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

A.H. Hirsch Reserve 1974 16 Year Old Bourbon / 2003 Release

Lot: 287119

A.H. Hirsch Reserve 1974 16 Year Old Bourbon / 2003 Release

Winning Bid: £2,300

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: 
Pennco (Michter's)
Age: 
16 Year Old
Vintage: 
1974
Region: 
Pennsylvania, USA
Bottler: 
Official / Buffalo Trace
Cask Type: 
new charred American oak
Bottled Strength: 
91.6 US Proof / 45.8%
Bottle Size: 
70cl
Distillery Status: 
Closed
product Details

A.H. Hirsch Reserve 1974 16 Year Old Bourbon / 2003 Release

A legendary bottle of bourbon that has had a whole book written about itself: The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste by Charles K Cowdery.

Distilled in Spring 1974, this bourbon is bottled from a single 400 barrel batch commissioned by Adolph H. Hirsch and distilled under contract at Michter's distillery (then known as Pennco), just outside Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. Hirsch was a former Schenley executive who had dealings with Michter's during his time there, and it is believed he commissioned the whiskey as financial favour to the distillery, and actually had little plans for its use. So, it lay ageing in the warehouses for much longer than generally expected for a bourbon at the time. 

When Michter’s distillery finally closed in 1989, Hirsch was well into his nineties, and rather than engage in exigency of rehoming what no longer served its purpose to him, he instead sought to find a buyer for it. Fearing the arduous task of finding a buyer for what was considered an “over-aged” batch of whiskey, Hirsch was fortunate in that one of his old Schenley contacts called Bob Gottesman knew a man in Kentucky who was looking for exactly that, Gordon Hue.

Responsibility for the early bottling was entrusted to Julian Van Winkle III at his Old Commonwealth site in Lawrenceburg. However, his partnership with the Sazerac Company and creation of the Pappy Van Winkle brand in 2002, also saw bottling of the Hirsch Reserve moved briefly to Buffalo Trace. This is one of the Buffalo Trace bottles, filled in 2003 for the new owners of the Hirsch Reserve, Preiss Imports, who purchased it from Gordon Hue that year.

Preiss Imports moved the subsequent and final bottling (technically re-bottling) to Kentucky Bourbon Distillers' Willett facility.

In his book Cowdery refers to the bourbon as one of the "best whiskeys I've ever tasted."

Mash bill contains 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley.

This bottle is being sold from the Pat's Whisk(e)y private collection which, numbering in excess of 9,000 bottles and over 2,000 miniatures, is the single largest collection of whisky ever to be brought to auction. Pat's Whisk(e)y is the result of over fifteen years of passion and dedication to the goal of creating one of the most complete libraries of whisky and whiskey ever amassed by an individual collector. It contains bottles from over 150 different Scottish distilleries, as well as bourbon, rare Scotch releases from sought-after independent bottlers in Europe, and whisky from other distilleries across the globe. Whisky Auctioneer is delighted to have partnered with Pat's Whisk(e)y to offer this collection across a number of exclusive and spotlight auctions. For more information, please click here.

Important Notice

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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.