Barrel Pick: Hirsch .. a name lost in time
The name Hirsch may not be as popular as Van Winkle in Bourbon circles, but the lore & legend of this label is without question among the most compelling in whiskey. German immigrant Adolph Hirsch was a successful investment banker & liquor industry veteran. Before the Bourbon boom, there was first it’s downfall. In 1974, the later years of his career, Hirsch infused the Pennco Distillery with cash with the demand for a 400 barrel run of Bourbon with no other expectation other to put the capital towards production. The business continued to struggle and Pennco, which would eventually become Michter’s, went out of business in 1989. This run of whiskey was forgotten about until Hirsch parsed it out to a number of longtime business associates in the Whiskey industry. Eventually, Julian Van Winkle III would help bottle some of the very old, forgotten whiskey under the A.H. Hirsch Reserve label and promoted it mostly to the Japanese markets where American Whiskey remained in high demand. It wasn’t long until the Hirsch name became one associated to amazing quality, uniqueness & scarcity
Fast forward to today, the Hirsch name has been resurrected in honor of legendary whiskies from yesteryear. We’ve proudly featured their regular releases on our shelves and touted a few limited run bottlings. When filling our pipeline of barrel picks, we jumped at the opportunity to get our hands on some Hirsch.
Distilled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, then aged in Bardstown, Kentucky … our pick is perfectly timed for Autumn’s crisp air. It’s mash bill is rich in malted barley, built on a hefty core of corn and flanked by a judicious level of rye. Aged in char level three barrels on the lower levels of the rickhouse, the resulting Bourbon is one brimming with sweetness yet laced with complexity. Bottled from cask at 116.6*, our pick is big yet refined, and perhaps most important … perfect on a fall evening with a stogie by the firepit.
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