This was the original Hirsch 15 year offering.

A quick summation offers that the bourbon was distilled in early 1974, at what would eventually be known as the Michter’s Distillery near Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. Adolph Hirsch commissioned the whiskey in a single 400-barrel batch. It was the standard bourbon recipe used at the distillery by master distiller Dick Stoll, who learned it, and his trade, under Everett Beam. The bourbon had a mash bill of 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley.

When the distillery faced bankruptcy, this bourbon, which had already been aged for far longer than was standard or typical, had never been put to use. Gordon Hue acquired it in 1989, and had Julian Van Winkle III bottle the brand ‘” A.H. Hirsch Reserve.

A number of different ages were released, with the first bottling of a 16 Year Old being in 1991. The labels from this edition will say bottled in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and are known as the ‘blue wax” A.H. Hirsch, whereas the 2003 bottling says Frankfort, Kentucky, and is known as the “gold foil” bottling.

Hue maintained ownership of the brand, selling it from his own store and largely to the Japanese market. Henry Preiss of Preiss Imports then eventually acquired the brand, and was responsible for the “gold foil” release and the decanter bottling which followed. Through another series of transactions, Preiss Imports would eventually become a piece of Anchor Brewers & Distillers, and today, Anchor still has a “Hirsch” whiskey in its portfolio, although it’s not “A.H. Hirsch” and is by no means the same juice.