A New Bourbon From Stitzel-Weller

As far as icons of American whiskey go, Stitzel-Weller is up there with the greats. The distillery was founded in 1935 as a partnership between spirits distributor W.L. Weller & Sons and A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery, and at its head were Arthur P. Stitzel, Alex T. Farnsley, and Julian Van Winkle Sr. (who came to be known as Pappy). Together, the three men brought a handful of legendary bourbon brands to prominence, including Old Fitzgerald, W.L. Weller, Rebel Yell (now known as Rebel), and Cabin Still; they made each whiskey with wheat, not rye, a move that popularized wheaters among American whiskey drinkers. But when whiskey began its downturn in the second half of the 20^th century, Stitzel-Weller was sold to a forerunner company of Diageo in 1972 and ultimately shuttered 20 years later.

The stills at Stitzel-Weller have remained essentially silent ever since—more a relic of whiskey past than the workhorse it was in its heyday. But Diageo invested $2 million into the facility back in 2014, opening a new visitor’s center and eventually a bottling line (which closed earlier this year), as well as firing up a tiny hybrid still that’s capable of producing up to two barrels of whiskey per week that go toward experimentation, as well as its Blade and Bow, I.W. Harper, and Orphan Barrel brands.

Now Diageo has bottled a whiskey under the Stitzel-Weller brand name for the first time in 30-plus years: 24 year old Stitzel Reserve. According to Diageo’s account of events, director of American whiskey liquid development Nicole Austin came across ultra-aged barrels in the Stitzel-Weller warehouse in 2023. While nearly half of the barrels in that lot were either casualties of the angel’s share or aggressively oaky and tannic, the remainder were something special—leaving one diamond in the rough aside as a yet-to-be-released single barrel, Austin pulled nine barrels and blended them together to make Stitzel Reserve.

Just 191 bottles of the cask strength (61.7% ABV), 24 year old whiskey are available, exclusive to the distillery in Shively, Kentucky for $1,600 each; pours of Stitzel Reserve are also available at the distillery’s Garden & Gun Club bar for $200, and will come with an etched whiskey glass, branded bag, and Stitzel-Weller pin in tow. Future Stitzel Reserve releases will similarly feature ultra-aged whiskey, with Diageo heralding this series as a spotlight for its archival barrels.

You may be asking yourself this question: If Stitzel-Weller shut down in 1992, and didn’t start making (tiny) quantities of whiskey again until 2014, where then did this 24 year old whiskey come from? While Diageo can’t say for sure (the company is “not contractually able to disclose where the whiskey was distilled, nor by whom”), it gave one clue: It was originally distilled at another historic Kentucky bourbon distillery. There are several possibilities: Four Roses was the most well known supplier for Diageo's Bulleit brand (its primary American whiskey) back then, but according to American whiskey writer Charles K. Cowdery, Brown-Forman and Beam both provided whiskey at various points. Bernheim Distillery, once part of Diageo but today owned by Heaven Hill, is also a possibility.