Heaven Hill has owned the Old Fitzgerald brand since the late 1990s. Several years ago, they decided to concentrate on their Larceny brand, a whiskey based upon the heritage of Old Fitzgerald. However, they decided that the brand needed to have a super-premium expression and created a yearly series of Old Fitzgerald extra-aged Bourbons and re-created the decanter that was first used in the brand in the late 1950s. This bottle is the latest expression in this series. The series varies in age, but the whiskey is always around 12-15 years old. It is bottled-in-bond whiskey meaning it is all from the same year and season. It is always very good whiskey and this bottle is no exception. Rosemary was recently on a tour with the Whiskey Chicks and toured Jim Beam and Heaven Hill. This bottle was offered for sale in the gift shop at Heaven Hill and she picked it up for us to review. Heaven Hill is good about offering their limited releases for sale in the gift shop and we always like to take advantage of that fact when visiting the distillery. Matt and I sat down to taste this Bourbon the other day and here are our tasting notes.
Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon
Proof: 100
Age: Thirteen Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla and caramel, ripe apples, black pepper and oak wood.
- Matt: Brown sugar, caramel, chocolate, dates and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, caramel, ripe apple, black pepper and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and chocolate comes into the taste. Tasted with a pecan and the vanilla becomes a rich French vanilla with milk chocolate, apples and oak wood.
- Matt: Chocolate, dates, and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out caramel and cinnamon spice. The pecan enhanced the chocolate and apple flavors.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak and black pepper. The dried cranberry made the finish long with oak, pepper and lingering chocolate. The pecan made the finish very long and dry with oak, pepper and lingering French vanilla.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood, dates and lingering chocolate. The dried cranberry brought out cinnamon in the finish. The pecan made the finish long and dry with oak, dates and cinnamon spice.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a cigar that has a lot of vanilla and cedar spice in the smoke. I would reach for a Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial cigar.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller