Old Fitzgerald
brand of wheated bourbon
Old Fitzgerald is a brand of wheated bourbon distilled in Louisville, Kentucky, by Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc.
History
Old Fitzgerald was first produced in 1870 for rail and steamship lines and private clubs by Solomon Charles Herbst, a Milwaukee-based liquor retailer and rectifier. Around 1900, "Old Fitz" was released to the public in America and Europe. It was one of the few distilled using the pot still method, and continued to do so until around 1913. During the Prohibition in the United States, Old Fitzgerald was one of a select few to distill under government supervision for the national medicinal trade, it was soon after acquired by Pappy Van Winkle for $10,000 which then introduced the "Whisper of Wheat" to the original recipe. By substituting some wheat for the more traditional rye in the grain recipe, Old Fitzgerald presented a rounder, softer profile than other bourbons.
Old Fitzgerald was produced at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery until the distillery was shut down in 1992 and production transferred to Diageo's newly constructed Bernheim Distillery in Louisville. In 1999, Diageo sold the brand, along with the Bernheim Distillery, to Heaven Hill, which currently produces and markets Old Fitzgerald.
Old Fitzgerald products
Current
Larceny Small Batch
Larceny Barrel Proof
Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond
Previous
Old Fitzgerald Prime
Old Fitzgerald's 1849
Very Special Old Fitzgerald 12 Years Old
Very Old Fitzgerald (8 year)
Very Xtra Old Fitzgerald (10 year)
Very Very Old Fitzgerald (12 year)
Very Very Old Fitzgerald (15 year)
Very Very Old Fitzgerald (18 year)
References
Further reading
Van Winkle Campbell, Sally (1999). But Always Fine Bourbon: Pappy Van Winkle and the Story of Old Fitzgerald.
The public source identifies “Old Fitzgerald” as brand of wheated bourbon. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fitzgerald, brand and wheated.
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This entry incorporates text from “Old Fitzgerald” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.