This bottle has a story, and while the rye whiskey the bottle contains is certainly story-worthy, the tale that needs to be told is of the two men who made it possible.

The bottle was sold in 1893 by the S.S. Pierce & Co. store at Copley Square in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. S.S. Pierce was a grocery store founded by Samuel Stillman Pierce in 1831 that started by wholesaling provisions to ships in Boston Harbor and exchanged their goods for rarities and delicacies that ship’s captains would bring from faraway ports. Its land-side customers included John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster. By 1886 The store had gained a golden reputation, providing luxury goods from every corner of the globe to Boston’s ultra-wealthy. S.S. Pierce & Co. also had a reputation for providing the absolute best brandies, cognacs and spirits available anywhere, and whiskey was a focal point.

The S.S. Pierce offering to Rye Whiskey connoisseurs was Golden Sickle No. 2, a glorious whiskey produced by Henry Hannis. Hannis was born in Philadelphia in 1834. In 1850 Henry took a position with Gibsonton Mills Distillery, worked his way up and in 1863 struck out on his own to build his whiskey empire, opening his headquarters at 216-218 Front St. Philadelphia. He purchased the Mount Vernon Distillery in Baltimore, which had the reputation of making Maryland’s best rye whiskey, and renamed the distillery Hannis Distilling Company. More distillery purchases and expansions followed, and Hannis became one of Philadelphia wealthiest men.

At the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1867 Hannis took first place for his Mount Vernon Rye Whiskey and was recognized by Samuel Pierce as the one who should produce the rye whiskey sold in S.S. Pierce & Co. stores. The relation was prosperous for both companies and continued in earnest until 1917, when Prohibition shuttered Hannis Distilling Company and put an end to S.S. Pierce’s business in the liquor trade.

The color of the whiskey, now 97.7 proof, is rich and ruddy, the nose filled with rye spice, sandalwood and cedar, baking spice and red fruits, cherry cordial. The palate is wonderfully smooth, the flavors rich and unctuous, rye grain both silken and spicy, almond liqueur, dark chocolate. Finish is baking spice, effervescent rye notes and menthol-like eucalyptus in the sinuses and a warm glow in the chest.