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Next Auction starts Friday 29 March. Bottle Deadline: 18 March.

Hoffman Rare Selection Kentucky Straight Bourbon 1980s

Lot: 141565

Hoffman Rare Selection Kentucky Straight Bourbon 1980s

Winning Bid: £315

Currency Estimate

Important: Currency exchange rates are constantly changing; this feature is to be used as a guide price only. All final transactions occur in British Pounds (£).
Lot:
Distillery: 
see lot description
Age: 
N/A
Vintage: 
N/A
Region: 
Kentucky, USA
Bottler: 
Official / Old Commonwealth
Cask Type: 
N/A
Bottled Strength: 
86 US Proof
Bottle Size: 
75cl
Distillery Status: 
Closed
product Details

Hoffman Rare Selection Kentucky Straight Bourbon 1980s

A very interesting bourbon bottled exclusively for the Japanese export market in the late 1980s.

The Hoffman distillery was purchased by Julian Van Winkle III after the death of his father had terminated the agreement with Stitzel-Weller distillery that allowed them to bottle Old Rip Van Winkle bourbon there. Julian III bought the distillery in 1983, and it is unclear whether this bottle contains warehoused stock that may have been part of the deal. No-age statement bourbon tends to be around 5-8 years old, and the Japanese had a preference for it to be well-aged at the time, so it is unlikely therefore that this is Hoffman-distilled whiskey. Van Winkle reserved most of his Stitzel-Weller stock for the Old Rip Van Winkle brands, preferring to source whiskey (mostly from the old Heaven Hill) for his other brands. This is likely the case for this.

Van Winkle's agent in Japan at the time was Marci Palatella, who he also bottled Very Olde St Nick for. The dripping black wax on this example is a trademark of his bottling style at the time.

This was bottled in 1988 at 86 US proof at the distillery, which Van Winkle had renamed Old Commonwealth.

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Please note: Due to the various ages of bottles and their seals, condition of liquid is at the buyer's discretion and no claim can be lodged against failure/leakage in transit.