Old Fitzgerald 7yo Bottled-in-Bond

THE HOLY SPIRITS VIEW
Old school bourbon with no finishing tricks: wheated, bottled in bond, seven years in Kentucky oak, with a brand history that runs through Pappy Van Winkle. It’s the new permanent flagship of a name that was previously only available in seasonal decanter releases. Soft, sweet and easy to love, but with 100-proof structure behind it.
 
THE BRAND: OLD FITZGERALD
Old Fitzgerald dates back to 1870 and became one of Kentucky’s great wheated bourbons, famously shepherded through Prohibition by Pappy Van Winkle. Heaven Hill acquired the brand from Diageo in 1999. Wheat replaces rye as the secondary grain, which is what gives the style its softness.
 
THE WHISKEY: 7 YEAR OLD BOTTLED-IN-BOND
A Kentucky straight bourbon with a mashbill of 68% corn, 20% wheat and 12% malted barley. Bottled in bond under the 1897 act (a single distillery, a single distilling season, aged in a bonded warehouse, bottled at exactly 100 proof), with seven years in oak, comfortably above the four-year minimum. 50% ABV.
 
TASTING NOTES
Caramelised brown sugar first, honey graham, toasted oak, baking spices, dried fruit sitting underneath. Palate soft and buttery, vanilla, toffee, honey, nutmeg and cinnamon warming through the middle, toasted almonds late. The wheat keeps everything round, the proof adds weight without any harshness. Finish long and warming, oak spice, caramel, a touch of leather. Classic, balanced, unfussy bourbon. Lovely.
 
Serve: Neat, in a Glencairn glass, or over a single large cube. It also makes a first-class Old Fashioned.