by sku » Thu May 03, 2012 4:00 pm
Hey all, a friend sent me a bottle he wanted me to try and it turned out to be this very bottle (though my friend is not the person who posted here), though now opened and only partially full. Not being at all knowledgeable about pre-pro bottles, I had a few questions about it that I thought I would get your collective wisdom on.
First a general description. It's a quart bottle with a mangled tax stamp. The only thing I can make out on the stamp is the number 53 and the name "E.H. Taylor...Incorporated Distillers." The other side shows only the lower date "Spring 1912," the part where the distilled date would have been is ripped off. It also comes in a mangled cardboard tube which includes the label. It includes a serial number 13012.
The whiskey is described as Old Taylor Straight Kentucky Whiskey (i.e. not bourbon) and is BIB. There is no DSP number listed on the label (did they even have DSP's back then?)
The abv is listed in percentage, not proof "Alcohol Content 50 per cent. by volume," which seems odd to me, but again, I don't know what the standard was back then.
Anyway, I'd be interested in anything anyone knows about this era of Old Taylor, whether this sound authentic and why it would be "Kentucky Whiskey" instead of bourbon. What would they have been making then?
I have not tasted it yet, but will soon, but just nosing the bottle, it smells good.
Thanks!
Sku.