Old Murphy Whiskey

[bourbonv]

Chuck,
I don't think the label was simply a mistake on the bottling line. The whiskey was bottled in bond and the government agent would not let something like that get by. Back then the government was very strict with the regulations as they were trying to build trust in the new law. It was in the best interest of the government and the distillers that these type of mistakes did not happen. That is why they had a government agent inspecting the bottling lines at all times when they bottled whiskey.

[brendaj]

T-roy and Mike,

I was waiting for BrendaJ to say something since she is related to the Burkes, but I talked to her yesterday and her modem has crashed. It may be a few days before she is up and running again. She did say that she will respond with some photos and information when she is back inservice so please hold on and don't give up on her.

Oh this is so exciting!
I'm sorry to be so long replying, but like Mike said, I 'have issues'...

I wasn't really aware that Burks Springs did "did a whole lot of contract bottling" like the note from Maker's Mark said. I do know they did a sweet mash and a sour mash, as well as a 'blackberry something'. I have some black and whites of the old distillery buildings, and I have a photo of a pint bottle of Old Greenbriar, which was a local brand they sold around Kentucky. I'll post them as soon as I get this computer thing smoothed out.

However, as luck would have it, Mike had the good fortune to connect with a lady at the Filson Club last week that is also related to the Burks. It seems this lady is in possession of several boxes of family papers from the distillery. I betcha there are clues in those boxes. He has given her my numbers and I'm looking very forward to hearing from her.

I promise to post anything and everything I may come up with. And gee whiz...I sure am interested in hearing how it tasted.
Bj

[T-roy]

"And gee whiz...I sure am interested in hearing how it tasted."


When we decided to try it I was a little worried, when I opened the bottle and took a sniff, my worries vanished, it smelled just like modern bourbon. It tasted very smooth I think over time some of the alcohol must have evaporated. It had a somewhat sweet floral taste that I really liked, a bit like brandy but I thought the aftertaste was a little strong (another person who tried it loved the aftertaste). My brother said it tasted smokey. I've asked a couple of the people who've tasted it to give me an opinion, I'll post them.

[afisher]

Chuck,
I don't think the label was simply a mistake on the bottling line. The whiskey was bottled in bond and the government agent would not let something like that get by.

I think the revenooers would have been pickier about the denomination of their tax stamp than the label text. Is there a statement of volume on the stamp, as there is on later BiB stamps?

[T-roy]

Chuck,
I don't think the label was simply a mistake on the bottling line. The whiskey was bottled in bond and the government agent would not let something like that get by.

I think the revenooers would have been pickier about the denomination of their tax stamp than the label text. Is there a statement of volume on the stamp, as there is on later BiB stamps?

I'll have to look, we're talking about the seal up top right?

[bourbonv]

The Green, Bottled-in-Bond tax stamp did give the size of the container. It was also important to the government that this size matched the bottle size and label. I can not see the government letting a mistaken label slip by unless it was simply one bottle with the wrong label. A whole case or days production would be rejected.

[cowdery]

At this point, maybe the likeliest explanation is that this bottle, label, and likely the whiskey inside all started their existence independently and were later put together for some purpose unknown, with the person either not noticing that the label had the wrong size on it, or not caring for whatever purpose it was being done.