Expert: Paul Wagner - 11/11/2005

Question
I recently aquired a bottle that has two labels on it.


1820
Brandy

and

From
M.E. Bellows' Son
Agent & Importer of Wine, Spirits
77 North St New York

Any idea what I have here.
The bottle looks old, labels are very faded, I see bubbles in the glass and it has a wax glob of wax sealing it.  The bottle is still full.

Any info would be appreciated

Answer
Dear Leonardo:

This is a really interesting question--and I am sorry to say that I am going to ask you to look at that bottle again, for more information.

Bellows is an old company with a long and complicated history.  (It was not around in 1820, by the way!).  But after Prohibition, it was sold to National Distillers.  They continued to make the Bellows products, but eventually sold the names to Jim Beam, I think.  At this point, Bellows is a very inexpensive brand of distilled products--and I don't think they even make a brandy.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that we really don't know when your bottle was made.  There should be a sticker on it (maybe over the cap?) that give a date---or more information somewhere about where and when it was made.

I am curious--and it is possible that you have something that might be of value.  Because of the high alcohol content, Brandy does not improve in the bottle ( only in the barrel) so the liquor inside isn't really worth much.  But to a bottle collector, this might be of interest.

Paul Wagner