Named after John E. Fitzgerald, who founded his first distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky in 1870, it has been called "the most elegant Bourbon produced in Louisville- indeed Kentucky." 

For decades it has been made at its new home in Kentucky and is reportedly a big hit amongst the gentry and business sorts, who associate it with Kentucky's most important people and traditions.

This might surprise you- it did me.  Old Fitzgerald comes in a bottle that is short, squat, and on the whole unpresupposing or glitzy.  No oversized, fat nobbed perfume 

Happily one can't judge a book by its cover or a whiskey by its bottle.  Old Fitzgerald 12 Year (and yes, they make younger whiskeys) is anything but harsh or bitter.  Pour two ounces in a bulbous glass- a cognac or wine glass if you have one.  Then drip a few cool drops of water in it.  Give it a couple of spins in the glass, place your nose above it, mouth slightly agape, and cry out silently, "Speak to me, Fitzgerald!"

You shall immediately here its call.  It is a sweet, flavorful whiskey, with caramel and tiny cinnamon notes, and a slightly roasted taste.  Like Maker's Mark, Old Fitzgerald uses much less rye (if any) and more wheat than most bourbons.  While Maker's Mark is renown for its smoothness, those who prefer a bourbon that is more robust and possesses more variegated notes might well prefer Old Fitzgerald.

So delightful is Old Fitzgerald 12 Year that I fear I will have to hide it from my darling Zelduh, lest she use it to make a cake glaze.  Though it would assuredly be tasty, it would be a terrible waste of a lovely whiskey.  (Rating ***1/2)

                (Click here to order Old Fitzgerald Whisky)