The label affixed to the round, weighty bottles of I.W. Harper bourbon just hitting shelves read “Since 1872.”
Not quite.
Though I.W. Harper was indeed one of the nation’s popular whiskey brands for much of the 20th century, its parent company, the now-defunct United Distillers, killed off I.W. Harper in the United States in the late 1980s amid a surge in popularity for white spirits and sticky things like — gasp — wine coolers.
I.W. Harper seemed eternally destined to be a historical footnote in the United States, even as ownership of the brand was absorbed by London-based spirits company Diageo.
Fast forward to present day. Whiskey is hot once again. And I.W. Harper is back.
The return of I.W. Harper marks the second major push by Diageo to reassert itself in the realm of American whiskey. First came the Orphan Barrel series, bourbons aged between 15 and a whopping 26 years. Now comes I.W. Harper.
Both include whiskey distilled at Louisville’s Bernheim Distillery. Diageo sold that distillery to Heaven Hill in the late 1990s. However, at the time of the sale, Diageo retained some of the Bernheim barrels and aged them at its Stitzel-Weller distillery outside of Louisville.
While some Orphan Barrel releases have been comprised fully of that Bernheim liquid, I.W. Harper features only traces of it, blended with a much younger whiskey that Diageo purchased from a distillery it will not reveal.
Diageo’s American whiskey ambassador, Doug Kragel, said the new I.W. Harper Kentucky Straight Bourbon is a minimum of four years old, blended with “some original, 20-plus year old Bernheim distillery liquid that we have in our possession.”
Kragel said Diageo is invested in ramping up its whiskey brands and production.
“Now we’re able to connect people with the history we have available to us,” Kragel said.
Diageo is releasing two versions: a Kentucky straight bourbon with no age statement (but at least four years old) and a limited amount of 15-year-old that retails for $74.99 (which I did not try).
As for the Kentucky straight bourbon: it’s just OK. Relatively high corn content (and very low rye) lends I.W. Harper a fairly pronounced sweetness that makes for relatively simple drinking. Despite the expected notes of caramel and vanilla, Harper doesn’t show much wood or age, and winds up with a fairly one- dimensional finish. The biggest problem is the price: at $34.99, it’s not hard to find more complex and satisfying bourbons at about half the cost.
The Orphan Barrel series has been a bit hit and miss, but if your budget allows — bottles hover closer to $100, and beyond — it’s worth exploring.
Twitter @joshbnoel
