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A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:39 am
by mnkyluvr68
I hope I am posting this in the right place. My son is in love with the A. H. Hirsch 16 year and now wants the the 20 year. I have the opportunity to purchase one but have no idea what a fair price is...can anyone tell me what would be fair for this bottle? I have been looking for nearly a year and this is the first opportunity I have come across to pick one up. He wants $1200. Thanks for any help.

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:24 pm
by bunghole
$$$$$$1200$$$$!ARE YOU FREAKING NUTS?!

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:58 pm
by mnkyluvr68
Apparently that answers my question LOL. For the record, I have ZERO knowledge about bourbon. I saw a 16 yr blue wax that sold for $600 on eBay the other day so I wasn't sure what the 20 yr was worth. So...if $1200 is CRAZY what is a fair price?

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:56 pm
by gauze
not sure but I do know of a store with a bottle of 28 year old on the shelf for $300

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:29 am
by Birdo
You can get a real nice bottle of bourbon for around $30 bucks.

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:42 am
by birdman1099
mnkyluvr68 wrote:I hope I am posting this in the right place. My son is in love with the A. H. Hirsch 16 year and now wants the the 20 year. I have the opportunity to purchase one but have no idea what a fair price is...can anyone tell me what would be fair for this bottle? I have been looking for nearly a year and this is the first opportunity I have come across to pick one up. He wants $1200. Thanks for any help.



Your son has great taste....

The Hirsch 16 is a greagt pour and the Blue wax is considered to be the best of the Hirsch 16 trilogy....

I personally have not had the Hirsch 20, but of the people I know who have, most prefer the 16. As for the value, $1200 is probably the going price....

IMO, you would be better off getting him a Blue Wax before the 20.....

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:11 pm
by ethangsmith
If it was made at Michter's, it's worth $1200. Well, to me at least.

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:55 pm
by mnkyluvr68
Thank you all for the replies. My son first tried the 20 year at a restaurant in D.C at $45 for a glass (beyond my comprehension) and loved it. He did say he thought the 16 year was better. Thank you birdman, I think I will take your advice and get him the blue wax if I can find one. Thanks again everyone!

Can anyone also suggest the decent lower price bourbons? Believe it or not, my sons first taste of bourbon was the 20 year... LOL...he is now obsessed with bourbon and finding good ones to try. He just turned 21 (very responsible) and I see an expensive hobby in the making.

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:06 pm
by ebo
LOL... $45.00 a GLASS... no, thank you. There is no Hirsch available on any shelf in ohio, at any price. I'm sorry, but, as much as I love bourbon, there is no way I would EVER pay that kind of money for a GLASS of whisk(e)y... be it Scotch, Bourbon or Irish; no matter my staion in life or my income. Ridiculous! :roll:

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 3:51 am
by mnkyluvr68
Maybe I should clarify...My sons girlfriend comes from a very wealthy family and they take him when they go on vacations or business trips (he works for her families Budweiser distribution business) He did not nor would he pay that kind of money for a glass of bourbon. I don't have a lot of money but when I have a bit extra, I enjoy giving my son something special. I raised him as a single mother working retail and got very lucky with the man he became.

For the record, I gave my son the 16 year gold foil for his birthday March 6 and he has had one glass out of it because he knows how special it is.

I don't know why I felt the need to justify myself or my and my sons "station in life" but there you have it. Ebo, I agree to an extent, I have a hard time sitting at dinner with their family knowing that the wine on the table would pay my monthly bills...just a different lifestyle and if I had that kind of money I would enjoy it too.

Thanks again to those of you who gave advice and answered my question without judgement, it was much appreciated.

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 6:27 am
by ebo
I apologize for the way my post sounded. It wasn't my intent to call anyone out over bourbon. It's none of my business what anyone pays for anything.

My post is another reminder to stay off of forums after a rather bad day. :wink:

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:11 pm
by delaware_phoenix
I personally think $1200 is a lot of money to pay for a bottle of any spirit, even a collectible one, even if someone else is paying. Since your son is still somewhat new to bourbon, another option might be to visit a quality liquor store and purchase a number of bottles from fairly high end to the mid range. I think you'd come away with a good selection. If you use a book like Chuck Cowdery's Bourbon, Straight which helps identify which brands come from which distilleries. That can be useful as some brands are basically the same whiskey sold at slightly different ages, or even different prices.

A lot of suggestions of course are obtained by examining the reviews and threads of this and (ahem) other forums.

And I hope you won't overlook bourbons' good friend, rye whiskey. :D Enjoy!

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:29 am
by gauze
I'll admit I'm jealous. CLASS WAR NOW!!

:lol:

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 2:50 pm
by rkilmon
i think the 20 year is probably worth about $800-900, but i wouldn't go above that based on the reviews i have heard saying it isn't a significant upgrade from the 16 year.

i have purchased several bottles of the 16 year on ebay over the past couple of years (they just keep disappearing! :-) ) and as response to one of the naysayers higher up on this message board, i can tell you that it really is worth the money if you appreciate truly fine bourbon.

of course, i can't afford to drink the good stuff all the time, so i keep a bottle of woodford reserve (or something of similar quality) in the liquor cabinet.

just for fun, i compared the AH Hirsch 16 year (just regular gold foil top) side by side with the Woodford Reserve.
Wow. just the nose alone tells the whole story.
The Hirsch is sweet, nutty, absolutely dreamy. By comparison, the Woodford smelled like a meth lab or something. If you have the chance to do this experiment for yourself, you'll know where your money went.

Re: A.H. Hirsch 20 year reserve question

Unread postPosted: Sun May 01, 2011 4:19 pm
by ebo
I'm guessing I am the nay sayer being refered to. As I said, I had a bad day and I shouldn't have been posting on forums. I offered my apology for my lack of tact... I'm done with it.

I will say that enjoying fine bourbon (or any whisk(e)y) has nothing to do with what it costs. As for the cost being worth it for fine bourbon, I'd say that is a very subjective thing. It is only worth it if $800 - $900 - $1200 is affordable to you. I'm sure there are some of you here that find that kind of money easy to come by and have no problem spending it on bourbon. That's fine by me. I would guess that the vast majority of members here, myself included, have much more serious needs to spend that kind of money on other than bourbon. Just my.02 on it. :wink: