Old Taylor: What Did/Am I Miss/ing?

[Quintilian]

Back in the 90s my dad "retired" from the grocery store business and started up a liquor store. He had a decent selection of bourbon. We had one customer whose regular purchase was Old Taylor. I never got a chance to try Old Taylor, and now I'm interested in what it was/is like. Is this stuff still being produced? If it's not, what did a miss? From what I recall it was inexpensive and 80 proof, which is oftentimes a bad combo.

[miller542]

Short answer: You only missed the National Distillers era of Old Taylor. Try current Beam offerings and current Sazerac Old Taylor to see what '90's to current Old Taylor was/is like.

Long answer: From my memory, Old Taylor was originally at National Distillers. Then, from multiple Wiki pages:

"In 1987, National Distillers Group sold the spirits business to the Fortune Brands holding company, which became Beam Inc. On June 24, 2009, Buffalo Trace Distillery (part of the Sazerac Company) purchased the Old Taylor Bourbon label and barrel inventory from Beam Global Spirits & Wine, maker of Jim Beam Bourbon and subsidiary of the Fortune Brands holding company."

All National Distillers products seem to be looked upon pretty highly here. I've only been into bourbon long enough to remember the 2002+ era Old Taylor, which Beam seemed to treat as a lower shelf label with the other cat and dogs from the ND acquisition, Old Taylor, Old Crow, and Old Grand Dad. I'm sure the '87-'90 bottles of Taylor had some ND distillate in them and were really good regardless of proof or age. Yes, cheap and 80pf can be a bad combo, but I liked the Beam Old Taylor, I like the Beam mashbill, Taylor had a 6yr age statement which is an additional two over Beam white label, and Taylor was cheaper than Beam white label, so whats not to like? That said, its probably not anything anyone would seek out, bunker, or regets is gone.

I haven't had a current Old Taylor to comment on how it has faired since the Sazerac acquisition, though it has retained its 6yr age statement for the time being. I also would not look down upon it simply because of the 80pf, lots of entry-level bourbons at 80pf are decent sippers and great mixers.

Edited December 16, 2014 by miller542

[PaulO]

We also now also have Colonel Taylor in the cardboard tube. It's the same mashbill as Buffalo Trace, but a little more age and proof (and a lot more $). The Beam made Taylor, I found to be not good or bad, just really average. It's better than the cheapest bottom shelf. Dusty hunters claim the ND Taylor tastes like butterscotch.

[michaelturtle1]

ND old Taylor is pure butterscotch, it is not a complicated pour but is delicious and so dangerously drinkable

[suntour]

Not that it matters much, but it's now no longer age stated. Well, it still says 6, just not 6 years.

[Quintilian]

Short answer: You only missed the National Distillers era of Old Taylor. Try current Beam offerings and current Sazerac Old Taylor to see what '90's to current Old Taylor was/is like.

Long answer: From my memory, Old Taylor was originally at National Distillers. Then, from multiple Wiki pages:

"In 1987, National Distillers Group sold the spirits business to the Fortune Brands holding company, which became Beam Inc. On June 24, 2009, Buffalo Trace Distillery (part of the Sazerac Company) purchased the Old Taylor Bourbon label and barrel inventory from Beam Global Spirits & Wine, maker of Jim Beam Bourbon and subsidiary of the Fortune Brands holding company."

All National Distillers products seem to be looked upon pretty highly here. I've only been into bourbon long enough to remember the 2002+ era Old Taylor, which Beam seemed to treat as a lower shelf label with the other cat and dogs from the ND acquisition, Old Taylor, Old Crow, and Old Grand Dad. I'm sure the '87-'90 bottles of Taylor had some ND distillate in them and were really good regardless of proof or age. Yes, cheap and 80pf can be a bad combo, but I liked the Beam Old Taylor, I like the Beam mashbill, Taylor had a 6yr age statement which is an additional two over Beam white label, and Taylor was cheaper than Beam white label, so whats not to like? That said, its probably not anything anyone would seek out, bunker, or regets is gone.

I haven't had a current Old Taylor to comment on how it has faired since the Sazerac acquisition, though it has retained its 6yr age statement for the time being. I also would not look down upon it simply because of the 80pf, lots of entry-level bourbons at 80pf are decent sippers and great mixers.

[squire]

In the old days Taylor was a lighter style with an uncomplicated, straight forward yet rich flavor. The 6 year old 86 proof was middle shelf among still competition and the 8 year old 100 proof Bond was considered to be, and priced as, top shelf.

[michaelturtle1]

The 1940s bottling of BIb I have open is seemingly of a much higher rye content than the 1970s-90s ND whisky I have tasted

[squire]

Wonder if wartime grain shortages had anything to do with that. Traditionally Taylor used white corn in the mashbill to produce a lighter whisky and the style was not particularly rye forward.

[shoshani]

I have a 500ml bottle of 9 year old Old Taylor BIB that I'm saving for a momentous occasion. Distilled 1971, bottled 1980. It's the last dusty I ever found. 1980s-era ND Old Taylor will probably always be my first bourbon love.

[michaelturtle1]

I generally find Tuesday's or Thursday's to be momentous, let the whiskey be the excuse to open it and not have an excuse to open the whiskey. In my experience it always works out for the best.

[shoshani]

Wonder if wartime grain shortages had anything to do with that. Traditionally Taylor used white corn in the mashbill to produce a lighter whisky and the style was not particularly rye forward.

Four Roses has always struck me as having a lighter house style. I wonder if they use white corn? (Does anyone mix white and yellow corn in their mashbill? That might be yet another fun experiment for BT, WF, and other distilleries who engage in such things.)

[Paul W]

My one bottle of 86 proof ND-era OT is my favorite low-proof bourbon, bar none. Putting aside various bonded offerings and unicorn-like dusty S-W offerings, there is no dusty bottle I would rather find.

[jburlowski]

Four Roses has always struck me as having a lighter house style. I wonder if they use white corn? (Does anyone mix white and yellow corn in their mashbill? That might be yet another fun experiment for BT, WF, and other distilleries who engage in such things.)

FWIW, local Cincinnati microdistillery, Woodstone Creek, used both white and yellow corn in their five-grain straight bourbon (white corn, yellow corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley). I think it's good stuff ---- fully aged in large barrels.

http://woodstonecreek.com/

Edited December 18, 2014 by jburlowski

[Vosgar]

ND old Taylor is pure butterscotch, it is not a complicated pour but is delicious and so dangerously drinkable

+1. My first time at the Gazebo, BourbonJoe brought in a handle of this. With an amazing selection of bourbon's on the table I kept coming back to this one.....all 3 nights. I might also add that after Saturday night, there was a few inches left in the bottle and Joe told me to take it home. What a guy!

[Paddy]

I generally find Tuesday's or Thursday's to be momentous, let the whiskey be the excuse to open it and not have an excuse to open the whiskey. In my experience it always works out for the best.

I condone this line of thinking! Hell, I'd even expand on this astute analysis to include Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's.

[michaelturtle1]

I condone this line of thinking! Hell, I'd even expand on this astute analysis to include Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's.

The best night to crack an "epic" bottle is when you can focus the attention on the bottle and not the event.. it is sad to see great bottles wasted and barely appreciated at events where they are a supporting cast and not the star

[Paddy]

The best night to crack an "epic" bottle is when you can focus the attention on the bottle and not the event.. it is sad to see great bottles wasted and barely appreciated at events where they are a supporting cast and not the star

Pure genius and very well said!

This is something that we should all keep fully engrained in our minds, as I'll be the first to admit that I've, at times, failed to truly appreciate a great whiskey because of being distracted by and/or overly focused on the next pour in the lineup.