With a slight delay for coronavirus, Heaven Hill is launching a 9-year-old Spring 2020 release in their Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond line.
Beginning in Spring of 2018, the distillery has begun releasing a series of well-aged, wheated bourbon each distilling season (spring and fall), with a secret distillery-only release sprinkled in each summer. These bottled-in-bond bourbons are packaged in ornate decanters honoring John E. Fitzgerald, a treasury agent near the turn of the century.
Bottled-in-bond bourbons must be distilled at the same distillery in the same distilling season, aged minimum of four years in a government bonded warehouse, and bottled at 100 proof. These government bonded warehouses were patrolled by treasury agents like Fitzgerald, who was known for finding favorite barrels that he subjected to a bit too much “quality control.” His discerning palate, the story goes, led distillery workers to half-full barrels that they would bottle separately under the Old Fitzgerald name.
The label, once owned by the famous Stitzel-Weller Distillery, has long been known for high-quality wheated bourbon, and the expressions from Heaven Hill are no exception. This spring’s release (the fifth in the series, not counting the two distillery only releases) is a 9-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey distilled in March of 2011 and bottled in March of 2020. Like all spring releases, it will share the green label, while fall releases come in black and distillery only releases are a deep red.
The Spring 2020 Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 9-Year will be available in limited quantities for a suggested retail price of just $89.99, making it one of the more affordable in the line if you can hunt it down. Link here to learn more about the series.
