It may be cruel of me to review a bourbon that has not been readily available for more than a decade, especially since I am about to say that it very well may be the best bourbon every made. Such a claim I do not make lightly. If you cannot bear to read about such an unattainable whiskey, please skip to the next review.
Extra aged versions of Old Fitzgerald have come in many forms, ranging from 10 to 15 years, starting in the late 1950s. The brand's current owner, Heaven Hill, still makes a 12-year-old version called Very Special Old Fitzgerald. But the legendary whiskey is a 12-year-old, bottled-in-bond bourbon produced at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery during its final years under the Van Winkle family, a reign that ended in 1972. Old Fitzgerald was the flagship of the Stitzel-Weller fleet and Very Very Old Fitzgerald, with its elegant gold-veined bottle, was the pinnacle of the Old Fitz line. Even when commonly available it was promoted as a collector's item.
As a wheated bourbon, Old Fitzgerald starts with fewer rough edges than does a rye recipe brew. After twelve years in oak, it is thoroughly tamed. The nose of Very Very Old Fitzgerald is redolent of pipe tobacco. The taste combines milk chocolate and caramel in a way that might remind one of Milk Duds candy were it not for the distinct licorice undertone, and the lack of seriousness such a characterization might imply. Well-aged rye recipe bourbons tend to be dry with a herbal or citrus finish. With well-aged wheat bourbons, candy comparisons are unavoidable, but candy for grown-ups. The epitome of this, Very Very Old Fitzgerald is almost like syrup. Lip licking is not optional. It is sweet but not (unless you have no tolerance for such things) cloying. There are sophisticated sensations here in, around and underneath the profound sweetness. Because it seems to coat the mouth and has such a long finish, this is the kind of spirit some people would describe as 'chewy.'
Taste memory is notoriously volatile, but if you have ever had Very Very Old Fitzgerald you will remember exactly how it tasted. Good thing, that, since it is now almost impossible to obtain. Bottles do surface from time to time on eBay and other places. Is Very Very Old Fitzgerald, in fact, the best bourbon ever made? Taste is too subjective to make an absolute declaration, but if such a determination were possible, it would be a strong contender for the honor.
© 2004, Charles Kendrick Cowdery, All Rights Reserved.
(From BOURBON, STRAIGHT: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey.)