Old Fitzgerald Auctions Trio of Archival Bourbons Dating Back to 1917

(Photo: Heaven Hill)

Historic bourbon brand Old Fitzgerald is auctioning a trio of bottles that reflect touchstones in its legacy over the past 150 years.

On Tuesday, the brand announced that the archival bourbons will go on sale during Sotheby’s upcoming Whisky & Whiskey sale, which is slated to open for bidding between June 11 and June 26. Each bottle is described as a time capsule of its era, representing various recipes, distilleries and political climates that shaped Old Fitzgerald as we know it today. All were curated from the personal archives of Heaven Hill Executive Chairman Max Shapira, the only son of Ed Shapira, one of the five brothers behind the Heaven Hill distillery’s founding in 1935.

The collection includes:

1934 Old Fitzgerald 18-Year-Old Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Distilled and barreled in 1917 before bottling in 1934, this is the sole pre-Prohibition bourbon in the collection. It was produced by A. PH. Stitzel, later to become part of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, which is today best known as the original home of Pappy Van Winkle. The bourbon is bottled at 100 proof and arrives in a one-pint decanter.

1965 Very Xtra Old Fitzgerald 10-Year-Old Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Distilled and barreled in 1955, bottled in 1965. The bourbon was bottled expressly for the Colorado Electric Company and is presented in a red box set with two tasting glasses. Arrives in a 4/5 quart decanter.

2015 John E. Fitzgerald Very Special Reserve 20-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Distilled and barreled in 1992, bottled in 2015. Described as the “final link” between Stitzel-Weller’s legacy and Heaven Hill’s modern stewardship. The bourbon was gathered from 12 barrels of original Stitzel-Weller bourbon purchased from the Bernheim Distillery in 1999. After two decades, the whiskey was moved to inert tanks to halt its maturation. The expression is bottled at 90 proof and arrives in a 375-milliliter decanter.

The brand has not provided an estimated hammer price for any of the three bourbons, and it’s safe to say that the figure could vary wildly. Bottles of 1955-era Old Fitzgerald are currently available through resellers for as much as $95,000. Resellers, however, usually reflect an inaccurate (and wildly inflated) glimpse at actual demand. An Old Fitz bottle from the same year recently went up for auction through Sotheby’s at an estimate of $5,000 to $7,000, and the upcoming lot will most likely fall somewhere in the same range.

All proceeds from the auction will benefit the Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, a 16,000-acre protected forest located 30 minutes south of Louisville, Kentucky.

“Each of these bottles is a snapshot of Old Fitzgerald through the ages,” Max Shapira said in a news release. “They tell the story of a brand that has survived and thrived through every chapter of American whiskey history, of which Heaven Hill is a proud part. I’m honored to now share them in a way that will support a meaningful charitable cause.”