Some distilleries have changed ownership through the years and as such, the bourbon itself may not be the same product from bottle to bottle. The grains or water used, seasonal fluctuations, and maturation process will create variation in any bourbon over the course of many years. In some cases, however, a change in ownership can trigger a dramatic recipe change.

For example, I mentioned in the previous article that I had found an Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond bourbon, distilled in 1965. This particular brand has changed ownership a couple of times and as such, the product has changed over time.

Ownership of Old Fitzgerald has passed from Stitzel Weller, to United Distillers and currently, Heaven Hill. Old Fitzgerald from Stitzel Weller is considered some of the best bourbon ever produced, while the current version from Heaven Hill is drinkable and some consider good for the price, but it’s a far cry from the time when Pappy Van Winkle oversaw the production of Old Fitzgerald. I mention this, because knowing this type of information tells me the quality and time line of this brand of bourbon.

Read more about decoding the label after the jump…

As I remarked, the label will hold some clues as to the heritage of the bourbon. In the case of my 1965 Old Fitzgerald, the lack of UPC tells me that it’s an older bottle that pre-dates the use of the UPC which, on a broad scale, was around the late 70’s to early 80’s. Because there are a number of items on the label, I’m going to break down the various things to look for in future articles.

For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on the UPC symbol itself. However, using the UPC is not a 100% guarantee — which is why it’s important to use it in conjunction with other visual indicators.

In the case of the Old Fitzgerald, newer bottles I have that date from the 80’s show a UPC of 88508. This tells me that the bourbon is still Stitzel Weller due to the fact that the Stitzel Weller distillery stopped producing around 1992. Newer bottles have a UPC of 88076, a Heaven Hill code, meaning it may not be Stitzel Weller bourbon depending on the bottling date.

If this sounds confusing, you’re not alone! There’s much ambiguity in the distillery world and trying to get a clear picture is sometimes difficult.

Simply put, the UPC symbol should tell you who produced the bourbon. For a listing of UPC’s, you can visit www.upcdatabase.com and search on the product itself. As an example, try searching on Old Fitzgerald and you will see multiple UPCs for the same product (use quotes around the name to filter out things like Ella Fitzgerald…unless you like Ella).

Knowing when a particular UPC was used for a specific bourbon will give you an idea of the heritage.

In the next article, we’ll discuss the remaining indicators on the label that will help you in your quest for out of production bourbons. We’ll be looking at things like proof, DSP number, distillery name and location.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post in the comments below or e-mail me at brbnizgud@yahoo.com

Happy Hunting!

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Ever take a close look at a bottle of bourbon? Probably only close enough to check out the price tag and maybe the proof, but there are a couple of clues that reside on that bottle that tell a story few consumers will ever know.

By loose definition, a dusty bottle is any bottle of bourbon that is out of production and the dusty hunt is the act of rummaging through a liquor store looking for older, out of production bourbons. The sheer volume of information on out of production bourbon’s is too much to articulate in these short articles. What I will attempt is to give you some basic information and guidelines on what to look for and where to look for older bottles of bourbon. Believe it or not, there are many stores that still carry bourbon that are 20, 30 or more years sitting on the shelf just waiting for someone to come along and snatch them up; or, if not on the shelves, sitting in a cardboard box in the back store room.

I’ll digress for a moment and tell a story that happened the summer of 2007. My brother and I were hunting in a major metropolitan city and walked into a downtown liquor store. Instantly my eyes began to scan the shelves looking for bottles that would tell me this store had gems to offer. Within a few moments my eyes locked on a bottle of Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond. Instantly I knew that bottle was a prize so I asked the proprietor if I could see the bottle. Sure enough, this is a major find, a 1965 distilled Stitzel Weller Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond. The bourbon was 6 years old so the bottling was done in 1971. One of the holy grails of dusty bottles and I now held two of them in my hand. The damage? $11.95 each. So, do the math, 2007 minus 1971 would make that bottle 36 years sitting on the shelf. Oh, and by the way, it’s one of the best bourbons I’ve ever had.

I promised in the previous article that we would discuss some of the factors to look for when seeking out that dusty bottle. First, we’ll discuss the bottle itself. The glass bottle comes with various markings on the front, back and in particular, the bottom of the bottle. Most, but not all, bottle manufacturers place a 2 digit number on the bottom of their bottles denoting the year the bottle was produced. This is important because this is a key indicator of the year the bourbon was bottled. Distilleries do not store glass bottles and when delivered, those bottles go into the bottling line. So, if you see 78 or 82 or 99 on the bottom of a bottle, you can reasonably assume that the bottle was produced in 1978, 1982 or 1999 respectively. Another indicator of a bottles age is whether the volume is listed in metric or standard. A pint, quart or gallon bottle will indicate pre 1980 before metric took over. A bottle that has both metric and standard will indicate the transition years typically between 1978 and 1980. Metric only will then indicate early 80’s and on.

In part 3 we’ll continue our discussion on visual indicators to look for when dusty hunting.

Happy hunting!

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Dusty hunting can be described as looking for that out of production bottle of bourbon that once found elevates the heart and respiration rate as the excitement of finding such a gem is realized. Holding the bottle in your hand, turning it over and looking for those special markings that give tell tale signs of what you now hold is something special. That’s right, an older bottle of bourbon has markings that will give away its heritage, age and many times the goodness that resides on the inside.

While finding that special bottle is terrific, that’s only half of the game. The other half is the actual hunt. Moving from store to store scouring the shelves for bottles that are no longer in production, just sitting there waiting for someone to notice it. The whole process is an exciting one for the true enthusiast.

In the articles that follow, we’ll go through the information you will need to be truly educated in the art of dusty hunting. With this information, you will notice bottles that once eluded your gaze but now jump out and scream “I’m here….buy me!”

In part 2, we’ll discuss the specifics of what to look for on bottles that give away their true value to the enthusiast such as the glass bottle itself; the label; the cap; and sometimes, the lack of information says it all.

Read on to Part 2…

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