Ol Grand Dad

I need a bit of information concerning ol grand dad whiskey, or any other libation that may have went by this name. My uncle told me that his great, great grandfather had his picture on the, or a, bottle of the beverage. Fill in for me please. Have you heard of this before. I am new to the bourbon lore.

You could start here.

Would you care to indentify yourself?

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield

Very nice link, Dave.

I will add that, even though OGD no longer seems to be a highly popular brand, it is still an excellent and distinctive whiskey.

Tim

Tim,

I agree. I am fond of the BIB bottling; I may never have tried the 86 proof version.

I've come to believe that bourbon brands, like dog breeds, are easily ruined by popularity.

I hope that OGD continues to sell just enough to warrant keeping the brand alive, but no more. Otherwise, it's likely the proof and quality will go down and the price will go up. The price increase would be accompanied by a redesigned package, making it harder for me to find on the shelf -- assuming I still wanted to buy it.

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield

The person depicted on the Old Grand-Dad label is supposed to represent (probably not a likeness taken from life) Basil Hayden, grandfather of R.B. Hayden, who created the Old Grand-Dad brand. There is no lack of Hayden kin in central Kentucky. Old Grand-Dad is a fine bourbon, distinctive for having a very large amount of rye in its mash.

On my recent trip to Nashville, I was very surprised to see very little OGD BIB 100 on the shelves. I think I only saw it in one store, out of the many I visited. I did see the 86 proof several times.

I wonder if slowly but surely 100 proof whiskeys, for so long the quality standard, are starting to disappear in favour of 80-94 proof whiskeys and of course specialty whiskeys in the range of, say, 107 -140 proof. As a long-term trend, the bonded and then (unbonded) 100 proof standard seems to be in decline (from the 1950's onwards), in part (or at least we are sometimes told) because customers no longer associate them with high quality.

Of course there will be exceptions, like Knob Creek, and WT 101 (which essentially is 100 proof with a slight difference to distinguish itself).

But I wonder whether OG 100, VOB 100 and that class of whiskey will start to wither (even though some still may be sold at that proof). I am a fan of OF 100 in particular and hope there will always be some available.

But I just have the sense (in other words) that most 100 proof bourbon doesn't have the cachet, the specific market appeal, it used to. We saw e.g. RR 101 reduce to 90 proof. I hope I am wrong.

Gary

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gillman

I hope I am wrong.

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You aren't the only one, Gary. It does appear to be a trend though.

Thanks and by the way when I said we are told (by some distillers) that 100 proof is not felt to represent quality, I meant specifically in relation to the termed "bonded", I think some feel in the industry in other words that the consumer does not understand the significance of the term any longer. Hence e.g., that it seems to be dropped from some bottlings (OF 100?) that still may be bonded whiskey in fact. Knob Creek too may be bonded (although no one seems sure).

Of course too, some may wonder if 100 proof is being slowly dropped or cut back because more margin can be made in lower proof whiskeys.

Sure, a number of brands are available at over 100 proof but these tend to be expensive in relation to the traditional 100 proof whiskeys.

Gary

Chuck,

Is the article re: BIB that you wrote for Malt Advocate available online?

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield