Pot Stilled Sour Mash Bourbon...worth the price???

[Grub]

A bottle of A.H. Hirsch Reserve Pot Stilled Sour Mash Bourbon - listed price of $189.00 (see photo). Does any of our afficianados have any input on this item? I saw it on a shelf when we were in Vegas. Never heard of it before and and was taken aback by the price.

[surveyor]

A bottle of A.H. Hirsch Reserve Pot Stilled Sour Mash Bourbon - listed price of $189.00 (see photo). Does any of our afficianados have any input on this item? I saw it on a shelf when we were in Vegas. Never heard of it before and and was taken aback by the price.


It's an exquisite bourbon (bourbon, even though it's birth is Pennsylvania) produced in very rare quantities by the now defunct Michter's Distillery. It was the oldest operating distillery in the U.S. until it closed. It was established in 1752 or 53.
As of an article I read a while back dated 2004, there were only approx. 5,000 cases of the 16 YO left and only a few hundred of the 20 YO available.

It would likely be worth it, and will probably only get more costly and difficult to find with time.

[Terry L. Wildcat]

I have seen it in large liquor stores in Colorado and I always think it's my eyes...out of my price range.

[KY Blue in Carolina]

I've purchased two bottles over the last couple of years - in the $80 range... but as noted above, there will never be any more and the supply is sipping away...

It is outstanding bourbon - if you choose to spring for it, you won't be dissapointed.

[surveyor]

I've purchased two bottles over the last couple of years - in the $80 range... but as noted above, there will never be any more and the supply is sipping away...

Freudian or intended? :icon_lol:

[KY Blue in Carolina]

Freudian or intended? :icon_lol:

Intended.... sharp eye!

[scathendo]

alright, i remember being told on the wild turkey tour that bourbon only came from kentucky. maybe i had a few too many samples or maybe taking a whiff of the mash made my memory a bit fuzzy but i swear that's what i heard.

obviously i'm not an expert...but noah's mill would have to my personal favorite and no where near the cost of.... i can't even say it... a pennsylvania whiskey.

[Grub]

alright, i remember being told on the wild turkey tour that bourbon only came from kentucky. maybe i had a few too many samples or maybe taking a whiff of the mash made my memory a bit fuzzy but i swear that's what i heard.

obviously i'm not an expert...but noah's mill would have to my personal favorite and no where near the cost of.... i can't even say it... a pennsylvania whiskey.

The bottle says it was bottled by Hirsch Distillery in Frankfort, KY. It also says 16 years old and bottled in the spring of 1974. If this bottle actually came from a case assembled in 1990, this would put the contents at 34 years old.

FWIW, it seems I have heard of a Virginia bourbon.

[surveyor]

alright, i remember being told on the wild turkey tour that bourbon only came from kentucky. maybe i had a few too many samples or maybe taking a whiff of the mash made my memory a bit fuzzy but i swear that's what i heard.

obviously i'm not an expert...but noah's mill would have to my personal favorite and no where near the cost of.... i can't even say it... a pennsylvania whiskey.

There is no requirement that bourbon originate in Kentucky to qualify as bourbon.
The mash bill has to be comprised of at least 51% corn.
Be 100% natural
Aged in new, charred oak barrels
Distilled to no more than 160 proof

Aged for minimum 2 years to be designated straight bourbon
Aged less than 4 years must be designated on the bottle

[Terry L. Wildcat]

Wow...maybe marijuana bourbon would be worth the price...where was the pot grown? ;)

[Grub]

Wow...maybe marijuana bourbon would be worth the price...where was the pot grown? ;)

I didn't say pot instilled. :icon_mrgreen:

[scathendo]

Wow...maybe marijuana bourbon would be worth the price...where was the pot grown? ;)


now that's funny right there.

well you learn something everyday. hopefully.

in order to be kentucky bourbon it has to me produced and aged in kentucky. imagine that.

[surveyor]

in order to be kentucky bourbon it has to me produced and aged in kentucky. imagine that.

Kentucky bourbon, yes. Bourbon, no.

[scathendo]

Kentucky bourbon, yes. Bourbon, no.

sorry, should have been clearer. i was trying to state that i had been mistaken in my memory from the wild turkey tour many moons ago - 18 years ago....maybe.

i did some reading on the web at some bourbon sites and found that the guy's at wild turkey must have been talking about kentucky bourbon. i remember them making it a big deal so i guess that's why my fuzzy'd brain and kentucky pride thought it heard 'bourbon'.

[surveyor]

sorry, should have been clearer. i was trying to state that i had been mistaken in my memory from the wild turkey tour many moons ago - 18 years ago....maybe.

i did some reading on the web at some bourbon sites and found that the guy's at wild turkey must have been talking about kentucky bourbon. i remember them making it a big deal so i guess that's why my fuzzy'd brain and kentucky pride thought it heard 'bourbon'.

I got ya and agree. :thumbup:

[KY Blue in Carolina]

The only Bourbon distillery in operation outside of the Bluegrass is Virginia Gentleman... near Fredricksburg, Va. (It is owned and operated by Buffalo Trace....)

[boomdaddy]

I guess I am old fashioned and stick to what is made in Kentucky to call it Bourbon, it may not be the official definiton today, but it is the one that I live by. That doesn't mean I would turn down anything at a party, if it was the only choice.

[LUUKFAN]

Wow...maybe marijuana bourbon would be worth the price...where was the pot grown? ;)

Dude .... you've got it bad.

[katfantoo]

Wow...maybe marijuana bourbon would be worth the price...where was the pot grown? ;)
IT WAS SOMMERS RITE NEAR " HIGH GROVE "............:cool: