John E. Fitzgerald Very Special 20 Year Old Bourbon – 750ml

Comprised of 12 barrels of wheated bourbon produced at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, original home of Heaven Hill’s Old Fitzgerald and direct ancestor to the celebrated Larceny brand, the ultra-rare, highly allocated release will offer both an extraordinary sensory experience and a glimpse at the DNA of Bourbon lore.

Heaven Hill acquired the Old Fitzgerald line of wheated bourbons—the flagship brand that legendary whiskey man Pappy Van Winkle produced at his original Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Shively, KY—in 1999, seven years after these barrels were filled and put up in the Stitzel-Weller rickhouses.  After Heaven Hill acquired the Old Fitz line, these barrels were transferred to Warehouse Y at Heaven Hill’s Bardstown campus where they aged on the first floor, allowing long, slow and balanced maturation.  They were transferred into inert tanks in 2013 to arrest the aging process and preserve the incredible taste until they were bottled.

The 12 original Stitzel-Weller barrels were dumped together and bottled at 90° proof or 45% alcohol by volume.  The barrels were not chill filtered, meaning the whiskey retains more of the natural esters and fatty acids than whiskey that has been chill filtered to remove these flavor compounds, providing a richer mouthfeel.  The John E. Fitzgerald Very Special Reserve offers rich cocoa and vanilla notes with a long, refined finish and the softness that a wheated mashbill provides.