Last Night's Tipple

Old Charter is one of the venerable brands in American Bourbon, having been founded in 1874 by two brothers in Bullitt County, Kentucky. Its name refers to the Connecticut colonial charter, which was hidden in the Charter Oak in Hartford in 1687 to keep it from falling into the hands of royal officials bent on abrogating it and consolidating Connecticut into the Dominion of New England. The story of the Charter Oak is a classic in the history of colonial resistance to British tyranny, but it does seem to be a odd thing to name a Bourbon brand after. Nevertheless, the silhouette of the Charter Oak on the bottle's neck brand illustrates that name it after the Charter Oak the brand's founders did.

The sad fact is that most of the old-time Bourbon brands that are still around are mere shadows of their former selves. Old Crow has been reduced to under-aged squeeze-bottle stuff by Jim Beam, which now owns the brand and distills the whiskey for it. Ditto for Old Taylor. Ditto for Yellowstone. Old Fitzgerald is not bad whiskey, but it no longer is among the best that can be bought, as it was when it was produced at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery. Fortunately, this has not happened for Old Charter. It has been passed from owner to owner over the years and most recently came to rest in 1999 with Sazerac, the corporate parent of Buffalo Trace Distillery, which now produces Old Charter. Its current corporate owners are apparently committed to maintaining the quality of the brand, albeit at prices that are rumored to be on the rise. There are four different expressions of the brand: an 8-year old 80 proof version, a 10-year old 86 proof version, a 12-year old 90 proof version (also called "The Classic 90"), and a 13-year old 80 proof Proprietor's Reserve. I haven't ever seen the Proprietor's Reserve, but Spec's carries the other three, and at very good prices (around $20 a fifth for the 12-year old). All four versions are distilled from Buffalo Trace's low-rye mashbill, which contains the highest percentage of corn in the business. This makes the 12-year old relatively soft. The nose has a big dose of vanilla and especially butterscotch, with a dose of mustiness, too -- not unpleasant mustiness, but maybe the inside of a humidor or something like that. It's very sweet, too: smooth and without a whole lot of bite. A nice Bourbon at a nice price.