scratchline Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Came across an unusual bottle of JW Dant whiskey today and wondered if anyone had any info on it. As near as I can remember, it didn't say bourbon on the bottle. Nor did it indicate that it was blended. It was an old tax strip bottle, 80 proof, distilled in Indiana. It said something like charcoal mellowed on the label but the accompanying text sounded like that just referred to the barreling in charred oak. It was four years old. I thought maybe it was Dant's JD-style product. Anybody have any idea?Thanks.-Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think I saw an older bottling in a liquor store that was a Dant blended scotch? :skep: Might have been called JD, or some variation of those initials? i just quickly looked at it, as I was more interested in the many older bottlings of bourbon. I'll be back in that area soon, and I'll see if I was hallucinating.:crazy:JOE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scratchline Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 I think I've actually solved the riddle. Apparently it is a Tennessee style whiskey that is labeled as "charcoal perfected". I'm not sure if it's still being produced (at least I've never seen it before) but I think I may pick it up just to give it a try. -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grain Brain Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 I just picked up a bottle of what you may be talking about (which is why I bumped your thread). My bottle is labeled "J.W. Dant's Old Style Whisky". And yes, that's sans an 'e' in 'whisky'. It has the 'charcoal perfected' stamp on it as well. The only maker info on the bottle is "Bottled by the Dant Distillery Company, Louisville, KY".Trying it now, it has a good mouthfeel and some spice and vanilla. Not bad, especially for the price paid; $11.50 for a liter bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Interesting. Looking at Cecil, I see that the J. W. Dant distillery was reopened by the family after Prohibition but shortly thereafter it was sold to Armand Hammer, who subsequently sold it to Schenley. Presumably Heaven Hill got it (the brand that is, the distillery was long since closed) in one of the big brand sell-offs that occurred in the 1980s. Schenley had the Bernheim distillery in Louisville and, eventually, Stitzel-Weller. Of course, since it says "bottled by," it's possible the whiskey was distilled elsewhere. Due to the success of Jack Daniel's, several bourbons put the words "charcoal filtered," or, in this case, "perfected," on their labels, but it generally didn't amount to anything like the process Jack Daniel's or even George Dickel uses. In most cases, the distillery didn't do anything special, since many use activated charcoal in the filters they use for chill-filtering. Still, technically at least, that's "charcoal," so it's not false advertising, even though it doesn't have anything like the effect the Tennessee process has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grain Brain Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Thanks for the info, Chuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdog Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 I just picked up a bottle of what you may be talking about (which is why I bumped your thread). My bottle is labeled "J.W. Dant's Old Style Whisky". And yes, that's sans an 'e' in 'whisky'. It has the 'charcoal perfected' stamp on it as well. The only maker info on the bottle is "Bottled by the Dant Distillery Company, Louisville, KY".Trying it now, it has a good mouthfeel and some spice and vanilla. Not bad, especially for the price paid; $11.50 for a liter bottle.Grain Brain...The Dant whiskey you have described was one of the key components in a past rebarreling project of mine. Tim amd I decided to use that whisky for color and flavor when we put or "Blend" together...I got the impression, and this is just a guess, thet this whisky could have been new make that was put in used cooperage for a very long time until someone finally bottled it. The label is very inconsistent from anything in that time period and any text is not very specific as to what is in the bottle...we can determine that it is not bourbon. If you or anyone else has/finds aditional knowledge about this whisky I'd sure be interested in it!Good find, and should be real good to drink...and the price is right too!dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grain Brain Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Wow, cool about the blend there dog, and the conjecture about the cooperage. I must say, it was certainly not an $11 wasted. So it's not a bourbon, so it may not be a straight whiskey... it still has a good taste.Now, tonight I saw a bonded (I think) Dant straight bourbon, but with upc code, govt warning, and all the markings of modern stock, however, the sucker was only $7 a fifth. I was temped, but held off. Do you (or anybody else out there) know whether this is a worthy purchase? At $7, I'm wayyy skeptical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdog Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 For 7 bucks, almost anyone could afford to taste it and dump it down the drain if it wasn't up to preference...I say go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grain Brain Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Ha! True, but I had already spent a lot of money by that point on an all day dusty bottle hunt. In fact, I did score one bonded bottle of Dant straight bourbon, with metal screwtop and no gov't warning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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