Last Night's Tipple

Jim Beam bottles three expressions of Old Gran-Dad Bourbon: the 114 proof version, which I have previously written about, the 86 proof version, and the 100 proof version. In addition, Basil Hayden's, one of Jim Beam's Small Batch Bourbon Collection, is made from the Old Grand-Dad mashbill and is named for the man who was the original Old Grand-Dad. As you can see from looking at the picture to the right, the 100 proof version has the word "bonded" in big letters at the top of the label. In addition, in small letters at the bottom of the label, it also says that it is "bottled in bond under supervision of U.S. Gov't". What exactly does that mean, you may be asking yourself.

In the 19th Century, whiskey was shipped in barrels. The distiller would sell barrels of his product to a wholesaler, who would typically "rectify" the spirit contained therein by adding other whiskeys, flavorings, and sometimes adulterants to make the resulting product more palatable to his customers or more profitable to him. He would then sell the whiskey to retail customers, typically bars and saloons. The problem with this system was that fraud and other abuses were rampant. A wholesaler's salesman would have tasting bottles to give retail customers some idea of what they would be buying in barrel, but there was no guarantee that what the customer tasted and ordered would be what he actually got. Furthermore, less scrupulous wholesalers would add all manner of noxious and dangerous adulterants to the whiskey to make it look and taste better. In response to this problem, the US Congress passed the Bottled In Bond Act in 1897, which provided that whiskey distillers (and distillers of other spirits, as well) could set up bonded aging warehouses supervised by the US Government. Whiskey from those warehouses could then be bottled, and the bottles could carry the Bottled In Bond designation and the statement that it had been bottled under government supervision. In order to qualify, the whiskey had to be straight (ie, distilled from a mash at least 51% of a particular grain and without the addition of grain neutral spirits), aged for at least four years, and bottled at 100 proof (exactly 100 proof, not at least 100 proof). Furthermore, it had to be made at one distillery (identified by number on the label) in one season (spring or fall of a particular year). These provisions gave assurance to consumers that the whiskey contained in bottles so labeled had not been adulterated and conformed to minimum standards. The act, and the invention of a bottle-making machine in 1903, revolutionized the American whiskey industry. Since there are now other legal definitions of what characteristics a whiskey has to have to be called Straight Bourbon, and since the American consumer largely prefers his liquor at a proof lower than 100, there aren't a whole lot of Bottled In Bond Bourbons out there anymore. The Old Grand-Dad is one of maybe three or four Bottled In Bond offerings that I saw recently at my friendly neighborhood liquor superstore.

Because of its rye-heavy mashbill, Old Grand-Dad is not like any other Bourbon that I have tasted. There's a lot of grainy spiciness on the nose that I associate with the rye content. There's also a good deal of cinnamon and cloves. Surprisingly, since this Bourbon supposedly spends around six years in barrel before bottling, there's not much char or vanilla, even after it has been in the glass for a while. On the palate, there is some of the cinnamon that I noticed in the 114 proof version, but it's mostly a savory yeasty, bready taste. That might not sound particularly appetizing, but it is. Blame the writer, not the whiskey. Old Grand-Dad is a distinctive American whiskey and a legitimate classic. I'm glad that Jim Beam has preserved the brand and its recipe despite the fact that it long ago ceased to be a top-seller.