Description

Old Vandegrift 1917 Pure Rye Whisky
Distilled in the Fall of 1917, at Hammond Distillery in Indiana, USA, this rye whiskey was
subsequently bottled in 1934. Hammond Distilling Company was incorporated in 1901 and was run
by none other than John E. Fitzgerald, after whom the Stitzel-Weller (and now Heaven Hill) classic,
Old Fitzgerald is named. John was born in New York to Irish immigrant parents: James and Mary
Fitzgerald. His father was a cooper and reared his young family in Chicago, where John E. Fitzgerald
would later earn a reputation as a talented distiller. After organizing the Hammond Distilling Co.,
Fitzgerald served as its secretary and general manager. The distillery had the capacity to produce
500 barrels of whiskey per day, making it one of the largest in America at that time. Yet, due to
Prohibition, Fitzgerald was forced to sell the distillery in 1917. This whiskey was some of the last to
be distilled in Hammond before it was shuttered for good the following year.
Subsequently, Old Vandegrift had an interesting association with Prohibition gangland via one-time
pharmacist, turned lawyer, turned ?King of the Bootleggers?: George Remus. He studied Prohibition
laws for loopholes and realised, if he owned a drug company, that he could legally purchase and sell
bonded liquor for medicinal purposes. In order to acquire Federal permits to pull whiskey from
bond, Remus set up the Drobbatz Chemical Company and purchased two additional wholesale drug
companies in New York. He began purchasing distilleries (one of which was Hammond distillery) and
set up his own trucking company. He funnelled whiskey to the black market by getting his own men to hijack his ?legal? shipments. After acquiring additional forged liquor withdrawal permits, the vast
stores of Hammond whiskey - including Old Vandegrift ? were regularly shipped to the southside of
Chicago to supply the Italian mobster Johnny Torio, mentor to the infamous Al Capone.
Remus, a larger-than-life character, became fabulously wealthy, was featured in the HBO series
Boardwalk Empire and was the inspiration for the main character in The Great Gatsby. If Remus had
not been incarcerated in 1924 on a myriad of bootlegging charges, none of the Hammond whiskey
stocks would have survived Prohibition. Thankfully some whiskey stocks remained in bond and in
1934 this Old Vandegrift expression was bottled in New York for medicinal use. Old Vandegrift,
therefore, is a step back in time to the very whiskey, distilled by a famous Irish-American distiller,
that graced the shady speakeasies of Prohibition-era Chicago
The bottle is relatively good condition given its age, the cap has some corrosion on it but the seal is intact.

LOT No. IWA: 1815001

Guide Price: €900 - €1200