Old Commonwealth 10 Year Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon (2024) Review

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A distillery was founded along the banks of the Salt River near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky in 1880 by a man named S.O. Hackley. He teamed up with another man named Ike Hoffman a few years later and together they sold bourbon under the names Old Spring and Old Hoffman. Eventually Hackley died which left Hoffman as the sole owner. In 1912, Ike was in financial trouble. He was taking on too much debt and had to sell the distillery off due to bankruptcy.

The site where the distillery sat changed ownership many times over the next 70 years. It was even torn down during Prohibition and rebuilt shortly after it was repealed. During the years that followed, it produced one of the most famous bourbons in Kentucky – Ezra Brooks. The attention that name brought eventually caught the eye of the Medley’s in the 1970s. A deal was made and the distillery was sold to them. Through all of the turmoil and name changes, the company was still putting out bottles of bourbon named after the original Hoffman Distillery.

Unfortunately, the downturn of whiskey drinkers and the glut of barrels setting in warehouses forced distillery operations to cease in 1979. The facility wasn’t entirely dormant after that. There was still an active bottling line that was filling collectible decanters under the “Hoffman Distilling Co” label. This is why you can find these decanters on eBay with dates extending into 1980 and 1981.

It just so happened that the Hoffman Distillery was also bottling bourbon for Julian Van Winkle during this time. With the decanter craze coming to an end, there wasn’t enough business to sustain the bottling line anymore. The owners approached Julian about buying their facility since he was one of the few clients that was giving them steady business. Julian was skeptical he could make such a large purchase and had to take a collateral loan out for the purchase. But it was approved and he moved all of his Stitzel Weller barrels and other necessities to the location.

From 1983 until his move to Buffalo Trace in 2002, Julian integrated the Hoffman name into some of his product labels. Other products said they were bottled by the Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY. And just to make things extra confusing, Julian also bottled some of his products with the wording “Commonwealth Distilling Co.” on the label. This name came from a brand his father had originally secured during his tenure at the Stitzel Weller Distillery.

From Old Commonwealth to New Old Commonwealth

As Julian’s time at his facility in Lawrenceburg came to a close at the turn of the century, he decided to bottle some of his wheated bourbon under the “Old Commonwealth” label. The bourbon he chose was aged for 10 years (or more) and bottled at 107 proof. The iconic label depicts two men enjoying a toast on their wedding day (just kidding). The other nice touch was its use of green-tinted glass that a lot of Van Winkle products (including a good amount of Old Commonwealth Small Batch bottles) used back then. These bottles now fetch around $5,000 on the secondary market/auction sites.

The distillery was eventually converted into a sign shop after Julian moved out. But as the bourbon boom shifted into high gear, entrepreneurs and investors began to scout every nook and cranny in Kentucky to see which facilities and brands they could revive. Here’s the story of what happened next:

Zachary Joseph and Andrew English, a nephew and uncle who are enamored with the Commonwealth Distillery’s history and its venerable products, purchase it. Along with family friend and partner Troy LeBlanc, the trio aim to revive the facility, calling it Old Commonwealth. 

The distillery took five years to rehabilitate and set up for commercial operations. As a parting token of generosity, the sign shop’s owner – Lou Defino – created and installed a lasting piece of hardware for his old workplace.

With the opening of the new Old Commonwealth Distillery approaching, Zachary, Andrew and Troy needed to secure some barrels of whiskey to usher in the new chapter of business at 2021 Glensboro Rd. They were able to source 10-year-old barrels of Barton’s 75/15/10 ryed bourbon (read my article about the origins of this undisclosed mash bill here) as well as barrels of Wilderness Trail’s 64/24/12 wheated bourbon.

For all the more the founders did to replicate the look of the Old Commonwealth release, the decision to use a ryed bourbon instead of a wheated bourbon was a little bit weird – especially when they had stocks of both on hand. Wait, no it wasn’t because the Wilderness Trail wheated bourbon they sourced is just not good. I’m glad they put the ryed Barton bourbon in this bottle instead of the wheated one.

Bottles of OC10 were released sometime around October 24th to members of the Old Commonwealth VIP program. A little bit later in this review, I will share a link of an article I wrote explaining why things weren’t exactly all sunshine and lollipops with the release. But rather than get into it now, how about I dive into this glass? I sampled this neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Scents of crème brûlée, burnt marshmallow and saltwater taffy (almost briny!) give the nose a sweet and caramelized character right off the bat. There are also really dark oak and barrel char notes that feel like the insides of the barrel were agitated quite a bit prior to bottling. That’s a good thing in my book. I am also getting this really “fatty” scent that’s somewhere between buttery, cream and rendered animal fat (does that make sense?). Fruit notes are few and mainly revolve around some toasted citrus zest. I can even find a little chocolate if I sniff long enough.

Palate: Full bodied and spice-forward. I find loads of hot cinnamon candies and red pepper flakes that singe my tastebuds. Caramel, leather and oak are very prominent and make up a majority of what I taste inside the glass. I find a tiny hint of banana that manages to wiggle past the Cherry Twizzlers and candied citrus flavors. Caramel isn’t the only sweet sugary note I find, there’s also molasses. The rye of the mash bill sticks out a little with a couple herbal/mint notes that poke their heads out from time to time. Overall, this is better than I expected and I’m loving the punch that comes along with each sip.

Finish: Sweet caramel, vanilla and fading oak linger for a long while when the sip is complete. The spices I mentioned on the palate smolder on my tongue for a bit and the Kentucky Hug sizzles all the way down. Some other flavors that stand out for me towards the end are barrel char, dried cherries and a little bit of citrus zest.

Score: 8.4/10

What is it about 7 to 10 year old Barton bourbon that makes me love it so much? It straddles the line between being dense, fruity and approachable to losing all of its nuance to overwhelming oak and leather if it ages for much longer. This was the perfect proof and age to bottle these barrels at.

I also must do a shoutout to this rather strange recipe that Barton made but keeps a secret. I haven’t had a bad 75/15/10 yet. And while you might ask what’s so different about that recipe compared to their standard 74/18/8 mash bill, I don’t have an answer to that yet. I wish I knew if they altered a part of the distilling process or used a different style of yeast to make it different and better. But I can assure you, I’m going to keep buying bottles that have it whenever I see someone mention that’s the bourbon inside.

Final Thoughts

Based on the packaging alone, I’d say this bottle is a buy. Very few of us have vintage bottles of Old Commonwealth 10 Year in our collections, but having its replica will guarantee to spark a lively conversation for your next “bottle share.” Old timers will talk about the Stitzel juice they could frequently find back in the day while new enthusiasts can learn about the history behind such a monolithic brand. Both sides should be able to enjoy the juice inside.

But beware – it’s almost twice the price that other Non-Distiller Producers were charging for the same barrels back when they were 9-years-old. This sets the bar high enough that not everyone will be able to buy a bottle.

There is a dark side of this inaugural release that might turn some people away from what the new Old Commonwealth owners did here. I explore the story more in this article. It offers some insight and background into the first few days that this bottle appeared on the secondary market and the turmoil that followed. It’s worth a read for anyone who is trying to improve their whiskey knowledge or doesn’t want to get swindled on the secondary market.