April 2025 Auction

Very Olde St Nick 18 Year Old Bourbon Lot #F107 / 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 18 year old bourbon was bottled by KBD and exported to Japan.

Very Olde St Nick Winter Rye Lot #R615

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.

Very Old Fitzgerald 1955 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 was sold to current owners, Heaven Hill.

This is the 8 year old Very Old Fitzgerald, distilled at Stitzel-Weller in 1955 and bottled in 1963. While under his management, 'Pappy' Van Winkle refused to bottle Old Fitzgerald at anything less 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 13 Year Old Family Reserve Rye 2013 

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 E1071, 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.

Glass laser-code: B13346 - remainder is obscurred by UK duty sticker.

Eagle Rare 10 Year Old 101 Proof 1985

Eagle Rare is a historic bourbon brand, originally developed by Seagram's in an effort to capitalise on what it felt were the popular marketing motifs used by Wild Turkey. The produced these early bottlings at the Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, before the label was acquired by the Sazerac company in the 1980s.

The Four Roses distillery was built in Lawrenceburg in 1910 by JTS Brown & Sons. Known back then as the Old Prentice, it is one of the Kentucky distilleries on the National Register of Historic Buildings for its distinctive Spanish mission style architecture. It was re-opened in 1933 after the repeal of Prohibition, passing into the hands of Seagram in 1946, who moved the production of their Four Roses brand there and eventually renamed the distillery after it. When Seagram was wound up in the early 2000s, the distillery and its brands were bought by Japanese firm, Kirin, who continue to produce Four Roses to great acclaim, as well as contract distilling for a number of other bourbon brands.

The Sazerac company moved production of th the Eagle Rare brand to what is now Buffalo Trace in 1992.

Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Fall 2024

Eagle Rare is a historic bourbon brand, originally developed by Seagram in 1975 in an effort to capitalise on what it felt were the popular marketing motifs used by Wild Turkey. Distilled at their Four Roses distillery, the recipe was devised by Charles L. Beam and was sold as a 10 year old with both a 90 and 101 proof version available. Seagram held ambitions beyond the drinks industry however, and in an effort to diversify their portfolio in the 1980s, they sold Eagle Rare along with the Benchmark brand to the Sazerac Company. They initially bottled it using barrels sourced from Heaven Hill, but later moved production to Buffalo Trace in 1992.

The 17 year old Eagle Rare was introduced in 2000, using bourbon distilled at George T. Stagg in the early 1980s. It has been released annually every year as part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, a selection of whiskies collated and in some cases created to pay homage to the history of the company and its brands.

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.

This is the 2024 release, distilled in the Spring of 2007.

Very Old Fitzgerald 1951 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 was sold to current owners, Heaven Hill.

This is the 8 year old Very Old Fitzgerald, distilled at Stitzel-Weller in 1951 and bottled in 1959. While under his management, 'Pappy' Van Winkle refused to bottle Old Fitzgerald at anything less than the domestic requirement of 100 proof, set out by the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897. When he stepped back from management in 1964 however, the board put pressure on Julian II to meet the market demand for a lighter style product. In the US, they launched the Old Fitzgerald Prime, however in export markets where the Bottled in Bond law did not apply, they were able to simply reduce the proof as is the case here.

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.

Elmer T Lee Single Barrel Kentucky Bourbon / Gold Wax

Elmer T. Lee is a bourbon brand from the portfolio of Age International, the company formed by former Fleischmann's Distilling director's, Bob Baranaskas and Ferdie Falke. They had approached Schenley in the early 1980s with a view to purchasing its Old Charter brand, but were instead offered Ancient Age and the George T. Stagg distillery where it was produced. The deal was completed in 1983, two years before the retirement of George T. Stagg master distiller, Elmer T. Lee, who had served there for 36 years, working his way from the bottom up. One of his final pioneering triumphs before doing so was the introduction of mass produced single barrel bourbon through the creation of the Blanton's brand in 1984. In a fitting tribute, the following year saw the distillery launch the Elmer T. Lee single barrel in his honour. At the time of his death in 2013, Elmer was one of only two living master distillers with a bourbon named after them.

The popularity of these products was particularly high in Japan, coinciding with a market boom for American whiskey there in the 1980s. In 1991, with Age International in some financial trouble, a Japanese company called Takaro Shuzo stepped in and acquired a 22.5% stake in the company. In an unusual series of events, they then scuppered a deal the following year that was to see the remaining shares sold to Heublein (a subsidiary of Grand Metropolitan). Their deal the year before had included a 30 day right of refusal to purchase the shares for themselves should they be put up for sale. With the deal all but done, the Japanese company stepped in on the final day of the window to acquire full control of the company. As it turned out, their only interest was in the brands, and they had used the 30 days to negotiate a deal with the Sazerac Company of  New Orleans. This saw the American company take ownership of the distillery (which they renamed Buffalo Trace in 1999), as well as the exclusive production and US distribution rights for the Age International labels. This is an arrangement that is still in place today.

Interestingly, the Buffalo Trace name is borrowed from the DBA (\"doing business as\") name that Age International used to bottle Elmer T. Lee in the 1980s and 1990s.

This is an early version of the Elmer T. Lee when the bottles were still sealed with wax.

Eagle Rare 10 Year Old 1985

Eagle Rare is a historic bourbon brand, originally developed by Seagram's in an effort to capitalise on what it felt were the popular marketing motifs used by Wild Turkey. The produced these early bottlings at the Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, before the label was acquired by the Sazerac company in the 1980s.

The Four Roses distillery was built in Lawrenceburg in 1910 by JTS Brown & Sons. Known back then as the Old Prentice, it is one of the Kentucky distilleries on the National Register of Historic Buildings for its distinctive Spanish mission style architecture. It was re-opened in 1933 after the repeal of Prohibition, passing into the hands of Seagram in 1946, who moved the production of their Four Roses brand there and eventually renamed the distillery after it. When Seagram was wound up in the early 2000s, the distillery and its brands were bought by Japanese firm, Kirin, who continue to produce Four Roses to great acclaim, as well as contract distilling for a number of other bourbon brands.

The Sazerac company moved production of th the Eagle Rare brand to what is now Buffalo Trace in 1992.

Very Olde St Nick 12 Year Old Bourbon Lot #M349

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 12 year old was bottled by KBD and exported to Japan.

Eagle Rare 10 Year Old 1983

Eagle Rare is a historic bourbon brand, originally developed by Seagram's in an effort to capitalise on what it felt were the popular marketing motifs used by Wild Turkey. The produced these early bottlings at the Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, before the label was acquired by the Sazerac company in the 1980s.

The Four Roses distillery was built in Lawrenceburg in 1910 by JTS Brown & Sons. Known back then as the Old Prentice, it is one of the Kentucky distilleries on the National Register of Historic Buildings for its distinctive Spanish mission style architecture. It was re-opened in 1933 after the repeal of Prohibition, passing into the hands of Seagram in 1946, who moved the production of their Four Roses brand there and eventually renamed the distillery after it. When Seagram was wound up in the early 2000s, the distillery and its brands were bought by Japanese firm, Kirin, who continue to produce Four Roses to great acclaim, as well as contract distilling for a number of other bourbon brands.

The Sazerac company moved production of th the Eagle Rare brand to what is now Buffalo Trace in 1992.

Elijah Craig 1990 Single Barrel 23 Year Old #172

Elijah Craig is named after an 18th century pastor, often cited (although probably incorrectly) as the first man to distil bourbon in the US due to his tenuous accreditation for pioneering the use of charred barrels in maturation. The Elijah Craig brand was trademarked by Commonwealth Distillers in 1960, who sold it to current owners, Heaven Hill in 1976. It would be ten years before they would bottle it for the first time however, somewhat controversially launching the flagship 12 year old in 1986 when the US bourbon market, which historically preferred younger age-statements, was already in one of its lowest troughs in popularity. The gamble paid off however, reshaping the image of Heaven Hill as a premium producer, which prevails to this day with the Elijah Craig label remaining at the forefront of its output.

This is a 23 year old Elijah Craig and was matured in single new charred oak barrel #172.

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.

Very Old Fitzgerald 1963 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 was sold to current owners, Heaven Hill.

This is the 8 year old Very Old Fitzgerald, distilled at Stitzel-Weller in 1963 and bottled in 1971. While under his management, 'Pappy' Van Winkle refused to bottle Old Fitzgerald at anything less than the domestic requirement of 100 proof, set out by the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897. When he stepped back from management in 1964 however, the board put pressure on Julian II to meet the market demand for a lighter style product. In the US, they launched the Old Fitzgerald Prime, however in export markets where the Bottled in Bond law did not apply, they were able to simply reduce the proof as is the case here.

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 2024

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.

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.

Glass Laser-Code: L2424801 21:06D

Eye Of The Dragon Islay Single Malt / slowdrink.de & Regensburger Whisky Club

This is an Islay single malt from an undisclosed distillery, speculated to be Caol Ila.

Though scant on the details, the label provides a tongue-in-cheek rundown of the tasting notes, as well as disclosing that the whisky is from a cuvée of vintages with almost 40% dating back to the 1970s. It was matured in ex-Bourbon and Oloroso casks and bottled by Regensbuger Whiskey & Wine Club, and is the 15th in their series of private club bottlings.

Eye Of The Dragon Islay Single Malt / slowdrink.de & Regensburger Whisky Club

This is an Islay single malt from an undisclosed distillery, speculated to be Caol Ila.

Though scant on the details, the label provides a tongue-in-cheek rundown of the tasting notes, as well as disclosing that the whisky is from a cuvée of vintages with almost 40% dating back to the 1970s. It was matured in ex-Bourbon and Oloroso casks and bottled by Regensbuger Whiskey & Wine Club, and is the 15th in their series of private club bottlings.

Van Winkle 12 Year Old Special Reserve 2023

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.

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.

Glass Laser-Code: L2322801 12:04D

Van Winkle 12 Year Old Special Reserve 2022

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.

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.

Van Winkle 12 Year Old Special Reserve 2022

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.

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.

Van Winkle 12 Year Old Special Reserve 2021

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.

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.

Glass laser-code: L212240109:20D

Very Olde St Nick 8 Year Old Bourbon 86 Proof / KBD

The Very Olde St Nick brand is owned by InterBev, a subsidiary of Allied Lomar in California, whose 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 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 in which they no longer had any interest. Much of this stock was placed into 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 in 1996.

Barton 1792 Port Finish Bourbon

The Barton 1792 distillery is one of Kentucky's oldest, having also been called simply Barton, and Thomas Moore over the years. The site was badly damaged in 2018 when both halves of one of its main warehouses collapsed in the same month, ensuring a likely shortage to come.

The 1792 bourbon label was introduced in 2002 by Barton Brands, back then known as the \"1792 Ridgewood Reserve\" and carrying an 8 year old age-statement. After just two years on the shelves the company was forced to change the name to Ridgemont Reserve following a successful legal challenge from Brown-Forman, who claimed that the similarity of the name and bottle design to Woodford Reserve was misleading. The name remained unchanged for ten years until Sazerac, who had bought the Barton distillery and its portfolio in 2009, who shortened it to simply 1792, after they year in which the state of Kentucky was founded. The 8 year old age-statement had been dropped the previous year, but the rebranding included the first line extensions, such as Sweet Wheat, Port Finish, High Rye and this Full Proof.

The Barton 1792 distillery is a historic site, known over the years as both simply Barton and Thomas Moore. It is now owned by the Sazerac company.

This is a port finished bourbon, filled at 88.9 US proof.

Evan Williams 1988 Single Barrel

The Evan Williams brand was launched in 1957 and takes its name from an 18th century Welsh immigrant, often cited as Kentucky's first distiller. Not to be confused with another Heaven Hill brand, Elijah Craig, named after the man first presumed to have distilled bourbon whiskey.

This single barrel was distilled back in 1988 and bottled in the 1990s.

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.

Vega 1977 North Star 40 Year Old

North Star Spirits was founder in Glasgow in 2016 by Iain Croucher. They have since developed a strong reputation for bottling fantastic single cask and small batch whiskies, as well as the much-lauded Vega and Spica blends.

This release from North Star is a limited edition 40 year old blended malt whisky in which all the component malts are from the Speyside region. This is the second release in North Start Spirits' Vega series. The Vega series is named after the star in the Lyra constellation, the 5th brightest star in the sky.

This blended whisky was distilled in October 1977 and matured in a combination of Spanish & American Oak before being bottled in January 2018

One of only 400 bottles.

Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel

Elijah Craig is named after an 18th century pastor, often cited (although probably incorrectly) as the first man to distil bourbon in the US due to his tenuous accreditation for pioneering the use of charred barrels in maturation. The Elijah Craig brand was trademarked by Commonwealth Distillers in 1960, who sold it to current owners, Heaven Hill in 1976. It would be ten years before they would bottle it for the first time however, somewhat controversially launching the flagship 12 year old in 1986 when the US bourbon market, which historically preferred younger age-statements, was already in one of its lowest troughs in popularity. The gamble paid off however, reshaping the image of Heaven Hill as a premium producer, which prevails to this day with the Elijah Craig label remaining at the forefront of its output.

Bernheim is a historic Kentucky distillery. It was established by the Bernheim Brothers in the late 19^th century, before passing into the hands of the Schenley company following the repeal of Prohibition. When Schenley were bought over by United Distillers in 1987, the distillery was rebuilt as the new owners looked to consolidate their production to a single facility. When United Distillers became Diageo in 1997, the new parent company were interested in bourbon, and sold the distillery to Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill were established in 1935, but their long-serving Bardstown distillery was lost in a devastating fire in 1996. Homeless for three years, the company acquired Bernheim in 1999, and have produced all of their whiskey there ever since.

Very Old Barton 12 Year Old Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon 1973 / Ferraretto Import

The Barton 1792 distillery is one of Kentucky's oldest, established in Bardstown back in 1889 by Tom Moore, formerly of Mattingly & Moore. The distillery was a small but profitable operation, filling ten barrels a day before it closed down due to Prohibition in 1920. Tom's son, Con Moore, re-opened the distillery following repeal, but in 1944 it was sold to Oscar Getz, who renamed it Barton and produced several brands there including Kentucky Gentleman, Tom Moore, and Kentucky Tavern. Getz's Barton Brands was eventually sold to Glenmore distillery in 1970s, and again to Constellation Brands in 1993. The latter actually changed the name back to Tom Moore distillery in 2008, however the change was only fleeting as the Sazerac company acquired it the following year and renamed in Barton 1792.

This is an older bottling of Very Old Barton, aged for 12 years and imported for the Italian market. 

Edradour 2010 Single Cask 12 Year Old #37

For a long time Edradour was Scotland's smallest distillery. Owned by William Whitely for much of the 20th century, it contributed malt for their King's Ransom blend, which had developed a strong sales network in the US with dubious Mafia boss, Frank Costello, as its representative. The distillery was eventually sold to Campbell Distillers in 1982, who opened it up to visitors and bottled its first official single malt in 1986. Despite its small size, the distillery has always found itself interested parties, with independent bottlers-turned-distillers, Signatory Vintage, purchasing it in 2002 when it was deemed surplus to requirements by Campbell Distillers parent firm, Pernod-Ricard.

This whisky was distilled in February 2010 and bottled from single cask #37 in 2022.

One of 605 bottles

Edradour 1983 Single Port Cask Finish 23 Year Old #0554

For a long time Edradour was Scotland's smallest distillery. Owned by William Whitely for much of the 20th century, it contributed malt for their King's Ransom blend, which had developed a strong sales network in the US with dubious Mafia boss, Frank Costello, as its representative. The distillery was eventually sold to Campbell Distillers in 1982, who opened it up to visitors and bottled its first official single malt in 1986. Despite its small size, the distillery has always found itself interested parties, with independent bottlers-turned-distillers, Signatory Vintage, purchasing it in 2002 when it was deemed surplus to requirements by Campbell Distillers parent firm, Pernod-Ricard.

A single cask Edradour, this was distilled on 23rd March 1983 and bottled 14th August 2006 after a finishing period in a port cask.

One of 743 bottles. 

Edradour 1983 Single Port Cask Finish 21 Year Old # 03/1041

For a long time Edradour was Scotland's smallest distillery. Owned by William Whitely for much of the 20th century, it contributed malt for their King's Ransom blend, which had developed a strong sales network in the US with dubious Mafia boss, Frank Costello, as its representative. The distillery was eventually sold to Campbell Distillers in 1982, who opened it up to visitors and bottled its first official single malt in 1986. Despite its small size, the distillery has always found itself interested parties, with independent bottlers-turned-distillers, Signatory Vintage, purchasing it in 2002 when it was deemed surplus to requirements by Campbell Distillers parent firm, Pernod-Ricard.

This whisky was distilled in March 1983 and aged for a total of 21 years. Before bottling, it was finished in a ex-Port cask.

One of 776 bottles.

Edradour 1984 Single PX Cask Finish 22 Year Old 06-0090-2

For a long time Edradour was Scotland's smallest distillery. Owned by William Whitely for much of the 20th century, it contributed malt for their King's Ransom blend, which had developed a strong sales network in the US with dubious Mafia boss, Frank Costello, as its representative. The distillery was eventually sold to Campbell Distillers in 1982, who opened it up to visitors and bottled its first official single malt in 1986. Despite its small size, the distillery has always found itself interested parties, with independent bottlers-turned-distillers, Signatory Vintage, purchasing it in 2002 when it was deemed surplus to requirements by Campbell Distillers parent firm, Pernod-Ricard.

This whisky was distilled on 23rd May 1984 and aged for a total of 22 years. Before being bottled in December 2006, it was finished in an ex-Pedro Ximenez cask.

One of 703 bottles.

E. Patry 1939 Calvados Hors d'Age 

This is a Calvados from E. Patry. Calvados is a type of Brandy named after its home region in Normandy, northern France. It is made from apples (and sometimes pear) cider distilled into Brandy.

This calvados was from the 1939 millésime, and bottled 45 years later.

Valinch and Mallet The Peat(y)ful Pack Madness 4 x 70cl

This limited edition set from independent bottlers, Valinch and Mallet, features four peaty whiskies from a range of distilleries.The labels feature artwork from internationally renowned artist, Laurina Paperina.

This set contains the following bottles:

• Caol Ila 2011 Single Entre-Deux-Mers Cask 10 Year Old 52.6% 70cl - One of 374 bottles
• Ledaig 2008 Single Bourbon Cask 13 Year Old 52.4% 70cl - One of 303 bottles
• South Shore Islay 2008 Single Caroni Cask 13 Year Old 52.9% 70cl - One of 292 bottles
• Ardmore 2009 Single Sherry Cask 12 Year Old 52.2% 70cl - One of 338 bottles

Please note: this lot will include a four bottle shipping fee.