Drink of the Week: Old Fitzgerald 7-Year-Old Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Bourbon and summer go together like peaches and homemade ice cream. Like a squirt of yellow mustard on a hot dog straight from the grill. Like the overhead boom of Fourth of July fireworks and the bleating echo of a distant car alarm. Whiskey’s such a natural for seasonal refreshment that we devoted our July/August issue’s annual summer drinks coverage to recipes that’ll keep you turning to the brown-booze shelf all the way through to Labor Day. And to get things started for this long summer weekend, we’ve got our pick for Drink of the Week: Old Fitzgerald 7-Year-Old Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

A new regular release from Old Fitzgerald, the 7-Year-Old Bottled-in-Bond debuted in June. The word “new” is doing a lot of work here, considering that the Old Fitzgerald trademark has been around for close to 150 years, and its bottled-in-bond expressions have been favorites for generations. But this newest expression from Heaven Hill Distillery both tracks the classic Old Fitzgerald character, while bringing a fresh perspective to the familiar style.

As longtime bourbon drinkers know, Old Fitzgerald is a wheated bourbon, with 20 percent wheat in its mashbill (along with corn and malted barley). Coupled with the seven years the bourbon spends in an oak barrel, this translates through into a soft, layered elegance in the glass. Honey and pastry shell come through in the aroma, while brown sugar and baking spices emerge on the palate. 

At 100 proof, the new Old Fitzgerald expression has the flavorful oomph required to hold its own in a summer classic like a Mint Julep or a modern classic like the Paper Plane, along with a complexity that makes it a great pick if your preferred pairing is just with a few ice cubes. All around, this bourbon offers a gentle yet robust way to sip your way through the summer. $59.99, oldfitzgeraldbourbon.com