Old Fitzgerald 15 Year Bottled-In-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:

- $160

- 100 Proof

- 15 Years

- Kentucky

I think these may be the fanciest bottles on the market. They're certainly up there. And while my brain tells me that it's just fancy packaging that doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the whiskey inside, nonetheless when I walk up to the counter and see this bottle on the shelf behind the clerk, I'm still immediately drawn to it. So that fancy packaging apparently works.

That said, I also felt very comfortable that the whiskey inside was going to be very good as well. Not only has each release received great reviews generally, but the ones I've actually tried I've really enjoyed, particularly when I've had the pleasure of trying some of the older bottlings. So, I went ahead and grabbed this one, the oldest of the releases, despite the very hefty price tag it carried.

The nose was light and soft--I'd almost describe it as fluffy. It was full of soft vanilla and smooth milk chocolate aromas.  There was a bit of cherry licorice, which combined with the vanilla and chocolate, certainly had this smelling like a sweeter bourbon. That said, I also got some light oak and even some peanut flavor to add a touch of earthiness. It was, without question, though, on the sweeter end.

The flavor was much the same, though the chocolate really came through. This is what the cool kids would call a "chocolate bomb." That soft, creamy milk chocolate note was really at the forefront whether on the front end or the finish, whether on the first pour or the last.

There was certainly some vanilla as well, along with some cherry notes. But, the cherry came across more as real cherry than the fake cherry licorice note, which certainly was an improvement in my book. At times I got sweet notes of white chocolate as well to really help round this out as a dessert whiskey.

Most notable with this bourbon, though, was the texture. It had such a soft and silky texture that it seemed to make those other notes that much more enjoyable. Giving that silky feel to the notes of chocolate and vanilla really made those flavors seem more decadent. It also helped those flavors stick around for a while, as it left an almost buttery coat of flavor behind.

Other notes came through, including a light bready or yeast-like note that was kind of lingering in the background, and on later pours I was noticing some nice amaretto and anise notes that were light and subtle but certainly worked with everything else going on here.

As I'm making notes while working through any given bottle, I have a grade I plan on giving that bottle in the back of my mind, and it's not always static. In this case, with every pour I seemed to like this bourbon more and more, and by the last few pours, in my mind this was an absolutely killer bottle. This is well-worth seeking out a pour, in my estimation.

Grade: A

Old Fitzgerald 9 Year Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $90
- 100 Proof
- 9 Years
- Kentucky

This was one of those pure-dumb-luck pick-ups for me. I've had the regular Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond, and while it was a good pour, it just didn't strike me as something to chase down in the event there's ever a premium offering. However, being the opportunist that I am, I wasn't about to let one get away when I found it in the wild, and at retail, this despite it sitting next to an 11-year version at a significant markup.

While I typically don't comment on packaging or labels, in this case I will, because this is one beautiful bottle. Replace the cork stopper with a glass stopper and this would make an excellent, permanent decanter. As I'm writing this I'm trying to figure out something to do with it to keep from throwing it away. Perhaps now is the time to start an infinity bottle!

 The nose was soft, but very sweet. It was heavy on the caramel and brown sugar, but it also had a certain level of char to it as well. All in all it came across as a delicious creme brulee! It also had some light pepper balanced by a bit of sweet vanilla.  Although it may sound like a balanced and delicious dessert, it did have some rough edges on the aroma, just something sharp to it, perhaps from that pepper spice.

On the first couple pours, I really liked this bourbon. I found it to be soft and subtle, but what flavors were there were very enjoyable. I got an initial dose of caramel and vanilla, with even a bit of chocolate flavor to go with. There was a mild cinnamon undertone that I found to be enjoyable as well, even if I wished it were more prominent.

However, I found myself liking this one less and less as I worked my way through the bottle. It seemed to take on a certain dryness that wasn't there initially, creating a tannic, bitter note on the back of my tongue. I also found that I got a lot more corn up front the more of it that I had. This made it hot without being spicy. 

It did develop a nice amaretto flavor that I really enjoyed, only I wish there were more of it. That flavor seemed to disappear pretty quickly, turning into more of a cardboard note. And yet, it still remained sweet, which just didn't jive.

I really wanted to like this one, and at first I thought I was going to. It drank like an easy sipper with good, albeit subtle notes of caramel and vanilla. However, I eventually started to notice flavors that just either weren't as enjoyable or did not seem to work with the other flavors. I heard good things about these releases, and the 9-year in particular, but this one just didn't do it for me. It was good, but certainly did not live up to expectations.

Grade: B-

Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $24
- 100 Proof
- NAS (4 Years)
- Region: Kentucky

Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond is one of those bourbons that I've always felt I should have at least tried once, but never had. Not that it was really tearing at me, but I finally made it a point to grab this lower shelf bourbon so that, at the very least, I could remove that nagging need to be able to say that I've had it before.

The nose is somewhat traditional, with a light vanilla scent mixing with a light cinnamon spice. It also had a bit of oak to the nose, which was unexpected given its young age.

When I took my first sip it came across as pretty watery in texture. It has the viscosity of Beam white label, and, unfortunately, it also has the complexity of Beam White Label or lack thereof (Note: I have nothing against Beam White Label--it's just my measuring stick for what I'd consider your basic bourbon).

On the first pour I noticed that this bourbon lacks sweetness as well, and come across as kind of boring. While the nose had the traditional bourbon notes to it, the flavor seemed more reminiscent of an American Whiskey, a whiskey that has a mashbill that isn't quite made up of the 51% corn needed to be called a bourbon.

As the bottle had a chance to open up (I gave it a good two weeks), it did eventually develop a light sweetness and the corn seemed to come through a bit more. I'm assuming the two went hand-in-hand here. It was like the flavor of corn flakes with a small amount of sugar sprinkled over them, like the cereal I used to have to eat at my grandma's house (though I'd sneakily dump a pound of sugar in my bowl when my grandma wasn't looking).

Towards the back end the cinnamon from the cinnamon from the nose came through, adding a nice spice to that light sweetness. While I did not get any wood on the palate like I got on the nose, I did get a kind of Dr. Pepper flavor that lingered for quite a while, and at times that flavor seemed to turn into almost a black licorice flavor on the palate.

It seemed as if this bottle continued to get slightly better with each pour, as I found it boring and lacking in flavor to start, and at the end it was sweet and enjoyable. It also developed some complexity that I never expected at the start, introducing flavors toward the end of the bottle that were nowhere to be found at the start.

Grade: B-