A true Throwback Thursday post if there ever was one.

This whiskey - the Hirsch Selection Special Reserve 20 Year Old American Whiskey - is a doozy of a whiskey to understand. There are connections to bourbon royalty, the changing of hands many brands undergo, and a label that deserves its own category for being somehow incredibly transparent and simultaneously obfuscating.

Hirsch - A. H. Hirsch, specifically - is that bourbon royalty connection. Distilled at the old Michter’s plant at Schaefferstown, PA, this 16 year old bourbon is considered by many to be among the best every produced. I’ll admit, I’ve never had it, so I can’t say by my own palate.

That being said, the love for Hirsch is near-universal. For many big-name whiskies, there’s a veneer of “oh my god this is the best” that disappears once you scratch the surface. For example, it’s fair to generalize that bourbon drinkers go bonkers for Pappy van Winkle bourbons and ryes. Pappy is king, despite pleas from both Buffalo Trace and the van Winkle family for them to stay at or close to MSRP.

The van Winkle line is good bourbon. I’m most partial to the 10 year, and have a bottle on my shelf as I write this. The older expressions are good as well, and each has its own devotees.

When you start to dive beneath the surface of taterdom and volume-driven reviews, however, you start seeing more nuanced takes: the 23 year old is either life-changing or over-oaked; the 15 year old - the first in the true “Pappy” line - is the best of the series, despite not being the oldest. All are overpriced (although I maintain the MSRPs are spot on and hold nothing against the people behind it).

The point of all this is that Hirsch, like Pappy, has an army of supporters and a plethora of positivity around the name. Unlike Pappy, Hirsch lacks the almost equal levels of anger and frustration targeting Pappy for tater-baiting, price hikes, and not controlling the secondary market (again, at no fault of the people producing it).

Part of this may be that Hirsch has no living relations to speak about it nor any to whom taters can direct their ire. The last person connected to the brand, Dick Stoll, passed in 2020. Dick was the distiller at Michter’s when A. H. Hirsch was distilled, toiling in relative obscurity as the Pennsylvania Michter’s whiskies lost their shine and declined in quality. By all accounts, the decline had nothing to do with Dick - it came down to bad business decisions and sacrificing quality at the top.

According to Dick and those who knew him, A. H. Hirsch was an accident, a batch of bourbon that the original buyer forgot to pick up and thus aged far longer than its contemporaries. The result was the 16 year old bourbon that has since become royalty in its own right. Thankfully, Dick has also been recognized as American whiskey royalty.

So that covers the absolute basics of the Hirsch name. Next up comes the changing of hands. When Michter’s went under, the Hirsch name was bought by Henry Preiss of Preiss Imports, then by Anchor Brewers and Distillers, then back to Preiss. Neither of these owners did anything to the whiskey other than buy and sell the stocks. The 120 barrels sat until 2007, when this bottle was released to the public.

Now onto the label. As I mentioned at the start, this label is dichotomous: there is a treasure trove of information on the front and back labels, yet it invites more questions than it answers.

Let’s start with the front: Hirsch Selection Special Reserve 20 Year Old. By law, we know that this is indeed at least 20 years old, and the distillation date is even on the label (February 27th, 1987). It was “Distilled from a Bourbon Mash”, a rare designation to see within the United States. After a look at the back label, it turns out that this whiskey was aged in used cooperage rather than new charred oak, disqualifying it from being called “bourbon”. This is an odd choice and I’m still searching for why that choice was made. My guess at the moment is that being in the late 80s, the bourbon Renaissance was just about to begin. Blanton’s and Booker’s were both just a couple of years old, and bourbon was generally still an old guy’s drink and out of favor. As such, the distillers and customers might not have cared much about whether the casks were new or used, and used are always cheaper.

Next up is the distilling-to-bottling thread, and this also needs more investigation. Hirsch as a brand is named for Adolf Hirsch, who bought the casks from Michter’s as it folded (the distillery formally closed in 1988). A former Seagram’s executive, Hirsch’s involvement may have led to the incorrect assumption that the barrels either came from or were aged at what is now MGP in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. In reality, the whiskey was distilled in Pennsylvania and aged in Illinois. The label includes this vomitous marketing line: “No one could foresee when the whiskey was stowed away on February 27, 1987, that these secreted casks in Illinois would turn out to be this classic American treasure some two decades later.”

The label follows with a key line: “Preiss Imports is proud to add Hirsch Selection(™) 20 year old American Whiskey alongside its ancestors and contemporaries: the Hirsch 16 year old Bourbon and 22 year old Kentucky Rye.”

And there’s the rub. This Hirsch is not A. H. Hirsch. It was distilled at the same place from the same mashbill and aged for many years; that’s where the similarities end. It feels odd to trash a whiskey’s label and story while honestly thinking the liquid itself isn’t bad, but this is what marketing gets you sometimes.

The neck is adorned with another label, this one saying “Illinois Whiskey”. This was aged in Illinois, but that doesn’t make it Illinois whiskey. It’s a Pennsylvania whiskey aged in Illinois owned and sold by a San Francisco-based company and named for an executive of an Indiana brand. It’s a cacophony of misdirection and obfuscation, one that could easily wow anyone who sees the name “Hirsch” but doesn’t look any closer.

I’ll close with this: the whiskey itself isn’t bad whiskey. For me, it’s terribly over-oaked and underproof, but there’s clear bourbon flavor. The closest comparison I can think of is Elijah Craig 18- and 23-year old. Both come off as bourbon-flavored oak water to me, but for those who love super-aged bourbons this will be a home run. I just wish it had come out in a time when the liquid inside mattered more than the marketing bullshit outside.

Hirsch Selection Special Reserve 20 Year Old American Whiskey: Specs

Classification: American Whiskey Distilled from a Bourbon Mash

Origin: Michter’s Distillery, Schaefferstown, PA

Mashbill: 60% Corn, 30% Rye, 10% Malted Barley

Proof: 96 (48% ABV)

Age: 20 Years Old

Location: Distilled in Pennsylvania, Aged in Illinois

Hirsch Selection Special Reserve 20 Year Old American Whiskey Price: $80

No Official Website

Hirsch Selection Special Reserve 20 Year Old American Whiskey Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Apple juice. Thick rims and thick droplets.

Nose: A little funky, like bourbon left out overnight. Fresh unsweetened cornbread, some generic potpourri floral notes.

Palate: Muted…very muted. There’s some effervescent fruitiness, a touch of proof, and semisweet chocolate. Creamy oak and macerating strawberries. The oak is strong with this one. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, more oak than proof at this point, both oily and coating.

Finish: Almost Speyside-like in its mildness and orchard fruit nature. Chocolate stays on the back palate while oak continues to dry the mouth on a medium finish.

Overall: Meh? There’s not much here for me. I’m immediately reminded of Elijah Craig 18 or 23, where for me it’s oak water but for others it’s fantastic. Far too muted all around.

Final Rating: 5.3

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Old Label Batch 4 or 2, Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (Stagg Jr. Batch 10, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Has promise but needs work

1-3 | Let’s have a conversation