Pre-Prohibition W.A. Gaines & Co Old Hermitage Rye Whiskey Reserve Bottled by W. Bixby & Co, Boston, MA
- Nick Anderson
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
“What's it mean; are you determined
To make modern all mankind?
If so, you should be be-sermoned
And brought back to healthy mind.”
– Charles C. Abbott
At the last quarterly tasting for the Whisky Legends, several interesting and historically significant bottles turned up on the sidebar for the weekend. Being from the Boston area and having tasted a Bixby bottled Old Crow at a previous Legends tasting, one bottle in particular caught my eye. Enter my first introduction to Old Hermitage Rye Whiskey Reserve, distilled at the Hermitage Distillery, Frankfort, KY, and bottled in the 1915-1917 timeframe by Bixby & Co. in Boston, Mass. Curt Kolcun, cofounder of the Vintage Whiskey Society, graciously brought this bottle along to share with me and the other Whisky Legends tasters. Curt curated the background research, photos, and documentation for this collaborative review on a fascinating old Kentucky distillery. Further down below, I'll get into the deep dive tasting notes and speculate a bit on what I think made this vintage whiskey taste the way it did, way back before Prohibition wiped it out.
The Hermitage Distillery was organized in 1862 by Gaines, Berry & Co., with the distillery itself built in 1868 along the Kentucky River in Frankfort. The firm was comprised of W. A. Gaines, Hiram Berry, and a young E. H. Taylor Jr., who helped finance construction. Named after President Andrew Jackson's legendary Tennessee estate, the Hermitage was built to be something truly grand & innovative.
In 1868, the firm reorganized as W. A. Gaines & Co., bringing in New York capital partners and expanding aggressively. The company soon purchased the Old Crow Distillery on Glenn's Creek in Woodford County, and by the late 1880s, the Hermitage was mashing 1,000 bushels a day, and together with their Old Crow Distillery, they were the two largest sour mash distilleries in America.
The Hermitage Distillery was Gaines' flagship production site for its own signature brands: Hermitage Bourbon and Hermitage Rye. The distillery stood apart from typical Kentucky steam copper distilleries of its era through a series of deliberate, science-driven design choices modeled on the finest Scotch whisky distilleries. Its most significant innovation was the complete isolation of steam from the production process—while steam powered the works, it was never permitted to come into direct contact with the grain, malt, beer, mash, or spirits at any stage, preserving the integrity of the raw ingredients. The mash was instead boiled using a patent copper coil rather than direct steam injection. The "singlings" (first distillation) were conducted in a large copper receiver boiled by an open wood fire, with the furnace mouth placed entirely outside the building, meaning no open flames were permitted inside the distillery at all. The cooling and condensing system was equally impressive, consisting of immense tanks holding several hundred feet of copper coil over which a constant stream of cold water passed. This combination of fire-external design, patent copper coil mashing, and a massive copper-coil condensing system made the Hermitage one of the most technically advanced whiskey facilities in Kentucky.
One interesting fact: while the Hermitage distillery was very innovative, they were using the same still used by James Crow to make his famous Old Crow whiskey. It's for this reason that Hermitage has often been looked at as a sister distillery to Old Crow. Unfortunately, Prohibition shuttered the Hermitage distillery forever. It was converted to a chair factory during Prohibition and was ultimately razed in 1945.
Further details on the Hermitage Distillery:
Further details on W. Bixby & Co.:
Now for the hometown hero: the Boston tie-in. W. Bixby & Co. was a premier wholesale liquor merchant—what we might call a family packie—located at 153 Washington Street in Boston. This would be most like an NDP operation of today; they would take in sourced barrels and bottle them with their store name listed on the label. These guys were doing store picks before store picks were cool.
Under the leadership of Winthrop Bixby, the firm specialized in selecting and bottling ultra-premium stocks from Kentucky’s most technologically advanced facilities, most notably the W.A. Gaines & Co. Old Crow and Hermitage Distillery stocks. Catering to the New England social elite, Bixby distinguished their 1915–1917 bottlings with high-end packaging hallmarks, including ornate font labels and protective foil capsules that you can see on this bottling, ensuring that their hand-picked ryes would have the security and longevity that discerning whiskey drinkers were demanding. Unlike many competitors who pivoted to medicinal whiskey during the 1920s, Bixby largely shuttered its spirits operations at the onset of Prohibition, leaving behind rare, high-quality time capsules like this one that remain amongst the most coveted pre-Prohibition gems for modern whiskey drinkers.
Nose: Rich chocolate mousse blends with lemon frosting on first lifting the glass to my nose. The left nostril finds the creamy vanilla tones, while the right nostril finds brighter zested lime and intoxicating sweet gardenia in tones of green and white. Returning both nostrils produces such a lovely blend of cherry ice cream, lemon bar, and warm baked chocolate chip cookies. Returning to the nose after a sip reveals light butterscotch, graham cracker, and subtle floral undertones still proliferating. This is delightful whiskey to nose through, never waning, fading, or falling flat. Consistency is key with this whiskey, something this particular distiller has clearly mastered. The elegance of the creamy rye character here has left me with a wide smile, closed eyes, and cradled hands protecting this most cherished and historically significant whiskey. Thinking deeper about the aromas entering my nose, it reminds me of a creamy nigori sake that I am surprised and delighted by. Deep inhales late in the glass get easier and more reticent, signaling a full circle finale to the hour-long sensory experience that has been patiently exploring a dram of whiskey that was likely distilled in the late 1800s. The empty glass smells of candied orange, raspberry tart, and whipped cream.
Palate: My first taste is as balanced and delectable as the nose led with, producing refined yet distinct maraschino cherry juice, peach flambé, and lemon meringue pie. It's a pervasive sip that coats every corner of the mouth with a sweet cream that really leans into that lemon meringue vibe. Another sip and swish induces a chill as it reveals a beautifully clean example of whiskey from a bygone era—liquid gold, boldened by the perfected distillation of America's favorite flavor grain: rye. The linger is long, fascinating, and utterly delicious, striking the taste buds with the confidence of a masterfully created lemon tart from a French patisserie. My goodness, just like the nose, the consistent greatness in every sip is such a treat. Most distinctly, I find lemon in all its most wonderful forms: zest, frosting, pie, candy—you name it—it's all there. It sits on the tongue in rolling undulations that subtly tease out the deeper complexity of cherry, raisin, date, phyllo dough, and honey. It starts in the middle of the tongue and remains there for an incredible duration, while tangential bliss spills backwards and down into the chest. For something that is supposed to be inherently boozy, this whiskey shows no tell of even containing a trace of alcohol, a sneaky nod to its refined character—doubly impressive for a rye whiskey. My last sip teases out graham cracker, orange creamsicle, and an uber-long finish of the ever-consistent lemon meringue pie note.
TL;DR: A delightful example of elegant and refined pre-Prohibition Kentucky rye whiskey
Rating: 5/5
This is a notably different style of vintage rye whiskey than I am used to. While my palate may typically skew towards the old Pennsylvania pure ryes, this Hermitage Kentucky rye is completely different from the powerhouse of flavor of Old Overholt or the bodacious bubble gum of Monongahela rye from a similar era. This whiskey is the epitome of refined and balanced, yet utterly flavorful, coating, and complex. The cleanness I wrote about throughout my tasting is highly likely to have come from the no-steam, no-fire internal distillery setup of Hermitage that Curt highlighted. Based on my tasting notes, I'm fairly confident this has a much higher rye content than later examples of Kentucky rye, perhaps as high as 85% rye with 15% malted barley behind. Based on the obvious influence of the grain and distillation techniques still present, I'd estimate the whiskey within was aged for around 8-10 years in oak. Neither of these speculative opinions could be validated with concrete evidence from Curt's research.
I sampled a pour of this both on a fresh and sober palate as well as after a lineup of other wonderfully complex whiskeys, and this pour really stood out. I have found myself daydreaming about the depth of flavor on this just about every day since I tried it, and I'm finally glad to share the experience with you, my dear reader. Huge thank you again to Curt Kolcun for the never-ending stream of generosity, the depth of research, and the commitment to elevating the conversation on the importance of old, dusty whiskey today. Modern distillers beware: the greatness of vintage Hermitage rye will likely haunt my palate for years to come.
