Bomberger’s A Blend Of American Straight Whiskies Batch No. 3

The Bomberger’s Distillery legacy can be traced back to 1753 when two Swiss Mennonite farmers named John and Michael Shenk began distilling rye whiskey on their farm near Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The distillery was passed down through relatives of the Shenk family until 1860 when the distillery was purchased (and subsequently renamed) by Pennsylvania Dutchman Adam Bomberger, who owned and operated it until Prohibition forced its closing in 1919. At that time, Bomberger’s Distillery was the oldest operating distillery in the United States and, in many ways, represented the transformation of whiskey distilling from an agricultural enterprise to a large-scale industrial one. Today, Bomberger Distillery is recognized as a national landmark and is undergoing a whiskey-making renaissance thanks to the stewardship of Dick Stoll, Bomberger’s master distiller. Trained by Everett Beam himself, Stoll is the former master distiller of Pennsylvania Michter’s, where he created the famed A.H. Hirsch Bourbon. Eric Wolfe, a business partner involved in revitalizing the Bomberger’s brand, said of Stoll, who is now in his 80s, “He knows so many things from doing this for decades that he doesn’t even know what he knows.” Bomberger’s Blended Whiskey is crafted in the traditional Pennsylvania rye style, known for being sweeter and more robust than whiskies made elsewhere. The whiskey blended from a high-rye bourbon and McKenzie Rye Whiskey (from Finger Lakes Distilling Co.) is aged for at least two-and-a-half years. The whiskey has beautiful candied orange and cherry aromas, which lead to vanilla, caramel, and baking spices on the palate. The whiskey finishes with hints of oak and citrus, enhanced by subtle tones of tobacco and leather.