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Ranking with the world's best whiskies, these A.H. Hirsch whiskies are, without question, the absolute highest quality available today. They are also the most stylish Bourbon America has to offer.
Distilled in the spring of 1974 at the famed Michter's Distillery in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania (and no longer produced), Hirsch Reserve whiskies are the only example of their type available today. These rare Bourbon whiskies were distilled in the time-honored Kentucky pot-still tradition - a slower, more work intensive, more expensive relic of a bygone era.
Matured in barrel up to the time of their bottling at 16 and 20 years of age (considerably longer than most bottlings), these whiskies show the benefits traditional cask aging gives to Bourbon. Hirsch Reserve stands in the class of top-flight single malt Scotch Whisky and Grand Champagne Cognac.
Hirsch Reserve whiskies offer a unique taste experience showing silky smooth texture and perfectly balanced flavors of sweet oak, maple, and spice. The aftertaste is round, rich, very long and mellow. The 16-year-old is pungent, spicy, and resinous, while the 20-year-old is a bit oakier and strongly suggestive of maple syrup. Very soon, they'll both be gone.
According to Henry Preiss, who owns the 20-year-old stocks outright and is the exclusive distributor for both whiskies, only about 200 cases of the older Hirsch remain, while the 16-year-old hovers at about 5,000 cases. This doesn't include what's already in stores.
"At the current rate of sales the 20-year-old could be gone by the end of the year," said Preiss, noting that the brand has been given an updated label. "The 16-year-old has got a few years yet, but when you think about it, 5,000 cases is like a week's sales for a big name Bourbon." Prices for the Hirsch whiskies will likely rise as stocks dwindle.
| Hirsch Reserve 16 year old
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Awarded the first ever Five Star rating for a Bourbon by The Spirit Journal, the authoritative review of fine spirits, in November 1994.
"For five years I've been waiting for this Bourbon to come my way. It's always bothered me that I hadn't given any native whiskey a five star rating in 22 previous SJ issues. But, the fact is that while I've greatly admired more than a few homegrown whiskies and have handed out four stars to twelve Bourbons and one Tennessee Sour Mash, that one American whiskey that had the stuff to transport me to distilled spirit nirvana remained elusive ... until this issue.
Lustrous, rich medium amber-orange with copper-russet highlights; the tight, compact nose has sensuous fragrances of spiced orange, walnut, corn husk, a touch of resin, and most prominently, nougat - while it's anything but expansive, the bouquet subtly draws me in, forcing me to inhale deeper - in the process, layers of aroma unwrap like the delicate skins of an onion - it's as seductive and coy a Bourbon nose as I've come across; in the mouth, this robust, but polite Bourbon confidently offers happily married tastes of caramel, oats, coffee, wood smoke, maple syrup,
oak, controlled alcohol, and raisins; there's even a slim trace of sweet sherry in the sublime, firm, heady aftertaste; clearly the best bourbon I've evaluated for SJ to date." - Paul Pacult, The Spirit Journal, November 1994
"Nose: Sweet sandalwood, leather, pine, mint. Mouth: A very big body, thick and rich with an elegant, almost syrupy sweetness bearing vanilla, oranges and a hint of mint. The finish is long, warm and soothing. Overall: This whiskey is a true after-dinner drink, but it even could be served as dessert itself. Serve it in a snifter, don't even add a drop of water, and savor it for its complexity and sophistication." - Gary & Mardee Regen, The Book of Bourbon
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| Hirsch Reserve 20 year old
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awarded a Five Star rating by
The Spirit Journal in March of 1996.
"Stunningly fantastic color of copper penny/rich amber with ocher highlights;
the bouquet is spirity, heady, and a bit prickly in the initial two passes, then
by the third nosing it settles in and expels luscious aromas of mint, oak, ripe
banana, ripe guava, nut meat, and brown sugar - it ends up being a mannered, stately
bouquet that betrays the employment of the pot still method through its more than
ample complexity, style, maturity, and breeding; I loved the opening salvo of
controlled heat at palate entry, then the silky smooth texture ushers in perfectly
melded flavors of sweet oak, red fruit, maple, spice, and grain mash; the aftertaste
is round, direct but polite, and very long; I found this 20 year old Bourbon every
bit as grand and idiosyncratic as the 5 Star 16 year old; these two Pennsylvania
Bourbons rank with the world's best whiskies; the most stylish tandem that America
has to offer." - Paul Pacult, The Spirit Journal, March 1996 "There's a little wood in the nose of this twenty year
old, but it's a rich, intense oakiness married to vanilla and caramel. The body
is rich and thick and on the palate, the oak, vanilla and caramel meet with spices
- cinnamon, nutmeg - and a dryness that's slightly minty. This whiskey dances
around the tongue, the sweetness being balanced beautifully with needles of spice.
The finish is very long with a sophisticated port-like quality that rounds out
the experience. Savor this Hirsch 20 year old neat, in a snifter." - Wine
& Spirits, June 1996
"Nose: Oak, vanilla, mint and caramel. Mouth: A huge body,
rich and thick, and now some caramel and oak come into play with the vanilla along
with a host of spices and a hint of mint that peppers the tongue in a long, long
dance. The finish is very long and almost port-like. Overall: As with the 16 year
old bottling, we suggest that the only way to serve this superlative bourbon is
neat. Light up that cigar, rest your feet on a huge Old English Sheepdog, and
dream of your spectacular future. Among our hand written notes was: 'Like a melted
ice cream parfait made from rich vanilla ice cream with a hint of cream de menthe.'"
- Gary & Mardee Regen, The Book of Bourbon
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