Ezra Brooks No.19 Special Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon /47%/ 0.75l

Ezra Brooks Bourbon debuted in the 1950s as part of the Hoffman Distilling Company offering.

One of its managers, Ezra Ripy, tried to take advantage of the insufficient supply of Jack Daniel's and practically copied its presentation, bottle shape, color and label design (the case ended in a court that banned the use of an almost identical advertising slogan on the label). Ripy thought that his name combined with the Brooks name would have a natural sound for Kentucky bourbon. In the 1970s, the Ezra Brooks brand was acquired by Medley Distilling Co., which sold it in 1993 to David Sherman Corporation. The latter changed its name to Luxco Inc. in 2006. In 2018, Luxco opened its own distillery in Bardstown (Lux Row Distillers), where Ezra Brooks bourbon is currently distilled. The future of this brand is unknown, as in January 2021 Luxco was acquired by MGP Indiana (for $475 million).

The extremely rare Ezra Brooks No.19 edition presented here comes from the last century and most likely contains bourbon distilled in the 1970s. The label states that this whiskey is "Bottled by Ezra Brooks Distilling Company, St. Louis, Missouri" at the headquarters of David Sherman, and later Luxco. At that time, Ezra Brooks bourbon came almost exclusively from Heaven Hill Distillery, and its mash bill was 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley.