Live Auction
UAT April - Photo UploadEnding 05.05.2025
Live Auction
Live Auction
April 2025 AuctionEnding 05.05.2029
43%
75cl
UK + % VAT
Closed
23 Aug 2021

Bottle Details

I.W. Harper 15 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon

The I.W. prefix in this brand name derives from Isaac Wolfe Bernheim, who founded the brand. With his brother he helped establish Louisville in Kentucky as a centre for Bourbon production. Sadly, he felt Harper was a more marketable name than his own to apply to the bottles. 

For the majority of the 20th century, the brand was produced by Schenley at the Bernheim distillery, which they purchased following the repeal of Prohibition in the 1930s. Schenley were eventually bought out by United Distillers (now Diageo) in 1987.

United Distillers discontinued the I.W. Harper brand in the US shortly after, but retained it for the export market. It would not been seen on US shelves again until 2015 when Diageo relaunched this 15 year old.

The first releases of this in 2015 likely used some of the last whiskey produced by Diageo at Bernheim before they sold it to Heaven Hill, with subsequent iterations likely sourced from the same distillery. The barrels are aged at Stitzel-Weller and bottled at Cascade Hollow in Tennessee.

Bernheim is a historic Kentucky distillery. It was established by the Bernheim Brothers in the late 19th 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 (at the time) were interested in bourbon, and sold the distillery to Heaven Hill. 

Age
15 Year Old
Vintage
N/A
Cask type
N/A

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