PROVENANCE AT ITS BEST: A HISTORIAN’S COLLECTION OF AMERICAN WHISKEY

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One bottle of Willett 25 Years Old Black Wax, estimated at $15,000 – 20,000, and one bottle of Willett Family Estate 21 Years Old Gold Wax, estimated at $12,000 – 15,000.

Boston – Bonhams Skinner will offer a collection of rare American whiskey boasting exceptional provenance and carefully procured over the last 25 years during its Distinguished Distilleries: Rare Spirits sale from June 4 – 18. The collection hails from Dr. Paul S. Hirsch – an award-winning writer and historian – who developed an effective system for discovering vintage and rare bottles of whiskey and became a leading authority with a robust community around collecting outstanding spirits. The 47-bottles on offer, boasting labels from a number of important distilleries, exemplify Hirsch’s dedication to seeking out the best of the best.

While recovering from an accident in 2000 which left him an amputee, Paul stumbled across a bottle of Old Weller Original 107 Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon Whiskey at a local liquor store. This discovery turned a quest for American whiskies into a passion that helped heal his body and recuperate his mind. Interested in figuring out how many more gems were hiding in plain sight, Paul utilized his skills as a historian to develop a system for finding these treasures. He posited that liquor stores in areas that had been prosperous in the decades following World War II, but which had sadly since faltered, began pulling their high-end American whiskies from shelves in the late 1960s to replace them with more popular spirits like vodka and blended Scotch.

While earning a PhD in history, Paul traveled to many historical archives around the US and wherever he went, he hunted dusty and modern bottles of bourbon and rye that had been taken off the shelves. He learned to recognize tax stamps, bottles, and the evolving labels buried in the back of shelves or in liquor store basements. Sometimes these efforts yielded a stash of post-war whiskies or more modern treasures. Paul combined his historical expertise and passion for American whiskey into a small business, Barrel Strength Consulting, and hosted tastings and classes throughout southern California. He also helped educate bar and restaurant employees about the history of American whiskies and sold bottles to collectors from Manhattan to Los Angeles.

“The hunt for American whiskies provided my second education in history and a primary education in generosity and hospitality. As a disabled American, my mobility was, and remains, limited, but finding wonderful bottles of whiskey enabled me to host tastings, dinner parties, and post-meal sipping sessions that sometimes ran until morning,” Paul reflected. “My wonderful friends came to my apartment and sampled hundreds of bottles with me. In the process, I learned that the hunt was just a small part of being a whiskey geek; the most lovely and indelible experiences were shared with the people that helped me heal and advance. Pouring the whiskey, I’d discovered, was my way of thanking my friends, of bringing us closer together, and of celebrating or mourning the peaks and troughs of life.”

The highlight of Hirsch’s collection and found using his system is an impressively aged Willett Family Estate 25 Years Old Bourbon with a black wax, estimated at $15,000 – 20,000. Known the world over for producing some of the finest Bourbon and Rye in Kentucky, Willett has remained a family owned and operated company since its inception in 1936. The bottle on offer is part of the Willett family’s Private Barrel Selection – the only label of its kind in existence – and stands as their flagship Bourbon, the longest aged of any product they’ve made in their almost 100-year history. This unique bottle was specifically selected and bottled for the California retailer, BevMo, and has been colloquially nicknamed “Chocolate Monster” for its rich, hedonistic style.

The sale will also feature another bottle from the Willett Family Estate – a 21 Years Old Bourbon with a gold wax, estimated at $12,000 – 15,000. This particular bottle of wheated Bourbon, selected and sold by California retailer K&L Wine Merchants, is widely believed in the collecting community to have come from the Stitzel-Weller distillery. While Willett has neither confirmed nor denied that, if it’s true, it is one of the last bottlings from the original Stitzel-Weller stocks.

“Working with people like Paul is one of the true joys of our profession. His vision, historical approach to collecting and genuine love of the product allowed him to find and drink whiskies that, put frankly, are simply no longer found in the marketplace,” commented Louis Krieger, Global Business Director for Bonhams Wine & Spirits. “Paul has opened the doors of his vault to the collecting community and it’s not an overstatement to say this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to acquire some of the rarest, and most highly sought after, bottles in the world.”

Additional highlights of the collection include:

• A bottle of Karuizawa 31 Years Old from 1981, estimated at $10,000 – 15,000.
• A bottle of W.L. Weller 12 Years Old Single Barrel, estimated at $3,000 – 5,000.
• A bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 20 Years Old, estimated at $3,000 – 4,000.
• A bottle of William Larue Weller from 2006, estimated at $3,000 – 4,000.

About The Bonhams Network

Bonhams is a global network of auction houses, with the largest number of international salerooms, offering the widest range of collecting categories and selling at all price points. Bonhams is recognised for its bespoke service, and a dedication to local market relationships, enhanced by a global platform. With 14 salerooms, Bonhams presents over 1,000 sales annually, across more than 60 specialist categories, including fine art, collectables, luxury, wine & spirits, and collector cars.

Founded in 1793, Bonhams has representatives in more than 30 countries and operates flagship salerooms in London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. In 2022, Bonhams added four international auction houses to its network: Bukowskis, Stockholm; Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen; Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris and Brussels; and Skinner, Massachusetts. The success of Bonhams’ global strategy is a result of recognising the shift in growing intercontinental buying and increased digital engagement.

Recent important auctions and landmark single-owner collections, include the white glove sales of Sir Michael Caine: The Personal Collection, Alain Delon: Sixty Years of Passion; Sir Roger Moore: The Personal Collection; Personal Property of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and The Robert & Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting. Other notable single-owner sales included The Estate of Barbara Walters: American Icon; The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection; The Crown Auction: Props and Costumes and The Claude de Marteau Collection.

Top lots for 2023 include 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta, Sold at Quail Lodge, US for US$30,255,000. Tipu Sultan’s Bedchamber Sword (sold in London for £14m – a world record for both an Islamic and an Indian object); Paul Signac (1863-1935), Sisteron, 1902. Sold for US$8,580,000 (estimate US$4-6 million), and Claude Monet (1840-1926), La Seine près de Giverny, 1888. Sold for US$6,352,500 (estimate US$4-6m), both from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection; A Gilt Copper Alloy figure of Virupaksha, Central Tibet, Densatil Monastery, Early 15th century. Sold for HK$37.9m (£4,060,326) in Hong Kong. Yoshitomo Nara (born 1959) Three Stars. Sold for HK$36,754,000 (£3,930,914), also in Hong Kong.

More information and highlights can be found here. For a full list of forthcoming auctions, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, please visit bonhams.com