Another Age Statement Bites the Dust (And More Recent COLA Findings)

[SMOWK]

For me, Grand Dad 114 is like Rittenhouse Bond was a decade ago, a sleepy treasure that is filled every once in a while for its few longstanding customers, and will someday either get discovered or deleted to free up juice for a heavily hyped new label.

Please do not speak of sucheth.

[StraightBoston]

Please do not speak of sucheth.

In the meantime, keep a couple bottles in your bunker (I'm greedy -- mine include ND distillate!)

[fussychicken]

Not to risk even more thread drift, but this brings up a another question. Is OGD 114 chill filtered? Maybe this is where it is getting some of its great taste? Maybe the ODG BIB is and the 114 isn't?

Of course we know you don't have to chill filter above 100ish proof, but that doesn't mean that Beam doesn't.

I did a little digging around and couldn't seem to find an answer in past threads. Does anyone know?

[kickert]

I am so glad to see bourbon lovers using the COLA database regularly. It was one of those industry secrets that was always open to the public. There is so much great information you can get from it. And having people dedicated enough to browse it, surely reveals some interesting information. Even if they aren't released, at least you know what the companies are thinking about.

[c2walker]

kickert inspired me to check COLA again and tonight we turn up...

Michter's 20 year old bourbon, 25 year old rye, and 25 year old bourbon.

[Trey Manthey]

That 20yo is definitely new, but I've been seeing those 25yo bottles on the shelf for a while now. I always see some crazy prices on them, like $350.

kickert inspired me to check COLA again and tonight we turn up...

Michter's 20 year old bourbon, 25 year old rye, and 25 year old bourbon.

[cowdery]

When Beam first started with the Small Batch Collection, something didn't become Knob Creek or Basel Hayden until the barrels were selected and dumped. Later, they began to 'barrel-to-brand,' which meant both variations in distillation proof and variations in barrel entry proof, though in most cases the lower distillation proof was the barrel entry proof. No water was added.

A lower distillation proof doesn't mean a separate run. It just means that at some point in the run -- the end, I assume -- they adjust the still for a lower distillation proof. Everything else is the same.

Lower distillation proof means more flavor is retained from the grain, yeast, etc. Lower barrel entry proof means more water, which typically means more extraction and a different evaporation dynamic, although when the differences are small as they are in Beam's case, the effects are pretty small too. Mainly it was a way to help products that were intended to age 8 or 9 years avoid becoming too woody. They also tend to age those products in the most suitable locations, generally not the highest and hottest spots.

As for chill-filtering, feel free to assume that any bottle whose label is silent on the subject is chill-filtered. If it's not chill-filtered, they'll tell you.

[cowdery]

As of 2008:

Bookers and Baker's come off at 125 proof, and go into the barrel that way.

Knob comes off at 130, and is reduced to 125.

Jim Beam comes off at 135, and is reduced to 125.

OGD/BH comes off at 127 and gets diluted slightly to 125 for entry.

Based on the above, this is only true for BH and 114. I'm going to guess that regular OGD comes off at 135 and is reduced to 125.

[Brisko]

Some newer COLA findings of interest:

From Heaven Hill, John E. Fitzgerald Larceny. "Very Special Small Batch," whatever that means. A wheater, I presume? 92 proof.

From Beam, Old Tub BiB. Dear lord, please let this see the light of day. I have an irrational weakness for BiBs, especially pre-pro labels.

Not bourbon, but the return of a much loved SMS: Macallan Cask Strength.

[dridge11]

Larceny could be interesting depending on how "Very Special" it is.