Interesting purchase

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Interesting purchase

Unread postby bourbonv » Fri May 02, 2008 11:48 am

The other day I picked up some old prohibition era whiskey to use for charity tastings. I picked up two Old Taylor bourbons that are only 10yo but that is because they were bottled in 1928. The interesting thing is that they bottles have the pre-1909 white label instead of the gold colored label. I picked a Henry Waterson bourbon. Watterson was editor of the Courier-Journal and a vocal opponent to prohibition. I picked up a 13yo Old Grand Dad quart. This could be a very interesting bourbon to taste. I do need to check the DSP numbers on the bourbons to see whose whiskey is actually in the bottle, but it will be great if this is real pre-prohibition distilled Old Grand Dad. My real prize purchase was some Old Forester distilled in 1916 and bottled in 1938 making it 22 yo Old Forester bottled-in-bond. once again, I need to check the DSP nuber to see who actually made this whiskey, but it will be interesting to taste.

The other people at the Bourbon's Bistro were making fun of my purchase since this was all done for charity tastings (with the possible exception of the Henry Watterson, I just want to taste that whiskey since I have never had any before) and I Believe Chuck (Chuckmick) stated I was "Saving the world one bourbon bottle at a time". I think I may make that my new motto.
Mike Veach
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Unread postby mozilla » Fri May 02, 2008 1:02 pm

Mike,
Will the DSP numbers be accurate to the distiller back that far? I would worry that they might only tell us who's warehouses they were in instead, with all the consolidation that was going on. Seems that might have been a nightmare of paperwork to follow. Do you find many records as to which bourbons were consolidated where and in what quantities?
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Unread postby Dump Bucket » Fri May 02, 2008 3:02 pm

I so envy your taste buds :) I am dieing to know how those taste.. Mr one bottle :D
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Unread postby bourbonv » Fri May 02, 2008 3:25 pm

Jeff,
Most prohibition bottles I have seen are pretty good as far as listing the DSP number of both the distiller and the bottler. I am pretty sure they kept the tight records to prevent fraud in the form of counterfiet bottles being put on the market. It should be remembered that brands that remained popular and were sold by the companies that were able to do so, still only had a limited amount of whiskey in 1920. By 1933 many of these brands were kept alive by purchasing whiskey from distillers who were not allowed to sell during prohibition to place in the bottle. For example, this old bottle of Old Grand Dad may have whiskey bought from the Ripy distillery because they still had whiskey and Old Grand Dad bourbon was all sold. This kept the name alive and since the whiskey was all about 16 years old, the taste profile would be the same - over aged and woody.
Mike Veach
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Unread postby mozilla » Fri May 02, 2008 3:49 pm

Mike,

So the records and label would change to suit the maker of the ingredients?

Good to know....

When are you planning on tasting these? Would love to read the notes!

Thanks as always.
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Unread postby bourbonv » Fri May 02, 2008 4:12 pm

Some of these I am planning to save for the Blackacre tasting this fall. Others I might try to do a special tasting at the Filson with Chris Morris. The Henry Watterson, I might open the next Bourbon Society meeting.
Mike Veach
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Unread postby bunghole » Fri May 02, 2008 11:00 pm

I feel the intense need to attend the next Louisville Bourbon Society meeting. :wink:

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Unread postby Bourbon Joe » Sun May 04, 2008 10:18 am

This is mostly what Mike bought. Nice lookin stuff.
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Unread postby bourbonv » Mon May 05, 2008 12:51 pm

Linn,
If it is any good, I will save you a drink or two. You know how prohibition whiskey can be though, too woody to drink.
Mike Veach
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Unread postby EllenJ » Tue May 06, 2008 7:26 pm

It also looks like a LOT of evaporation, as seen in that photo. Mike, you don't want any of that stuff; it might be dangerous. As anyone here will gladly confirm, your experience and carefully-honed taste buds are important to this forum and all of us who know and love you. Please allow me to pre-test these questionable bourbon samples for you, in order to reduce the risk of shock to your sensitive tastebuds. I mean, PLEASE!! Trust me, I'm ONLY thinking of your welfare, don'tcha know?

Why, just the act of OPENING such bottles could be detrimental to the entire greater Louisville metropolitan region! You wouldn't want THAT, would you? Perhaps we could arrange a tasting somewhere more removed from that vicinity... say, a hundred miles north (give or take another twenty-two)?
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Unread postby ggilbertva » Tue May 06, 2008 7:47 pm

Mike,

In order to get those potentially hazardous bottles as far away as possible, please ignore Johns plea and send them to Virginia. Bunghole and I will carefully test these bottles and if found to be free from harm, will store them here until you can retrieve them.
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Unread postby bourbonv » Wed May 07, 2008 11:51 am

John,
I really do appreciate your concern, but do not worry, I am a professional and I can handle the tasting. I have a bottle of Bonded Old Forester from the 1980's, a bottle of Old Forester President's Choice from the 50's and now a 22yo Old Forester from the 30's. Sound like a tasting to tempt you and the Goddess down to the Filson or Blackacre for a night?

The Old Taylor I picked up is Old Taylor bourbon bottled by the Louisville Warehousing Company in 1926. Both bottles have excellent fill levels. The Old Grand Dad is 16 year old whiskey from the Frankfort distillery. The fill level is a little lower than I like, but It still might be worth tasting. I am going to open the Henry Watterson on the 20th when I am with a bunch of reporters writing about the "urban-bourbon" trail at 21C.
Mike Veach
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Unread postby Bas » Thu May 08, 2008 3:31 pm

ggilbertva wrote:as far away as possible

Well, send them to me then :D
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