Old Crow Bourbon - 1980s - 1 Litre

The Scottish physician Dr. James C. Crow moved to Kentucky in the 1820s, dedicating his scientific mind to the sour mash process and becoming master distiller at Oscar Pepper’s distillery (now known as Woodford Reserve) in the late 1830s, where he was an early adopter of the Coffey still. The bourbon made by Crow at Pepper’s became known as Crow whiskey, with the aged casks - Old Crow - held in the highest regard. Crow was a rigorous chemist and kept detailed technical notes, enabling widespread adoption of his methods after his death in 1856. 

In the 1860s Old Crow was transferred to the Hermitage distillery, the brand flourished, and old barrels of Crow's whiskey soared in price. National Distillers acquired Old Crow while the distillery was closed for Prohibition, but in the 1970s the quality and reputation of the whiskey declined, possibly when Crow's signature sour mash process was tweaked in a bid to cut costs. Old Crow was captured in 1987 by rivals American Brands, who owned Jim Beam and swiftly relegated Old Crow to the bottom shelf.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.