1978 S.W. Merry Christmas Miami Machine Corporation Kentucky Straight Bourbon 4/5 Quart with Presentation Box

A 1978 corporate presentation bottling — S.W. Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, personally selected as a Merry Christmas gift for the Miami Machine Corporation, with its original decorative box.

The ornate gold front label reads "Personally Selected for Merry Christmas Miami Machine Corporation," finished with gold wax detailing and an S.W. wax seal. The presentation box carries the matching seal. The reverse label identifies the contents as Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, and the glass is embossed 1978.

Bottlings like this were made to order in very small numbers for a single company's holiday gifting and never went to retail. That's what makes them interesting now: there was no production run to speak of, no distribution, and no reason for many to survive sealed with the box intact.

The 4/5 quart format dates it on its own — the US moved to metric bottle sizes at the start of the 1980s, so a 4/5 quart bottle is necessarily pre-1980 fill.

The bottle and packaging show age-related wear consistent with their vintage. Please review all photographs carefully for exact condition of the bottle, fill level, labels, wax, seals and box.

Specs

• Brand: S.W. (as printed on the label)
• Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Edition: Personally Selected — Merry Christmas, Miami Machine Corporation
• Year: 1978 (embossed)
• Size: 4/5 quart
• Closure: Gold wax with S.W. seal
• Packaging: Original decorative presentation box
• Condition: Vintage — see photographs

Browse the rare spirits collection or all bourbon at Wooden Cork.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a 4/5 quart bottle? The standard American spirits size before metrication — four fifths of a quart, roughly 757ml, marginally larger than today's 750ml. The US switched over at the beginning of the 1980s, so any bottle marked 4/5 quart was filled before then. It's one of the more reliable ways to date a vintage American bottle.
• Who was this bottled for? The Miami Machine Corporation, as a Christmas presentation. Corporate holiday bottlings were commissioned in small quantities for a single company's gifting and never entered retail distribution, which is why surviving examples turn up in ones and twos rather than as a known release.
• What does the S.W. marking refer to? The label and wax seal carry the initials S.W. and nothing more. We're listing it as printed rather than expanding the initials, since the bottle itself doesn't identify a distillery and attributing one without documentation would be speculation.