Old Fitzgerald 10 Year Old Bottled In Bond Bourbon Review (Spring 2024)
By Richard Thomas
Rating: B+
The 13th installment of Old Fitz Bonded is now out, and this time it’s a mature, but relatively young bourbon. The current offering of Heaven Hill’s Old Fitzgerald brand is a bottled in bond version of its wheated bourbon, but always far older than minimum four years required by the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897. This Spring 2024 release is 10 years old, which is more than double the minimum requirement, but still on the young side for bourbons in this line.
The Bourbon
My pour into a copita glass came out with a bright copper/bronze coloring, just shy of what I would call even light amber. The nose smacked to me of melted caramel plus the rose incense I burn sometimes at home. The palate took a foundation of traditional bourbon flavors–candy corn, vanilla–and added some tea tannins and rose water. The finish turned spicy and dry, making it a strangely oak-driven conclusion for a 10 year old bourbon.
The Price
Officially, a bottle of this should run you $139.99. But with demand and retailer pricing being what it is, well, the Autumn 2023 bottling has a market average price of $505 at time of writing.