Is this Old Charter 10 a UD bottle or BT?

[SFS]

I found this bottle today, next to a shelf full of Old Charter 8 year. It was the only one, and I didn't have my notes with me, so I bought it on a whim (for $20/750 mL). Based on the pictures on BourbonEnthusiast, I suspect this is BT product, but I can't find a picture of the UD iteration.

SKU ends in 009837, 86 proof (both the UD and BT versions were 86, so that doesn't help me). Numbers on bottom of bottle are:

9:00 position - 42
6:00 position - 98 (though that second digit didn't mold as clearly as all the other digits on the bottom.)
3:00 position - 16

There is also a faint "printing" of a date code or similar on the bottom, next to the "16", that reads (as best I can tell): 42 22 371 8 1458

Can anyone help me out on the UD vs. BT question? Also, how's the bourbon?

Edit: I'll post a picture in the next post. Can't figure out how to add it now.

[SFS]

Here's a picture. The bottle on the right is just for comparison purposes. I bought the one on the left.

[HighInTheMtns]

Appears that the bottle is from the end of 98 or later. Your reading of the date code is probably incorrect - the three digit number should be the day of the year, so 371 is too high. That date code came from the bottle manufacturer and not the distiller, so it only gives you a lower limit. AFAIK this would date that bottle right around the time that BT acquired the brand. They did get some OC barrels in the acquisition (they later released some as BTEC Rediscovered) so it very well might have UD juice in it even if it was bottled by BT.

[T Comp]

The purchase by Sazerac of Charter and WL Weller from Diageo was announced on 4/28/99. You have a Bernheim distilled OC.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/-a054502139

[HighInTheMtns]

One other thing - it's the first part of the UPC code that can tell you who bottled it, not the last part. Current OC10 starts out with 88004 according to Sazerac's website.

[SFS]

The purchase by Sazerac of Charter and WL Weller from Diageo was announced on 4/28/99. You have a Bernheim distilled OC.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/-a054502139

Is that good news? Can anyone tell me what to expect?

[SFS]

One other thing - it's the first part of the UPC code that can tell you who bottled it, not the last part. Current OC10 starts out with 88004 according to Sazerac's website.

Thanks for that correction, I've been looking at ALL SKU numbers WRONG. This bottle is an 88076 SKU.

[ErichPryde]

88076 is the bernheim code now owned (and I'm pretty sure used) by Heaven Hill. back then it would have been Bernie! Nice. I think HH still uses that on current Fitz products. I memorized most of the majors for Beam, BT, HH, UD, S-W when it had its first UPC (not SKU, btw), and so on. There's a resource on this site that should help you if you look (I've got to give a cat some meds, I'll look later on)

Also, a note on glass: You have an anchor bottle. Anchor glass almost always bears a 42, which is simply some internal code they use, and then the year. 1998, would be 98. At the very latest this was bottled in 1999 sometime. I don't know if UD was even using a printed Julian code at that time, and glass is the best way to tell (other than UPC). I'd bet your bottle has an anchor symbol somewhere on it.

[SFS]

It does, in the 12:00 position, on the bottom. Couldn't tell what that was. Was going to put it in the OP as "kind of an reversed capital G followed by a capital G", but sure, that's an anchor, and I see it on a lot of bottles.

So I've actually found something good?!?! This will be my third ever dusty!

[ErichPryde]

Sure you did. I'm not a fan of Charter, UD or otherwise, except the BIB. but enjoy it! Something from another era that can't be found any more.

Also, my mom used the UD charter 10 year for her bourbon pecan pie. She quite using Charter a little after 2000 because "the quality of the bourbon went downhill." And she didn't even know they were bought out!