A.H. Hirsch was a very limited brand started in 1989 by Adolph Hirsch. He acquired barrels of bourbon distilled in 1974 by Pennco, later known as Michter’s, in Schafferstown, Pennsylvania. The whiskey was bottled as 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 year old for various markets. The 18 year was technically a tanked 17 year that didn’t fit the requirements of an 18 year old whiskey. The 16 year is the most prolific, with four different bottlings known by their caps: first the “blue wax,” then “gold wax,” then the “gold foil,” and most recently a gold-capped hand-blown bottle packaged in a humidor. The general consensus is that the quality of the bourbon went gradually downhill from the blue wax bottling onward. The 15, 17, 18, and 19 year old versions are extremely rare and collectable. The 20 year old has a red wax top. Also, there were a few oddball versions bottled under different brands, such as Boone’s Knoll and Van Winkle “Lot H.”

The owner of the Hirsch brand, Preiss Imports, continues to produce whiskeys under the Hirsch name, but has only used the A.H. Hirsch name for the Pennco-distilled whiskey.

For more information on A.H. Hirsch, check out Chuck Cowdery’s book “The Best Bourbon You’ll Never Taste.”

 

Photo libraries, in ascending order by bottling year

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