Old Fitzgerald is a brand of wheated bourbon distilled in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

History

Old Fitzgerald was first produced in 1870 for rail and

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

lines and private clubs located primarily in the south by John E. Fitzgerald in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

. Around 1900, "Old Fitz" was released to the public in America and Europe. It was one of the few distilled using the

pot still A pot still is a type of distillation apparatus or still used to distill liquors such as whisky or brandy. In modern (post-1850s) practice, they are not used to produce rectified spirit, because they do not separate congeners from ethanol as ...

method, and continued to do so until around 1913. During the

Prohibition in the United States The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...

, 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 Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

for the more traditional

rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

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 Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

's newly constructed Bernheim Distillery in Louisville. In 1999, Diageo sold the brand, along with the Bernheim Distillery, to

Heaven Hill Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. is a private family-owned and -operated American distillery, founded in 1935 and headquartered in Bardstown, Kentucky, that produces and markets the Heaven Hill brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and a vari ...

, which currently produces and markets Old Fitzgerald.

Old Fitzgerald products

Current

*Larceny Small Batch *Larceny Barrel Proof *Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond

*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)

History

Old Fitzgerald products

Current

Previous

References

Further reading