Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon & Old Fitzgerald Bottled In Bond

New Rare Spirits have arrived at STIR, including two excellent bottles of bourbon: Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon and Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond, Spring 2020.

Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon

Hillrock's Solera Aged Bourbon was developed by the late master distiller Dave Pickerell of Whistlepig fame. It's one of the few bourbons aged through the Solera aging method, meaning new and aged bourbon is repeatedly blended and aged together. The Solera aging process uses a pyramid of casks, where younger spirits from upper barrels are successively blended and aged with the older spirits in the barrels below them. Eventually, these blended spirits reach the bottommost barrels where they are tasted and bottled.

Hillrock uses the Solera process to blend its older, outsourced whiskey from MGP with younger spirits distilled at its own distillery. The bourbon finished in 20yr old Sherry casks, a nod to the Solera method's roots in Spanish wine and Sherry making. The result: a exceptional bottle of bourbon that shouldn't be missed.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond is an excellent bottle from Heaven Hill Distillery. Bottled-in-Bond is a process of distilling and aging whiskey that often denotes a finer product. Historically, the Bottled-in-Bond Act was passed in 1897. It set rules for whiskey production in order to counteract pervasive adulteration of American whiskey. Because distillers would cut their products with various fillers - some even toxic - consumers couldn’t trust American whiskeys. This race to the bottom caused the legitimate distillers to suffer.

The Bottled-in-Bond Act made the federal government the guarantor of a spirit's authenticity. It required distillers to undergo various steps in order to label their whiskey Bottled-in-Bond. To earn that denomination, a whiskey must produced by a single distiller in a single season - spring or fall, or the first or second half of the year respectively - aged for a minimum of 4 years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at 50% ABV.

Although not as strictly regulated by the federal government as it once was (you won’t find as many federally guarded warehouses), Bottled-in-Bond is making a comeback. In the case of the bottle of Old Fitzgerald that STIR is offering, it was distilled nine years ago, aged in a bonded warehouse, and released this year. It’s an excellent bottle of whiskey with smooth, balanced flavors. Its namesake, John E. Fitzgerald, boasts a colorful history of supplying steamships, private clubs, and European markets with whiskey. You can read about the history of the brand here.

STIR’s Rare Spirits

You can find these Rare Spirits and many other coveted bottles on our Rare Spirits menu. Come in and let us pour you a glass over a sphere of artisanal ice. There’s no better place to appreciate and enjoy fine spirits than STIR.