Notes: Old Fitzgerald is an older brand by bourbon standards. A heated bourbon ( wheat is used instead of rye in the mashbill Old Fitzgerald was acquired by Heaven Hill in 1999 to add to their stable of already very solid to great brands. Heaven Hill itself dates back to 1932 and the repeal of Prohibition.
Some of their many other brands and line extensions include Elijah Craig Bourbon, Larceny Bourbon, Evan Williams Bourbon, Pikesville Rye Whiskey, Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey, and Parker’s Heritage Collection. We have over 98 Heaven Hill products that we have reviewed altogether. Please use our search function to seek them out!

This is the tenth edition we have reviewed so far. There have been a total of fourteen releases altogether, but we missed a few. We started with the  Old Fitz Spring 2020 Edition, The Old Fitz Fall 2020 Edition, Old Fitz Spring 2021, The Old Fitz Fall 2021, The Old Fitz Spring 2022, the Sixth Edition the Fall of 2022,, The Old Fitz Spring of 20203 ,The Old Fitz Fall of 2023, and, now,The Old Fitzgerald Bottled In Bond Spring  of 2025 ! This release is 9 years old which puts it in the lower mid range of the releases in terms of age.The whiskey was produced in the spring of 2016 and bottled in the Sprimg of 2025

It is a Bottled in Bond release, which has some strict requirements to qualify for.Essentially it guarantees the age and genealogy of your whiskey- Not a bad thing these days-

Appearance: Clear, gold copper in color with a slight red shift that denotes a older whiskey.Light coating on the glass on swirling.Slow retreat of liquid on the edge line with few legs or drops forming, just a gradual descent.

First Impression: Slight oiliness , then going sharp and thin.Bouquet smells hopeful if a touch underwhelming.

Taste: Heavy corn influenced followed with a somewhat  aggressive wheat and  with barley following up at the end of a rather short finish. Mint, orange, cinnamon, char, a touch of leather and a hint of a strong black tobacco. A bit of a burn and hot finish

Drinks: Works in all the usual cocktails, but given the price most people would sip this- which is also why we can’t really get behind this release- not much of a snifter and sip release for our taste.

Bottle: We were not sent a production bottle so cannot comment. Seems like their standard bottle for this particular release.

Other: Overall the releases of this Old Fitzgerald seem to range in age, proof, and in the profile itself to a larger degree than most of their range. While this is not necessarily a bad thing in principle, the last few spring releases seem to signal a change in the palette of the blenders or possibly the fermentation and/or distilling conditions.

Final Thoughts: A decent whiskey but a disappointment for the price really.Wish I could convince myself otherwise but I don’t wish to do any of us a disservice by saying what I think.Not that it won’t sell out quickly and be traded heavily on the secondary market

For people who actually buy and drink their whiskies they buy I would leave this one alone or trade it for something else more to your taste.

Website: HeavenHilldistillery.com This is a direct link to the Old Fitzgerald pages. If you back up you can see all their brands – which are quite a few!

Both this link and the other pages have a plethora of information and photos. Well laid out and fast loading. Heaven Hill has one of the easier-to-navigate and visually pleasing websites in the industry.