Auction company Sotheby’s recently unveiled The Rare American Whiskey Selection 1976-1982, a unique set of five prototype bottles created in the mid-1990s. It will come up for live auction on April 14th.
A statement from the auction house noted that this set represents some of the rarest American whiskey ever to be offered at auction.
These particular bottles were originally produced as the prototypes for the first collectable, ultra-premium U.S. whiskey series to exclusively feature closed distilleries in America.
Sotheby’s officials explained that this project was the initiative of The Classic Kentucky Bourbon Company, a subsidiary of United Distillers in 1997.
At that time, UD owned the Bernheim Distillery and Stitzel-Weller. Right when The Rare American Whiskey Selection project received approval for launch, UD merged with International Distillers & Vintners to create United Distillers & Vintners, forming the spirits division of Diageo.
It was at this point the project was shelved, never to be revived.
Originally, the Rare American Whiskey Selection project was to create an annual release of five different barrel proof, high-age statement whiskies. The project got as far as bottling two examples of each of the selected whiskeys, Sotheby’s statement explained, with prototype labels and filled with the actual liquid to show the finished product as it would be sold.
The whiskeys were tasted not just within UD, but also by respected industry critics at the time, including tasting notes by Dave Broom from 1997.
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The two sets of liquid were split up, one set to the Stitzel-Weller Distillery to store, while the other set remained at company headquarters in the UK for the European market.
The statement noted that experts believed the set at Stitzel-Weller was destroyed in a distillery fire, making this current set the only one still in existence.
This series of whiskeys was set to be released in a limited run of 6,000 bottles per release. The project would have preceded the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection by years. Today, these bottles represent not just rare liquid from long-gone distilleries, but a vital part of American whiskey’s story.
The five prototype bottles in the set are:
- Old Quaker Indiana Corn Whiskey 21 Year Old Limited Edition Barrel Proof. 65% ABV. 1976.
- Stitzel-Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Limited Edition 17 Year Old Barrel Proof. 53.5% ABV. 1980.
- Taylor-Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Limited Edition 17 Year Old Barrel Proof. 56% ABV. 1980.
- George T Stagg Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Limited Edition 16 Year Old Barrel Proof. 57% ABV. 1981.
- Buffalo Springs Kentucky Rye Mash Whiskey Limited Edition 15 Year Old Barrel Proof. 62.5% ABV. 1982.
“Unearthing rare whiskeys like this is what makes auctions at Sotheby’s so special,” said Jonny Fowle, head of Sotheby’s Whiskey & Spirits. “This set represents not only the rarest bottles of premium American Whiskey ever to have existed, but a piece of storytelling that has never been shared. This chapter has been missing from the history books and I’m delighted that we can bring it to life.”
For more information on the auction and the bottles, check it out here.
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