Before I do my review, I would like to give a little bit of background information regarding the various 16-year A.H. Hirsch bottlings.

A.H. Hirsch products were distilled by the legendary Pennco Distillery, located in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. While you may not be familiar with the name Pennco, you most certainly would know of one of their most famous products, and that was Michter’s. Pennco was not only known for making delicious bourbon, but rye whiskey as well. Their rye whiskey was so good that Wild Turkey sourced barrels from Pennco to be used for Wild Turkey 101 Rye.

Now, here’s some information on the 1974-distilled A.H. Hirsch. Adolph Hirsch, who was at one point in time the executive vice president of Schenley, commissioned Pennco to distill a 400-barrel batch of bourbon. Sadly, in 1989, Pennco filed for bankruptcy, and now Hirsch had to figure out what he was going to do with 400 barrels of bourbon aging in Pennsylvania.

Luckily for Hirsch, Bob Gottesman got wind of his troubles and helped facilitate the sale of these barrels to Gordon Hue. Shortly after the purchase of the barrels, Hue had Julian Van Winkle bottle the initial release of A.H. Hirsch and commissioned some of the barrels to continue aging at the Old Commonwealth Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

Unfortunately for Hue, Julian Van Winkle did not have enough space for all of his barrels to continue aging at Old Commonwealth, so Bob Gottesman agreed to vat the remaining barrels in stainless steel tanks to halt the aging of the bourbon and preserve it for later releases.

This specific bottling is from the vatted stock and is one of the later 1990s releases.

Nose: Being only 91.6 proof, the nose is much more subtle than the higher-proof whiskies that I am accustomed to. The most prominent note that I get is that of a candied pecan. After letting it sit for a moment in the glass, I begin to get a little bit of a rickhouse funk.

Palate: I’m going to start by simply saying, “Wow.” You would think that, being such a low proof, the palate would be equally as subtle as the nose, but it definitely is not. The candied pecan comes through, while cinnamon and sweet oak envelop your palate without any sort of ethanol. My mouth began to salivate almost immediately after the whiskey hit my tongue, helping it completely coat my mouth.

Finish: Much like the palate, I was also surprised by how long the finish was. The sweet oak tannins continue to cling to your mouth and leave you with a fruity tobacco note.

Nose: 16/20

Palate: 47/50

Finish: 27/30

Total: 90/100

Review #8 AH Hirsch 16 Year