When Heaven Hill started a line of age statement, bottled in bond wheated bourbon that came in a taterific decanter I knew I had to try it. Thankfully my go to whiskey bar had it in stock and when it was done I was left wanting more. Another member of our local bourbon group helped me get a hold of one locally even if it was a bit of a crazy price. While it might feel bad to buy from a shop that’s selling things well above retail sometimes you don’t have a lot of options.
Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond 9 Year
Age: 9 years
Abv: 100 proof
Color: A darker amber
Price: $170 ($90 is retail)
Neat
Nose: Warm and sweet with honey and vanilla notes
Taste: Sweet and viscous with loads of butterscotch then oak and a little bit of peanut. Lovely mouthfeel.
Finish: Slightly dry, short to medium length finish with oak and sweet peanut notes, almost like an unsalted peanut butter
3 Stars - Excellent whiskey: I would be willing to hunt down a bottle
Conclusion
Overall I am big fan of this whiskey which hits all the right wheated bourbon notes for me even if the finish was a little too short for me. At 100 proof it was easy to drink neat while still having plenty of flavor and a nice mouthfeel. That said it was not worth what I paid for it though if I could buy this for retail I’d keep one on my shelf all the time. That’s not really what one off releases are about though.
I’m pretty confident I prefer this to the 11 year though I never had the chance to try them side by side to be sure. While the ship has likely sailed on the 11 year, I know there are still some of the new 13 year olds out there in Austin so I’ll be on the hunt to see if I can get one at a more reasonable price than I did with this guy.