The third batch of D.H. Cromwell, a highly coveted revival of a cult-like bourbon with a fascinatingly obscene history, goes on sale on Thursday. Given that previous batches have sold out in minutes, it might be a good time to learn a little about the producers behind this 15-year-old bourbon and the history of “Dirty Helen” Cromwell, the namesake behind the bottle.
What Is Old Commonwealth?
As we’ve outlined before, Old Commonwealth is a once-shuttered distillery that the Van Winkle family had its hands on for the brand’s production until 2002, when Buffalo Trace took over and shut it down.
The original Old Commonwealth can trace its roots back to 1889. After a few sales and pivots (including a time as the Hoffman Distilling Co. and the Ezra Brooks distillery), Julian Van Winkle III renamed it the Commonwealth Distillery in 1983, though the property was really used to bottle and sell his family’s whiskey reserves. Zachary Joseph and Andrew English purchased the distillery in 2019 and have been using it since then to revive old whiskey brands.
Old Commonwealth’s sublabel D.H. Cromwell may be an homage to a historical figure (more on that in a minute), but the whiskey is actually a revival of a 2000 release by Louisville liquor retailer Gordon Jackson, who obtained a full barrel of 15-year-old wheated bourbon from Van Winkle III. Those $60 bottles in 2000 can fetch up to $18,000 today at auction.
As for the Cromwell name? That’s quite a story.
Related: Old Commonwealth Distillery Revives Legendary D.H. Cromwell 15 Year Bourbon
Who Was “Dirty Helen” Cromwell?
Helen Cromwell-Jackson was a madam, speakeasy operator and hotel proprietor. At the Sunflower Inn, her property in Milwaukee, Cromwell only served whiskey and earned her nickname cussing out customers who asked for anything besides the good brown spirits. The new bottles of Cromwell feature a quote from the whiskey icon that sums up her personality: “If you don’t drink bourbon, you probably wouldn’t like me anyway.”
Of all the interesting tidbits in Cromwell’s history, working as an undercover madam for mobster Al Capone to see if his regular madam was skimming cash ranks pretty high (and it turns out, she was).
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Fun fact: Jackson’s original plan to sell his Van Winkle barrels as “Dirty Helen Cromwell” was rejected, hence the abbreviated moniker. However, he was allowed to put the letters “VGS” on the bottom of the bottle, an old wine term that stands for “Very Good S—tt.”
What D.H. Cromwell Batch 3 Tastes Like
The idea behind any Old Commonwealth release is to create a deeper, rounder whiskey reminiscent of vintage bottles. But what made those older bottles so special?
“I could spend hours on this question,” says Joseph, the co-owner of Old Commonwealth. “The trees cut for barrels back then were much older than the ones used today, bringing different flavors to the whiskey. As technology has advanced, production is far more consistent, meaning there’s much less of the variation that gave those old bottles their character. Yeast strains were different, too. Proof is a big consideration as well. Old releases typically sat somewhere between 80 and 107 proof, and the red candy and fruit notes really start to shine there.”
Interestingly, the new D.H. Cromwell forgoes the wheated element that made the original bottle so coveted. Here, you’re getting a mash bill of 75 percent corn, 13 percent rye and 12 percent malted barley. “This year’s D.H. Cromwell isn’t wheated simply because we found no wheated option that met our standards,” says Joseph. “We won’t bottle something just to chase an old recipe. Our job is to honor the history and prestige of those original bottles, and the best way to do that is to put the best whiskey we can find inside them. We’re not ruling out a future batch that is wheated, though.”
While the company doesn’t disclose the source of the distillery they’re using, you can make some informed guesses based on the mash bill and age. The liquid spent one additional year in a secondary cask: American oak barrels from Kelvin Cooperage, using two char levels (2 and 3), both with a medium toast. So it’s technically a 16-year-old product. Eight barrels made the final blend.
Coming in at 98 proof, this is also the lowest-proof D.H. Cromwell release yet. The dark cherry and fruit notes are definitely front and center on the nose. On the palate, it’s a lovely mix of brown sugar, vanilla, toasted oak spice, orange zest, and cinnamon candy. It’s well-rounded and downplays the barrel spice.
The new bottle no longer says VGS. While Batch 2 had “GFS” (or “Gold F—ing Standard”) printed on the label, Batch 3 has switched it up again to “SGS” (or “Seriously Good S—”). Which it is.
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How to Buy D.H. Cromwell Batch 3
The bottle hits the Old Commonwealth e-commerce store on Oct. 29 for $299. The release time will be emailed to OC VIPs on October 28, the day before the launch. The good news is that anyone can sign up for free to be an OC VIP.
The bad news? As I noted above, these bottles tend to sell out in minutes. So if you want to drink something that’s SGS, I’d suggest you sign up on their waitlist today.
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