A Century of American Whiskey

Van Winkle 1975 Special Reserve 19 Year Old for Corti Brothers / Stitzel-Weller

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

An exceptionally rare release, this was bottled for the Corti Brothers of Sacramento, CA, in 1994. The Corti Brothers were a family grocer business founded in 1947 by Frank and Gino. Frank's son Darrell was the one to introduce a specialist spirits knowledge to the business, and they began getting their own Scotch whisky bottled for them in 1978. They contracted their first exclusive Van Winkle Special Reserve bottling in 1987, and this is one of only a handful which followed.

The Van Winkle Family Reserve and Special Reserve brands were developed by Julian III with Gordon Hue, the owner of the legendary Cork n’ Bottle in northern Kentucky. Hue had previously worked with Darrell Corti on their Bicentennial Bourbon in the 1970s, and it was his idea to add prestige to the bottlings by using cognacaise glass, procured from the Corti's contacts at Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley. Finding Julian III receptive, the idea quickly became a reality and in 1984 the Van Winkle Family Reserve was born. Just as the bourbon industry was approaching all time post-Prohibition low, Julian Van Winkle III launched what could be considered America’s first fully fledged premium whiskey brand. What seemed like madness was in fact a stroke of genius. Gordon Hue had distribution deals in Europe and crucially, Japan, which in contrast to the US was falling in love with bourbon, particularly the “over-aged” variety that Americans would turn their noses up at. Bottlings like this one are therefore another example of the impressive knowledge of the Corti Brothers, and the confidence in their products that has been so unanimously vindicated over the years by those who have tasted their whiskies.

Distilled in 1975, this is a Stitzel-Weller bourbon.

Very Old Fitzgerald 1960 Bottled in Bond 6 Year Old 100 Proof Gallon with Cradle / Stitzel-Weller

Originally registered as \"Jno. E. Fitzgerald,\" the Old Fitzgerald brand was devised by S.C. Hebst in 1870. Hebst was a rectifier by trade (using grain neutral spirit with colouring and flavourings to make \"whiskey\"), but he also had a passion for sourcing high quality barrels of pot still bourbon and rye, which he bottled as Jno. E. Fitzgerald. When the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 was passed, rectified whiskey fell out of favour and Hebst went into the distilling business, purchasing a distillery which he named Old Judge after his best-selling flagship brand. Old Judge did not survive Prohibition however, and Hebst sold the Old Fitzgerald brand for just $10,000 to a former customer, a certain Julian 'Pappy' Van Winkle, who was sourcing label for his new Stitzel-Weller venture. Van Winkle had a near-religious belief in the importance of quality above all else in the bourbon he produced and under his guidance, Old Fitzgerald became and remains to this day, one of the most sought-after and respected labels in American whiskey. Stitzel-Weller was eventually shut down by United Distillers, and as their successor, Diageo, sold the Old Fitzgerald brand to current owners, Heaven Hill.

These Van Winkle era Stitzel-Weller bourbons are incredibly sought after. This is a gallon size bottle with a pouring cradle.

The Stitzel-Weller company was officially established in 1933 at the repeal of National Prohibition in the US. It was the result of a merger between the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery and its biggest customer, W.L. Weller & Sons. The Stitzel-Weller distillery opened on Kentucky Derby day in 1935, and quickly developed a reputation for its high quality wheated bourbon, and its main brands were Old Weller, Old Fitzgerald and Cabin Still. The original ownership was shared between Alex T. Farnsley, Arthur Philip Stitzel and Julian Van Winkle. The former passed-away in 1941 and 1947, respectively, leaving the Van Winkle family as the sole heirs to the business. 'Pappy' died in 1965, having handed the reigns to his son, Julian II the year prior, who ran it until 1972 when the board of directors forced him to sell it to the Norton-Simon subsidiary, Somerset Imports. When they were bought over by the American arm of Scottish distillers, DCL, its subsequent iteration invested heavily in bourbon. So much so in fact, that their newly rebuilt Bernheim distillery had such capacity that Stitzel-Weller was rendered surplus to requirements. It was shut down in 1992. Still part of the Diageo portfolio, it has never re-opened and instead now houses the visitor experience for their Bulleit brand.

Van Winkle 1974 Family Reserve 16 Year Old 

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

The Van Winkle Family Reserve and Special Reserve brands were developed by Julian III with Gordon Hue, the owner of the legendary Cork n’ Bottle in northern Kentucky. Hue had previously worked with Darrell Corti on their Bicentennial Bourbon in the 1970s, and it was his idea to add prestige to the bottlings by using cognacaise glass, procured from the Corti's contacts at Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley. Finding Julian III receptive, the idea quickly became a reality and in 1984 the Van Winkle Family Reserve was born. Just as the bourbon industry was approaching all time post-Prohibition low, Julian Van Winkle III launched what could be considered America’s first fully fledged premium whiskey brand. What seemed like madness was in fact a stroke of genius. Gordon Hue had distribution deals in Europe and crucially, Japan, which in contrast to the US was falling in love with bourbon, particularly the “over-aged” variety that Americans would turn their noses up at.

It is believed this Van Winkle family reserve bourbon was sourced from Boone distillery, where it was barrelled in 1974. It was bottled twice, this one in 1990, and again at 17 years old in 1991. Both were intended for the Japanese market who were at the time more willing to pay premium prices for well-aged bourbon.

These original bottles of Boone-distilled Van Winkle reserves are incredibly rare and sought after in equal measure. Bottle number 03452.

Fun fact: Van Winkle has stated that he \"got away\" with using dripping red wax here as Maker's Mark only held the trademark in the US.

Van Winkle 1974 Family Reserve 17 Year Old

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

The Van Winkle Family Reserve and Special Reserve brands were developed by Julian III with Gordon Hue, the owner of the legendary Cork n’ Bottle in northern Kentucky. Hue had previously worked with Darrell Corti on their Bicentennial Bourbon in the 1970s, and it was his idea to add prestige to the bottlings by using cognacaise glass, procured from the Corti's contacts at Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley. Finding Julian III receptive, the idea quickly became a reality and in 1984 the Van Winkle Family Reserve was born. Just as the bourbon industry was approaching all time post-Prohibition low, Julian Van Winkle III launched what could be considered America’s first fully fledged premium whiskey brand. What seemed like madness was in fact a stroke of genius. Gordon Hue had distribution deals in Europe and crucially, Japan, which in contrast to the US was falling in love with bourbon, particularly the “over-aged” variety that Americans would turn their noses up at.

It is believed this Van Winkle family reserve bourbon was sourced from Boone distillery, where it was barrelled in 1974. It was bottled twice, one in 1990, and again as this 17 year old in 1991. Both were intended for the Japanese market who were at the time more willing to pay premium prices for well-aged bourbon.

These original bottles of Boone-distilled Van Winkle reserves are incredibly rare and sought after in equal measure.

Fun fact: Van Winkle has stated that he \"got away\" with using dripping red wax here as Maker's Mark only held the trademark in the US.

Van Winkle 1974 16 Year Old 90 Proof

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

It is believed this Van Winkle as well as the Family Reserve bourbon, both bottled in 1990 were sourced from Boone distillery, where the whiskey was barrelled in 1974. Both were intended for the Japanese market who were at the time more willing to pay premium prices for well-aged bourbon.

These original bottles of Boone-distilled Van Winkle reserves are incredibly rare and sought after in equal measure. 

Fun fact: Van Winkle has stated that he \"got away\" with using dripping wax here as Maker's Mark only held the trademark in the US.

Van Winkle 1974 16 Year Old 90 Proof

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

It is believed this Van Winkle as well as the Family Reserve bourbon, both bottled in 1990 were sourced from Boone distillery, where the whiskey was barrelled in 1974. Both were intended for the Japanese market who were at the time more willing to pay premium prices for well-aged bourbon.

These original bottles of Boone-distilled Van Winkle reserves are incredibly rare and sought after in equal measure. 

Fun fact: Van Winkle has stated that he \"got away\" with using dripping wax here as Maker's Mark only held the trademark in the US.

Very Olde St Nick 1973 25 Year Old Barrel Strength Bourbon / KBD

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, who's other products include Rare Perfection and Wattie Boone. Its president, Marci Palatella has been sourcing barrels and bottling them for several decades. She was Julian Van Winkle III's agent in the Japanese market in the 1980 and 1990s, and devised the Very Olde St Nick brand to capitalise on the Japanese demand for well-aged bourbon, which fortuitously was not popular in the US. Her first bottles were produced for her by Van Winkle at his Old Commonwealth bottling facility in the late 1980s.

At this time however, Van Winkle did not have a wealth of aged stock in his warehouses, and Palatella instead turned to Evan Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), who bottled Olde St Nick throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at the then-silent Willett distillery in Bardstown. KBD sourced most of their barrels from neighbours, Heaven Hill, although Kulsveen had joked in the past that their warehouses contained bourbon from every distillery in Kentucky except his own. Van Winkle was not finished with the Very Olde St Nick story however, and put Palatella in touch with representatives at United Distillers who sold InterBev a number of ageing casks that they no longer had any interest in. Much of this was placed into a steel tanks and warehoused in California to prevent any further maturation. 

When KBD fired up the still at Willett again in 2012, they began sourcing less casks from elsewhere, reserving the best stock for their own Willett Family Reserve label. Essentially cut off, the production of Very Olde St Nick moved to California where some of the tanked Stitzel-Weller casks were bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers.

In 2018, Palatella opened the Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. A small craft-distillery operating a pot still, its produces only a few barrels each day. The bottling of Very Olde St Nick now takes places there, and will eventually contain the distillery's own whiskey.

This 25 year old barrel strength bourbon was bottled by KBD and exported to Japan.

Van Winkle 12 Year Old Family Reserve 1980s / Stitzel-Weller

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

This is an incredibly rare example of the Van Winkle 12 year old. A precursor to both the Lot A and subsequent Lot B Special Reserve that is still produced at Buffalo Trace today, this is a Family Reserve release, and was bottled by Julian Van Winkle III in the late 1980s at Old Commonwealth using bourbon purchased from Stitzel-Weller.

The Stitzel-Weller company was officially established in 1933 at the repeal of National Prohibition in the US. It was the result of a merger between the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery and its biggest customer, W.L. Weller & Sons. The Stitzel-Weller distillery opened on Kentucky Derby day in 1935, and quickly developed a reputation for its high quality wheated bourbon, and its main brands were Old Weller, Old Fitzgerald and Cabin Still. The original ownership was shared between Alex T. Farnsley, Arthur Philip Stitzel and Julian Van Winkle. The former passed-away in 1941 and 1947, respectively, leaving the Van Winkle family as the sole heirs to the business. 'Pappy' died in 1965, having handed the reigns to his son, Julian II the year prior, who ran it until 1972 when the board of directors forced him to sell it to the Norton-Simon subsidiary, Somerset Imports. When they were bought over by the American arm of Scottish distillers, DCL, its subsequent iteration invested heavily in bourbon. So much so in fact, that their newly rebuilt Bernheim distillery had such capacity that Stitzel-Weller was rendered surplus to requirements. It was shut down in 1992. Still part of the Diageo portfolio, it has never re-opened and instead now houses the visitor experience for their Bulleit brand.

Van Winkle 13 Year Old Family Reserve Rye 1999

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

As sought after as the other members of the 'family,' this product is the Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye.

This is bottle A1757, and was bottled at Old Commonwealth in 1999 when the whiskey was actually now 14 years old, despite the label. The Van Winkle Family Reserve rye actually continued to age in cask until 2004 when it was eventually tanked at Buffalo Trace. They are all labelled as 13 years old regardless.

The Family Reserve Rye is presumed to have been distilled at Medley in Owensboro, and acquired by Julian III through his connection to Stitzel-Weller, as United Distillers closed it down in the same year. The whiskey is also thought to have had the 1980s-distilled \"Cream of Kentucky\" rye from George T. Stagg blended though it prior to being tanked in 2004. The rye was the last of the remaining reserves that Julian Van Winkle III warehoused at Buffalo Trace by the time it finally ran out in 2016. A new batch distilled at Buffalo Trace was first bottled in 2018.

Very Xtra Old Fitzgerald 1958 Bottled in Bond 10 Year Old 100 Proof / Stitzel-Weller

Originally registered as \"Jno. E. Fitzgerald,\" the Old Fitzgerald brand was devised by S.C. Hebst in 1870. Hebst was a rectifier by trade (using grain neutral spirit with colouring and flavourings to make \"whiskey\"), but he also had a passion for sourcing high quality barrels of pot still bourbon and rye, which he bottled as Jno. E. Fitzgerald. When the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 was passed, rectified whiskey fell out of favour and Hebst went into the distilling business, purchasing a distillery which he named Old Judge after his best-selling flagship brand. Old Judge did not survive Prohibition however, and Hebst sold the Old Fitzgerald brand for just $10,000 to a former customer, a certain Julian 'Pappy' Van Winkle, who was sourcing label for his new Stitzel-Weller venture. Van Winkle had a near-religious belief in the importance of quality above all else in the bourbon he produced and under his guidance, Old Fitzgerald became and remains to this day, one of the most sought-after and respected labels in American whiskey. Stitzel-Weller was eventually shut down by United Distillers, and as their successor, Diageo, sold the Old Fitzgerald brand was sold to current owners, Heaven Hill.

This is the 10 year old Very Xtra Old Fitzgerald, distilled at Stitzel-Weller in 1958 and bottled in 1968. These Van Winkle era bottlings from Stitzel-Weller are incredibly sought after, making the \"A Collector's Item\" text that often appeared on the shoulder label a particularly astute piece of foresight.

The Stitzel-Weller company was officially established in 1933 at the repeal of National Prohibition in the US. It was the result of a merger between the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery and its biggest customer, W.L. Weller & Sons. The Stitzel-Weller distillery opened on Kentucky Derby day in 1935, and quickly developed a reputation for its high quality wheated bourbon, and its main brands were Old Weller, Old Fitzgerald and Cabin Still. The original ownership was shared between Alex T. Farnsley, Arthur Philip Stitzel and Julian Van Winkle. The former passed-away in 1941 and 1947, respectively, leaving the Van Winkle family as the sole heirs to the business. 'Pappy' died in 1965, having handed the reigns to his son, Julian II the year prior, who ran it until 1972 when the board of directors forced him to sell it to the Norton-Simon subsidiary, Somerset Imports. When they were bought over by the American arm of Scottish distillers, DCL, its subsequent iteration invested heavily in bourbon. So much so in fact, that their newly rebuilt Bernheim distillery had such capacity that Stitzel-Weller was rendered surplus to requirements. It was shut down in 1992. Still part of the Diageo portfolio, it has never re-opened and instead now houses the visitor experience for their Bulleit brand.

Van Winkle 12 Year Old Special Reserve 'Lot B' 1990s / Stitzel-Weller

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

The 12 year old Special Reserve is one of the original products bottled by Julian Van Winkle III at his facility in Lawrenceburg. He first bottled it in 1991, using 1979 vintage Stitzel-Weller bourbon, a one-time release called 'Lot A.' The subsequent and inaugural release of the Lot B was bottled the same year, and has been a permanent part of the range ever since.

The older releases, bottled by Van Winkle at the Old Commonwealth distillery are increasingly sought after.

The Stitzel-Weller company was officially established in 1933 at the repeal of National Prohibition in the US. It was the result of a merger between the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery and its biggest customer, W.L. Weller & Sons. The Stitzel-Weller distillery opened on Kentucky Derby day in 1935, and quickly developed a reputation for its high quality wheated bourbon, and its main brands were Old Weller, Old Fitzgerald and Cabin Still. The original ownership was shared between Alex T. Farnsley, Arthur Philip Stitzel and Julian Van Winkle. The former passed-away in 1941 and 1947, respectively, leaving the Van Winkle family as the sole heirs to the business. 'Pappy' died in 1965, having handed the reigns to his son, Julian II the year prior, who ran it until 1972 when the board of directors forced him to sell it to the Norton-Simon subsidiary, Somerset Imports. When they were bought over by the American arm of Scottish distillers, DCL, its subsequent iteration invested heavily in bourbon. So much so in fact, that their newly rebuilt Bernheim distillery had such capacity that Stitzel-Weller was rendered surplus to requirements. It was shut down in 1992. Still part of the Diageo portfolio, it has never re-opened and instead now houses the visitor experience for their Bulleit brand.

Very Olde St Nick 24 Year Old Barrel Strength Bourbon 81.2 Proof / KBD

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, who's other products include Rare Perfection and Wattie Boone. Its president, Marci Palatella has been sourcing barrels and bottling them for several decades. She was Julian Van Winkle III's agent in the Japanese market in the 1980 and 1990s, and devised the Very Olde St Nick brand to capitalise on the Japanese demand for well-aged bourbon, which fortuitously was not popular in the US. Her first bottles were produced for her by Van Winkle at his Old Commonwealth bottling facility in the late 1980s.

At this time however, Van Winkle did not have a wealth of aged stock in his warehouses, and Palatella instead turned to Evan Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), who bottled Olde St Nick throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at the then-silent Willett distillery in Bardstown. KBD sourced most of their barrels from neighbours, Heaven Hill, although Kulsveen had joked in the past that their warehouses contained bourbon from every distillery in Kentucky except his own. Van Winkle was not finished with the Very Olde St Nick story however, and put Palatella in touch with representatives at United Distillers who sold InterBev a number of ageing casks that they no longer had any interest in. Much of this was placed into a steel tanks and warehoused in California to prevent any further maturation. 

When KBD fired up the still at Willett again in 2012, they began sourcing less casks from elsewhere, reserving the best stock for their own Willett Family Reserve label. Essentially cut off, the production of Very Olde St Nick moved to California where some of the tanked Stitzel-Weller casks were bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers.

In 2018, Palatella opened the Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. A small craft-distillery operating a pot still, its produces only a few barrels each day. The bottling of Very Olde St Nick now takes places there, and will eventually contain the distillery's own whiskey.

This 24 year old bourbon was bottled in the early 2000s by KBD.

Very Old Fitzgerald 1961 Bonded 8 Year Old 100 Proof / Stitzel-Weller

Originally registered as \"Jno. E. Fitzgerald,\" the Old Fitzgerald brand was devised by S.C. Hebst in 1870. Hebst was a rectifier by trade (using grain neutral spirit with colouring and flavourings to make \"whiskey\"), but he also had a passion for sourcing high quality barrels of pot still bourbon and rye, which he bottled as Jno. E. Fitzgerald. When the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 was passed, rectified whiskey fell out of favour and Hebst went into the distilling business, purchasing a distillery which he named Old Judge after his best-selling flagship brand. Old Judge did not survive Prohibition however, and Hebst sold the Old Fitzgerald brand for just $10,000 to a former customer, a certain Julian 'Pappy' Van Winkle, who was sourcing label for his new Stitzel-Weller venture. Van Winkle had a near-religious belief in the importance of quality above all else in the bourbon he produced and under his guidance, Old Fitzgerald became and remains to this day, one of the most sought-after and respected labels in American whiskey. Stitzel-Weller was eventually shut down by United Distillers, and as their successor, Diageo, sold the Old Fitzgerald brand was sold to current owners, Heaven Hill.

This is the 8 year old Very Old Fitzgerald, distilled at Stitzel-Weller in 1961 and bottled in 1969. These Van Winkle era bottlings from Stitzel-Weller are incredibly sought after, making the \"A Collector's Item\" text that often appeared on the shoulder label a particularly astute piece of foresight.

The Stitzel-Weller company was officially established in 1933 at the repeal of National Prohibition in the US. It was the result of a merger between the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery and its biggest customer, W.L. Weller & Sons. The Stitzel-Weller distillery opened on Kentucky Derby day in 1935, and quickly developed a reputation for its high quality wheated bourbon, and its main brands were Old Weller, Old Fitzgerald and Cabin Still. The original ownership was shared between Alex T. Farnsley, Arthur Philip Stitzel and Julian Van Winkle. The former passed-away in 1941 and 1947, respectively, leaving the Van Winkle family as the sole heirs to the business. 'Pappy' died in 1965, having handed the reigns to his son, Julian II the year prior, who ran it until 1972 when the board of directors forced him to sell it to the Norton-Simon subsidiary, Somerset Imports. When they were bought over by the American arm of Scottish distillers, DCL, its subsequent iteration invested heavily in bourbon. So much so in fact, that their newly rebuilt Bernheim distillery had such capacity that Stitzel-Weller was rendered surplus to requirements. It was shut down in 1992. Still part of the Diageo portfolio, it has never re-opened and instead now houses the visitor experience for their Bulleit brand.

Very Old Fitzgerald 1960 Bottled in Bond 8 Year Old 100 Proof Half Pint / Stitzel-Weller

Originally registered as \"Jno. E. Fitzgerald,\" the Old Fitzgerald brand was devised by S.C. Hebst in 1870. Hebst was a rectifier by trade (using grain neutral spirit with colouring and flavourings to make \"whiskey\"), but he also had a passion for sourcing high quality barrels of pot still bourbon and rye, which he bottled as Jno. E. Fitzgerald. When the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 was passed, rectified whiskey fell out of favour and Hebst went into the distilling business, purchasing a distillery which he named Old Judge after his best-selling flagship brand. Old Judge did not survive Prohibition however, and Hebst sold the Old Fitzgerald brand for just $10,000 to a former customer, a certain Julian 'Pappy' Van Winkle, who was sourcing label for his new Stitzel-Weller venture. Van Winkle had a near-religious belief in the importance of quality above all else in the bourbon he produced and under his guidance, Old Fitzgerald became and remains to this day, one of the most sought-after and respected labels in American whiskey. Stitzel-Weller was eventually shut down by United Distillers, and as their successor, Diageo, sold the Old Fitzgerald brand to current owners, Heaven Hill.

These Van Winkle era Stitzel-Weller bourbons are incredibly sought after. 

The Stitzel-Weller company was officially established in 1933 at the repeal of National Prohibition in the US. It was the result of a merger between the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery and its biggest customer, W.L. Weller & Sons. The Stitzel-Weller distillery opened on Kentucky Derby day in 1935, and quickly developed a reputation for its high quality wheated bourbon, and its main brands were Old Weller, Old Fitzgerald and Cabin Still. The original ownership was shared between Alex T. Farnsley, Arthur Philip Stitzel and Julian Van Winkle. The former passed-away in 1941 and 1947, respectively, leaving the Van Winkle family as the sole heirs to the business. 'Pappy' died in 1965, having handed the reigns to his son, Julian II the year prior, who ran it until 1972 when the board of directors forced him to sell it to the Norton-Simon subsidiary, Somerset Imports. When they were bought over by the American arm of Scottish distillers, DCL, its subsequent iteration invested heavily in bourbon. So much so in fact, that their newly rebuilt Bernheim distillery had such capacity that Stitzel-Weller was rendered surplus to requirements. It was shut down in 1992. Still part of the Diageo portfolio, it has never re-opened and instead now houses the visitor experience for their Bulleit brand.

Very Old Fitzgerald 1950 Bottled in Bond 8 Year Old 100 Proof Half Pint / Stitzel-Weller

Originally registered as \"Jno. E. Fitzgerald,\" the Old Fitzgerald brand was devised by S.C. Hebst in 1870. Hebst was a rectifier by trade (using grain neutral spirit with colouring and flavourings to make \"whiskey\"), but he also had a passion for sourcing high quality barrels of pot still bourbon and rye, which he bottled as Jno. E. Fitzgerald. When the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 was passed, rectified whiskey fell out of favour and Hebst went into the distilling business, purchasing a distillery which he named Old Judge after his best-selling flagship brand. Old Judge did not survive Prohibition however, and Hebst sold the Old Fitzgerald brand for just $10,000 to a former customer, a certain Julian 'Pappy' Van Winkle, who was sourcing label for his new Stitzel-Weller venture. Van Winkle had a near-religious belief in the importance of quality above all else in the bourbon he produced and under his guidance, Old Fitzgerald became and remains to this day, one of the most sought-after and respected labels in American whiskey. Stitzel-Weller was eventually shut down by United Distillers, and as their successor, Diageo, sold the Old Fitzgerald brand to current owners, Heaven Hill.

These Van Winkle era Stitzel-Weller bourbons are incredibly sought after. 

The Stitzel-Weller company was officially established in 1933 at the repeal of National Prohibition in the US. It was the result of a merger between the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery and its biggest customer, W.L. Weller & Sons. The Stitzel-Weller distillery opened on Kentucky Derby day in 1935, and quickly developed a reputation for its high quality wheated bourbon, and its main brands were Old Weller, Old Fitzgerald and Cabin Still. The original ownership was shared between Alex T. Farnsley, Arthur Philip Stitzel and Julian Van Winkle. The former passed-away in 1941 and 1947, respectively, leaving the Van Winkle family as the sole heirs to the business. 'Pappy' died in 1965, having handed the reigns to his son, Julian II the year prior, who ran it until 1972 when the board of directors forced him to sell it to the Norton-Simon subsidiary, Somerset Imports. When they were bought over by the American arm of Scottish distillers, DCL, its subsequent iteration invested heavily in bourbon. So much so in fact, that their newly rebuilt Bernheim distillery had such capacity that Stitzel-Weller was rendered surplus to requirements. It was shut down in 1992. Still part of the Diageo portfolio, it has never re-opened and instead now houses the visitor experience for their Bulleit brand.

Very Olde St Nick 1974 24 Year Old Barrel Strength Bourbon / KBD

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, who's other products include Rare Perfection and Wattie Boone. Its president, Marci Palatella has been sourcing barrels and bottling them for several decades. She was Julian Van Winkle III's agent in the Japanese market in the 1980 and 1990s, and devised the Very Olde St Nick brand to capitalise on the Japanese demand for well-aged bourbon, which fortuitously was not popular in the US. Her first bottles were produced for her by Van Winkle at his Old Commonwealth bottling facility in the late 1980s.

At this time however, Van Winkle did not have a wealth of aged stock in his warehouses, and Palatella instead turned to Evan Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), who bottled Olde St Nick throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at the then-silent Willett distillery in Bardstown. KBD sourced most of their barrels from neighbours, Heaven Hill, although Kulsveen had joked in the past that their warehouses contained bourbon from every distillery in Kentucky except his own. Van Winkle was not finished with the Very Olde St Nick story however, and put Palatella in touch with representatives at United Distillers who sold InterBev a number of ageing casks that they no longer had any interest in. Much of this was placed into a steel tanks and warehoused in California to prevent any further maturation. 

When KBD fired up the still at Willett again in 2012, they began sourcing less casks from elsewhere, reserving the best stock for their own Willett Family Reserve label. Essentially cut off, the production of Very Olde St Nick moved to California where some of the tanked Stitzel-Weller casks were bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers.

In 2018, Palatella opened the Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. A small craft-distillery operating a pot still, its produces only a few barrels each day. The bottling of Very Olde St Nick now takes places there, and will eventually contain the distillery's own whiskey.

This 25 year old barrel strength bourbon was bottled by KBD and exported to Japan. It was distilled on 4th April 1975 and bottled on 2nd November 2000.

Van Winkle 13 Year Old Family Reserve Rye 2009

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

As sought after as the other members of the 'family,' this product is the Van Winkle branded rye.

This is bottle A3185 and was released in 2009 when the whiskey was actually now 19 years old, despite the label. The Van Winkle Family Reserve rye actually continued to age in cask until 2004 when it was eventually tanked at Buffalo Trace. They are all labelled as 13 years old regardless.

The Family Reserve Rye is presumed to have been distilled at Medley in Owensboro, and acquired by Julian III through his connection to Stitzel-Weller, as United Distillers closed it down in the same year. The whiskey is also thought to have had the 1980s-distilled \"Cream of Kentucky\" rye from George T. Stagg blended though it prior to being tanked in 2004. The rye was the last of the remaining reserves that Julian Van Winkle III warehoused at Buffalo Trace by the time it finally ran out in 2016. A new batch distilled at Buffalo Trace was first bottled in 2018.

Virgin Bourbon 21 Year Old 101 Proof 1989

Heaven Hill was established by a group of private investors in 1935, following the repeal of Prohibition a few years earlier. Among the founders was distiller, Joseph L. Beam, and a member of the Shapira family. As the company grew, the Shapira's eventually acquired sole ownership of it, and their descendants still run it today. In a similar dynastic vein, Joe Beam remained master distiller despite the Shapira takeover, and members of his family have occupied the role ever since. This was produced at the Old Heavenhill Springs distillery, later renamed simply as Heaven Hill, which was located in Bardstown, Kentucky. It was sadly lost in a devastating fire in 1996, and bourbon made there has become increasingly sought after as the years pass. The company had no distillery for the next three years, but were permitted to rent stills at Jim Beam and Brown-Forman in order to maintain production. They eventually acquired the newly refurbished Bernheim distillery from Diageo in 1999, which has been their home ever since.

Virgin Bourbon is one of the many heritage brands now produced at Heaven Hill. The original Meadowlawn Distilling Co. operated out of the Old Boone Distillery in Jefferson County, which coincidentally also closed after a fire in 1971.

Aged 21 years and bottled at 101 proof this was primarily for the Japanese market. 

Very Olde St Nick 22 Year Old Barrel Strength Bourbon 81.2 US Proof / KBD

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, who's other products include Rare Perfection and Wattie Boone. Its president, Marci Palatella has been sourcing barrels and bottling them for several decades. She was Julian Van Winkle III's agent in the Japanese market in the 1980 and 1990s, and devised the Very Olde St Nick brand to capitalise on the Japanese demand for well-aged bourbon, which fortuitously was not popular in the US. Her first bottles were produced for her by Van Winkle at his Old Commonwealth bottling facility in the late 1980s.

At this time however, Van Winkle did not have a wealth of aged stock in his warehouses, and Palatella instead turned to Evan Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), who bottled Olde St Nick throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at the then-silent Willett distillery in Bardstown. KBD sourced most of their barrels from neighbours, Heaven Hill, although Kulsveen had joked in the past that their warehouses contained bourbon from every distillery in Kentucky except his own. Van Winkle was not finished with the Very Olde St Nick story however, and put Palatella in touch with representatives at United Distillers who sold InterBev a number of ageing casks that they no longer had any interest in. Much of this was placed into a steel tanks and warehoused in California to prevent any further maturation. 

When KBD fired up the still at Willett again in 2012, they began sourcing less casks from elsewhere, reserving the best stock for their own Willett Family Reserve label. Essentially cut off, the production of Very Olde St Nick moved to California where some of the tanked Stitzel-Weller casks were bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers.

In 2018, Palatella opened the Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. A small craft-distillery operating a pot still, its produces only a few barrels each day. The bottling of Very Olde St Nick now takes places there, and will eventually contain the distillery's own whiskey.

This 22 year old bourbon was bottled in the early 2000s by KBD.

Very Olde St Nick 1975 25 Year Old Barrel Strength Bourbon / KBD

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, who's other products include Rare Perfection and Wattie Boone. Its president, Marci Palatella has been sourcing barrels and bottling them for several decades. She was Julian Van Winkle III's agent in the Japanese market in the 1980 and 1990s, and devised the Very Olde St Nick brand to capitalise on the Japanese demand for well-aged bourbon, which fortuitously was not popular in the US. Her first bottles were produced for her by Van Winkle at his Old Commonwealth bottling facility in the late 1980s.

At this time however, Van Winkle did not have a wealth of aged stock in his warehouses, and Palatella instead turned to Evan Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), who bottled Olde St Nick throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at the then-silent Willett distillery in Bardstown. KBD sourced most of their barrels from neighbours, Heaven Hill, although Kulsveen had joked in the past that their warehouses contained bourbon from every distillery in Kentucky except his own. Van Winkle was not finished with the Very Olde St Nick story however, and put Palatella in touch with representatives at United Distillers who sold InterBev a number of ageing casks that they no longer had any interest in. Much of this was placed into a steel tanks and warehoused in California to prevent any further maturation. 

When KBD fired up the still at Willett again in 2012, they began sourcing less casks from elsewhere, reserving the best stock for their own Willett Family Reserve label. Essentially cut off, the production of Very Olde St Nick moved to California where some of the tanked Stitzel-Weller casks were bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers.

In 2018, Palatella opened the Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. A small craft-distillery operating a pot still, its produces only a few barrels each day. The bottling of Very Olde St Nick now takes places there, and will eventually contain the distillery's own whiskey.

This 25 year old barrel strength bourbon was bottled by KBD and exported to Japan. It was distilled on 4th April 1975 and bottled on 2nd November 2000.

Van-Hook 1916 AMS Co Old Fashion Fire Copper Whiskey Pint / Prohibition Era Bottling

Distilled in 1916, this bourbon was protected in bond by the American Medicinal Spirits Company from the Prohibition Act of 1920, which made alcohol production and consumption illegal.

This was bottled in 1923 and the whiskey was produced by the Dant distillery. Joseph Washington Dant was a Kentucky distiller during the 1830s. He was famous for making whisky using a log still which was an old time method from when the settlers did not have the money for copper. A section of tree trunk would be hollowed out with a copper pipe running through it. The hollowed section would be filled with the fermented mash and steam fed through the pipe to start distillations. He opened his distillery in 1836 and it was incorporated as the Dant Distillery Co in 1897. When the distillery closed following the enactment of Prohibition, its stock was bought up by the American Medicinal Spirits Company. Unlike most, it did re-open again following repeal however, and was eventually bought by the Schenley company in 1952.

The American Medicinal Spirits Company was one of only six distilling companies to survive Prohibition of the 434 that existed prior. Exploiting the medicinal loophole was the brainchild of Otto Wathen, an idea which continues to prove its value today in the persisting image of his still ever-popular portfolio, which included the bourbon classic, Old Grand-dad. The AMS Co would eventually be acquired by National Distillers, who became one of the \"big four\" post-Prohibition spirits companies in the US, along with Schenley, Hiram Walker and Seagram's. The Harry E. Wilken distillery did not survive.

Van Winkle 13 Year Old Family Reserve Rye 2013 / Signed by JP Van Winkle III

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

As sought after as the other members of the 'family,' this product is the Van Winkle branded rye.

This is bottle E2481, and was bottled in 2013 when the whiskey was actually now 19 years old, despite the label. The Van Winkle Family Reserve rye actually continued to age in cask until 2004 when it was eventually tanked at Buffalo Trace. They are all labelled as 13 years old regardless.

The Family Reserve Rye is presumed to have been distilled at Medley in Owensboro, and acquired by Julian III through his connection to Stitzel-Weller, as United Distillers closed it down in the same year. The whiskey is also thought to have had the 1980s-distilled \"Cream of Kentucky\" rye from George T. Stagg blended though it prior to being tanked in 2004. The rye was the last of the remaining reserves that Julian Van Winkle III warehoused at Buffalo Trace by the time it finally ran out in 2016. A new batch distilled at Buffalo Trace was first bottled in 2018.

B1334614:42K

Very Olde St Nick 22 Year Old Barrel Strength Bourbon 81.2 US Proof / KBD

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, who's other products include Rare Perfection and Wattie Boone. Its president, Marci Palatella has been sourcing barrels and bottling them for several decades. She was Julian Van Winkle III's agent in the Japanese market in the 1980 and 1990s, and devised the Very Olde St Nick brand to capitalise on the Japanese demand for well-aged bourbon, which fortuitously was not popular in the US. Her first bottles were produced for her by Van Winkle at his Old Commonwealth bottling facility in the late 1980s.

At this time however, Van Winkle did not have a wealth of aged stock in his warehouses, and Palatella instead turned to Evan Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), who bottled Olde St Nick throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at the then-silent Willett distillery in Bardstown. KBD sourced most of their barrels from neighbours, Heaven Hill, although Kulsveen had joked in the past that their warehouses contained bourbon from every distillery in Kentucky except his own. Van Winkle was not finished with the Very Olde St Nick story however, and put Palatella in touch with representatives at United Distillers who sold InterBev a number of ageing casks that they no longer had any interest in. Much of this was placed into a steel tanks and warehoused in California to prevent any further maturation. 

When KBD fired up the still at Willett again in 2012, they began sourcing less casks from elsewhere, reserving the best stock for their own Willett Family Reserve label. Essentially cut off, the production of Very Olde St Nick moved to California where some of the tanked Stitzel-Weller casks were bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers.

In 2018, Palatella opened the Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. A small craft-distillery operating a pot still, its produces only a few barrels each day. The bottling of Very Olde St Nick now takes places there, and will eventually contain the distillery's own whiskey.

This 22 year old bourbon was bottled in the early 2000s by KBD.

Van Winkle 13 Year Old Family Reserve Rye 2011

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

As sought after as the other members of the 'family,' this product is the Van Winkle branded rye.

This is bottle A01205 and was released in 2011 when the whiskey was actually now 19 years old, despite the label. The Van Winkle Family Reserve rye actually continued to age in cask until 2004 when it was eventually tanked at Buffalo Trace. They are all labelled as 13 years old regardless.

The Family Reserve Rye is presumed to have been distilled at Medley in Owensboro, and acquired by Julian III through his connection to Stitzel-Weller, as United Distillers closed it down in the same year. The whiskey is also thought to have had the 1980s-distilled \"Cream of Kentucky\" rye from George T. Stagg blended though it prior to being tanked in 2004. The rye was the last of the remaining reserves that Julian Van Winkle III warehoused at Buffalo Trace by the time it finally ran out in 2016. A new batch distilled at Buffalo Trace was first bottled in 2018.

Very Old Fitzgerald 1960 Bottled in Bond 8 Year Old 90 Proof / Stitzel-Weller

Originally registered as \"Jno. E. Fitzgerald,\" the Old Fitzgerald brand was devised by S.C. Hebst in 1870. Hebst was a rectifier by trade (using grain neutral spirit with colouring and flavourings to make \"whiskey\"), but he also had a passion for sourcing high quality barrels of pot still bourbon and rye, which he bottled as Jno. E. Fitzgerald. When the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 was passed, rectified whiskey fell out of favour and Hebst went into the distilling business, purchasing a distillery which he named Old Judge after his best-selling flagship brand. Old Judge did not survive Prohibition however, and Hebst sold the Old Fitzgerald brand for just $10,000 to a former customer, a certain Julian 'Pappy' Van Winkle, who was sourcing label for his new Stitzel-Weller venture. Van Winkle had a near-religious belief in the importance of quality above all else in the bourbon he produced and under his guidance, Old Fitzgerald became and remains to this day, one of the most sought-after and respected labels in American whiskey. Stitzel-Weller was eventually shut down by United Distillers, and as their successor, Diageo, sold the Old Fitzgerald brand to current owners, Heaven Hill.

These Van Winkle era Stitzel-Weller bourbons are incredibly sought after. This is an export Bottled in Bond bourbon, allowing it to be filled at a lower 90 US proof, rather than the domestic requirement of 100 proof set out by the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897.

The Stitzel-Weller company was officially established in 1933 at the repeal of National Prohibition in the US. It was the result of a merger between the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery and its biggest customer, W.L. Weller & Sons. The Stitzel-Weller distillery opened on Kentucky Derby day in 1935, and quickly developed a reputation for its high quality wheated bourbon, and its main brands were Old Weller, Old Fitzgerald and Cabin Still. The original ownership was shared between Alex T. Farnsley, Arthur Philip Stitzel and Julian Van Winkle. The former passed-away in 1941 and 1947, respectively, leaving the Van Winkle family as the sole heirs to the business. 'Pappy' died in 1965, having handed the reigns to his son, Julian II the year prior, who ran it until 1972 when the board of directors forced him to sell it to the Norton-Simon subsidiary, Somerset Imports. When they were bought over by the American arm of Scottish distillers, DCL, its subsequent iteration invested heavily in bourbon. So much so in fact, that their newly rebuilt Bernheim distillery had such capacity that Stitzel-Weller was rendered surplus to requirements. It was shut down in 1992. Still part of the Diageo portfolio, it has never re-opened and instead now houses the visitor experience for their Bulleit brand.

Van Winkle 12 Year Old Special Reserve pre-2007 / Signed by JP Van Winkle III

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

The 12 year old Special Reserve is one of the original products bottled by Julian Van Winkle III at his facility in Lawrenceburg. He first bottled it in 1991, using 1979 vintage Stitzel-Weller bourbon, a one-time release called 'Lot A.' The subsequent and inaugural release of the Lot B was bottled the same year, and has been a permanent part of the range ever since.

This is a Buffalo Trace bottling, pre-dating its use of laser codes, meaning this was filled between 2002 and 2007. Bottling of the 12 year old from this period could be wheated bourbon distilled at either Stitzel-Weller (earlier releases), Bernheim or George T. Stagg.

Very Rare Old Bentley 6 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon 1955

This is an old 6 year old Kentucky straight bourbon produced for Bentley Importers in Chigaco, IL. The source of the whiskey is not known however later examples were bottled for the company at Medley.

Van Winkle 13 Year Old Family Reserve Rye 2015

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

As sought after as the other members of the 'family,' this product is the Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye.

This is bottle F1345, and was bottled in 2015 when the whiskey was actually now 19 years old, despite the label. The Van Winkle Family Reserve rye actually continued to age in casks until 2004 when it was eventually tanked at Buffalo Trace. They are all labelled as 13 years old regardless.

The Family Reserve Rye is presumed to have been distilled at Medley in Owensboro, and acquired by Julian III through his connection to Stitzel-Weller, as United Distillers closed it down in the same year. The whiskey is also thought to have had the 1980s-distilled \"Cream of Kentucky\" rye from George T. Stagg blended though it prior to being tanked in 2004. The rye was the last of the remaining reserves that Julian Van Winkle III warehoused at Buffalo Trace by the time it finally ran out in 2016. A new batch distilled at Buffalo Trace was first bottled in 2018.

Very Olde St Nick 17 Year Old Unicorn Cask Release #1 37.5cl / Stitzel-Weller

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, who's other products include Rare Perfection and Wattie Boone. Its president, Marci Palatella has been sourcing barrels and bottling them for several decades. She was Julian Van Winkle III's agent in the Japanese market in the 1980 and 1990s, and devised the Very Olde St Nick brand to capitalise on the Japanese demand for well-aged bourbon, which fortuitously was not popular in the US. Her first bottles were produced for her by Van Winkle at his Old Commonwealth bottling facility in the late 1980s.

At this time however, Van Winkle did not have a wealth of aged stock in his warehouses, and Palatella instead turned to Evan Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), who bottled Olde St Nick throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at the then-silent Willett distillery in Bardstown. KBD sourced most of their barrels from neighbours, Heaven Hill, although Kulsveen had joked in the past that their warehouses contained bourbon from every distillery in Kentucky except his own. Van Winkle was not finished with the Very Olde St Nick story however, and put Palatella in touch with representatives at United Distillers who sold InterBev a number of ageing casks that they no longer had any interest in. Much of this was placed into a steel tanks and warehoused in California to prevent any further maturation. 

When KBD fired up the still at Willett again in 2012, they began sourcing less casks from elsewhere, reserving the best stock for their own Willett Family Reserve label. Essentially cut off, the production of Very Olde St Nick moved to California where some of the tanked Stitzel-Weller casks were bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers.

In 2018, Palatella opened the Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. A small craft-distillery operating a pot still, its produces only a few barrels each day. The bottling of Very Olde St Nick now takes places there, and will eventually contain the distillery's own whiskey.

A 375ml bottling of wheated bourbon bottled from their tanked batches of Stitzel-Weller.

Van Winkle 12 Year Old Special Reserve 2020

The Old Rip Van Winkle brand was a pre-prohibition bourbon label, revived by the Van Winkle family after they were forced to sell their Stitzel-Weller distillery by its board of directors. New owners, Somerset Imports, granted Julian Van Winkle II (son of the famous 'Pappy') the continued use of an office at the distillery, and first option on purchasing casks to bottle his new brand with. When he died and the business passed to his son, Julian III, this courtesy was no longer extended, and he moved bottling to the old Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg in 1983, renaming it Old Commonwealth. He was still able to buy Stitzel-Weller stock though, and introduced the famous Pappy Van Winkle range in homage to his grandfather, using well-aged barrels from the distillery the now-legendary figure once so lovingly ran. When Stitzel-Weller was closed down by United Distillers in 1992, it was only a matter of time before stock would run out. This necessitated a partnership between Julian Van Winkle III and Buffalo Trace distillery in 2002, seeing all bottling move there, initially using the remaining Stitzel-Weller barrels, with these eventually replaced by Buffalo Trace distilled stock. The product from all eras is revered, and the brand is considered to be the first premium bourbon line to have been produced in the US.

The 12 year old Special Reserve is one of the original products bottled by Julian Van Winkle III at his facility in Lawrenceburg. He first bottled it in 1991, using 1979 vintage Stitzel-Weller bourbon, a one-time release called 'Lot A.' The subsequent and inaugural release of the Lot B was bottled the same year, and has been a permanent part of the range ever since.

This is the 2020 release, distilled at Buffalo Trace.

A historic distillery, Buffalo Trace was built in 1812 Harrison Blanton. It was then purchased by the legendary Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr in 1870, who named it OFC (Old Fashioned Copper) and invested heavily in its modernisation. So much so in fact that he declared himself bankrupt after just seven years, and George T. Stagg stepped in to rescue it, becoming its owner in 1878. He ran the distillery until his retirement in the 1890s, and it was renamed in his honour in 1904. Having survived Prohibition, it was bought up by the Schenley company in 1933, who ran it as part of their extensive portfolio for the next fifty years, eventually selling it to Age International. The latter's new Japanese ownership in 1992 had no interest in it (only in its brands), and immediately sold it to the Sazerac company, who renamed it Buffalo Trace in 1999.

Laser Code: L20026501125:D

Very Olde St Nick Winter Rye Lot #R161 / KBD

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, who's other products include Rare Perfection and Wattie Boone. Its president, Marci Palatella has been sourcing barrels and bottling them for several decades. She was Julian Van Winkle III's agent in the Japanese market in the 1980 and 1990s, and devised the Very Olde St Nick brand to capitalise on the Japanese demand for well-aged bourbon, which fortuitously was not popular in the US. Her first bottles were produced for her by Van Winkle at his Old Commonwealth bottling facility in the late 1980s.

At this time however, Van Winkle did not have a wealth of aged stock in his warehouses, and Palatella instead turned to Evan Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), who bottled Olde St Nick throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at the then-silent Willett distillery in Bardstown. KBD sourced most of their barrels from neighbours, Heaven Hill, although Kulsveen had joked in the past that their warehouses contained bourbon from every distillery in Kentucky except his own. Van Winkle was not finished with the Very Olde St Nick story however, and put Palatella in touch with representatives at United Distillers who sold InterBev a number of ageing casks that they no longer had any interest in. Much of this was placed into a steel tanks and warehoused in California to prevent any further maturation. 

When KBD fired up the still at Willett again in 2012, they began sourcing less casks from elsewhere, reserving the best stock for their own Willett Family Reserve label. Essentially cut off, the production of Very Olde St Nick moved to California where some of the tanked Stitzel-Weller casks were bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers.

In 2018, Palatella opened the Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. A small craft-distillery operating a pot still, its produces only a few barrels each day. The bottling of Very Olde St Nick now takes places there, and will eventually contain the distillery's own whiskey.

This rye whiskey was bottled by KBD at 101 US proof.

Very Olde St Nick 8 Year Old Estate Reserve Bourbon 90 Proof / KBD

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, who's other products include Rare Perfection and Wattie Boone. Its president, Marci Palatella has been sourcing barrels and bottling them for several decades. She was Julian Van Winkle III's agent in the Japanese market in the 1980 and 1990s, and devised the Very Olde St Nick brand to capitalise on the Japanese demand for well-aged bourbon, which fortuitously was not popular in the US. Her first bottles were produced for her by Van Winkle at his Old Commonwealth bottling facility in the late 1980s.

At this time however, Van Winkle did not have a wealth of aged stock in his warehouses, and Palatella instead turned to Evan Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), who bottled Olde St Nick throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at the then-silent Willett distillery in Bardstown. KBD sourced most of their barrels from neighbours, Heaven Hill, although Kulsveen had joked in the past that their warehouses contained bourbon from every distillery in Kentucky except his own. Van Winkle was not finished with the Very Olde St Nick story however, and put Palatella in touch with representatives at United Distillers who sold InterBev a number of ageing casks that they no longer had any interest in. Much of this was placed into a steel tanks and warehoused in California to prevent any further maturation. 

When KBD fired up the still at Willett again in 2012, they began sourcing less casks from elsewhere, reserving the best stock for their own Willett Family Reserve label. Essentially cut off, the production of Very Olde St Nick moved to California where some of the tanked Stitzel-Weller casks were bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers.

In 2018, Palatella opened the Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. A small craft-distillery operating a pot still, its produces only a few barrels each day. The bottling of Very Olde St Nick now takes places there, and will eventually contain the distillery's own whiskey.

This 8 year old bourbon was bottled by KBD and exported to Japan.