1996 fire.

Thus, the markings you describe are today's.

PhilsFan then asked-

......So if you're looking for Old Fitz dusties, with very similar labels to the current label, how do you determine for sure if the Old Fitz bottle is SW?.

This exchange begs a number of questions regarding DSP's that I hope our resident experts can shed some light on....

- How is a DSP assigned... is it required just for the distillery or for the entire spirits process from mash to bottle?

-What/who is the DSP assigned to.... an organization or a specific still or a specific facility or .....?

-Do aging warehouses and/or bonded warehouses require a DSP "umbrella" over them or can a non-DSP entity own them? Does one need a DSP to bottle spirits?

-Why do some bottling show a DSP # while other bottlings are void of them? It appears the DSP is required on BIB?

- and as PhilsFan asked.....So if you're looking for Old Fitz dusties, with very similar labels to the current label, how do you determine for sure if the Old Fitz bottle is SW?

I did find he following...

DSP#s are the Distilled Spirits Producer Number used by the government to register distilleries. The problem is that they can change through the years. A distillery is registered by the district in each state and given a number: for example the Bernheim distillery is DSP#1 in the 7th district of Kentucky. The old Stitzel Distillery in Louisville was DSP#16. When Stitzel-Weller was opened they sold the distillery to Four Roses and the DSP# had to stay at the old distillery so they took DSP#17. If they had closed and dismantled the old distillery they could have kept their old number of 16. This means that for old bottles of whiskey you need a list from the period that the whiskey was made. I have several lists from before and after prohibition so if you have specific distilleries and dates in mind I may be able to help you with placing a distillery with a bottle.

Mike Veach

[mozilla]

I will attempt to respond to some of your questions.

1. Old Fitz: First look for the DSP of 16. Next look for the bottle date....subtract off the age stated by the bourbon from the bottle date......and hopefully you should arrive at 1992 or earlier. ie: you find an 1849 Old Fitz with an eight yr statement.....the bottle date is 2001....subtract the 8 from 2001 which yields 1993....this could be but not guarenteed to be SW.

2. Many distilleries have specific numbers for their bottling and warehouse facilities. The DSP sticks with the still....for the most part.

3. SW after shutting the stills down...bottled bourbon under the number for it's bottle house, which I believe was RB379. So...there are numerous numbers for each facility.

Hope that helped.

And the DSP is the best way to figure out for sure, though it is usually only on Bib's. After that go with bottle date minus age statement and upc codes.

[OscarV]

Also I heard that when a distillery closes, some still existing distiller will take it's number if it is a lower number.

Low numbers seem to be prestigious.