Mammoth Cave - Bottled 1909

[gregorclark]

Just received a bottle of *really old bourbon* from Number One Distillery Company, which went out of business in 1918 at the onset on prohibition. It's called Mammoth Creek, 100 proof. Bottled in 1909. Amazing!

It was opened and aggressively re-corked sometime in the past. The cork actually smells *great*. So - conversation piece? Or should I actually try it? Anyone have experience drinking something this old? I'm assuming it's not that valuable...but i'm curious to hear from others!





- Gregor

[Jojo]

I'll see if I can get some info for you on this one.

[Jojo]

Our contact at the The Filson Historical Society told us...Mammoth Cave bourbon became a brand sold by W L Weller and Sons about the year 1900. They were of course buy whiskey from other distilleries at the time, but one of their main suppliers was A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery in Louisville. As a result they ended up investing in the distillery and by the time that prohibition started Stitzel was the president of the distillery and Secretary/Treasurer of W L Weller and Sons, Alex Farnsley was the Vice president of both companies and Julian P. Van Winkle was president of Weller and Secretary/Treasurer of Stitzel Distillery. The result was Weller was able to piggy-back on the Stitzel license to sell during prohibition and Mammoth Cave was one of the bourbons offered for to pharmacies during this period.

During prohibition, no distillery could distill whiskey until 1928 and even then it was limited amounts. The result was that many brands, such as Mammoth Cave, were supported by purchasing whiskey for distilleries without a license to sell for "Medicinal Use". That is the distillery that made the whiskey that became this Mammoth Cave bourbon.

Our contact has seen several bottles of this bourbon in the past and the United Distillers archive had about a dozen or so bottles in the collection. They actually opened a bottle and tasted the whiskey and tell us, "That bottle is quite good."

[BourbonDrinker]

I say open it up and take a good sniff. If it's "Fragrant as a rose", you're good to go!

[gregorclark]

Thanks JoJo! Something about consuming something that is this old is really special. I live in a house that's older than this bourbon, but...i don't drink it!

[Jojo]

Originally Posted by gregorclark

Thanks JoJo! Something about consuming something that is this old is really special. I live in a house that's older than this bourbon, but...i don't drink it!

Our house is almost 100 years old!