Charcoal Perfected J.W. Dant & Matt Watkins BIB

[ACDetroit]

2 bottles in my dad's basement I have no idea what these are! Looking for any help from some of the guys who have been around awhile?

1) Bottled In Bond Matt Watkins American Light Whiskey 100 proof 1974 green tax stamp is missing but bottle looks full

Distilled By Continental Dist. Corp. D.S.P. PA. 1

2) J.W. Dant Charcoal Perfected Old Style Whiskey Aged 10 Years 1960

Lawrenceburg Ind.

I'll be bringing these home as my dad has no need for them and I'll drink it so if you have ever seen or had these I'd love to here you thoughts??

Thanks in advance!

Tony

[Dr. François]

2) J.W. Dant Charcoal Perfected Old Style Whiskey Aged 10 Years 1960

Lawrenceburg Ind.

Tony,

I found this chronology on a, well, shall we say, rival bourbon discussion forum. My question: was the Dant bottled in 1960 or barreled in 1960?

Excerpt quoted from Mike Veach:

1944 - Arm and Hammer purchases the Gethsemane distillery who

run it as United Distillers of America (Hist. Nelson

Co., Distilleries).

1952 - Schenley acquires the Dant Gethsemane, Kentucky

distillery (Bev Med Blue Book, History).

1957 - J W Dant "Charcoal Perfected" is introduced (U D Archive, Uncataloged press release).

1968 - Dant experiments with special decanters for their bourbon (Kovel's bottles, Dant).

1987 - United Distillers acquires Schenley (C Morris,

15/11/91).

1993 - United Distillers sells the J W Dant Brands to Heaven Hill (M. Veach, 3/93).

[ACDetroit]

The bottom of the bottle has the 60 on it and it's 4/5 quart. So I'd say bottles in 60 or close to it.

Thanks for the research Jeremy!!

Tony

[barturtle]

Just outta curiosity, what's the proof on the Dant? It's a nice looking bottle, I'd guess it to be one of the premiums of its time.

[ACDetroit]

Just outta curiosity, what's the proof on the Dant? It's a nice looking bottle, I'd guess it to be one of the premiums of its time.

Only Eighty!

[nydistiller]

I would bet that the dant is good stuff. I have never tried any light whiskey. I do not think there is a single brand left on the market, inless Barton QT is still sold. It was a bourbon recipe distilled to a higher proof, I assume that it was made to combat blended whiskey.

[cowdery]

Barton only recently stopped making light whiskey and they were the last. I was surprised when I learned that they were still making it. Light whiskey was similar to a Scottish grain whiskey. It was distilled at between 160 and 190 proof, so between bourbon and vodka. It was supposed to save the industry. It bombed.

I note that the Dant comes from Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and though 10-years-old was not a straight whiskey. Assuming they were doing something like the Jack Daniel's process, this probably also has a very light flavor. I wonder if it's Cascade Hollow whiskey, bottled at Lawrenceburg.

Ironic that the only bourbon in your picture is Early Times.

[OscarV]

I never knew that Early Times was once a true "Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey".

When did they start aging in old used barrels?

And Tony, man you find old dusties everywhere.

[boone]

This thread will give a little more detail about "light" whiskey. A big flop This article was about HH's venture into this end of the line product. Nearly all the distilleries gave this new "light stuff" a try.

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showpost.php?p=30956&postcount=64

[ACDetroit]

Ironic that the only bourbon in your picture is Early Times.

Yeah I will say Chuck my father is not the bourbon fan I am. The Early Times was from his dad, my grandfather and has been open for a long time! If that 4 year old was better than it is now when they opened it I want to find a case:lol: !

It was really good for young stuff!

I may bring the Dant to the Sampler for all to judge!

Thanks for everyones comments!

Tony

[mozilla]

I never knew that Early Times was once a true "Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey".

When did they start aging in old used barrels?

BF still makes a ksbw ET. IIRC it is sent to Europe.

[cowdery]

Early Times was always a bourbon until the early 1980s--a dark time for American whiskey--when Brown-Forman decided to make the production changes that meant it could no longer be called bourbon. I was working for a Brown-Forman ad agency at the time and remember the meeting at which the announcement was made. That also was when they switched to a square bottle and abandoned the bright red and yellow color scheme for the label, going to something more beige. The logic? I remember this: "people don't buy types, they buy brands."

[StraightBoston]

BF still makes a ksbw ET. IIRC it is sent to Europe.

In Japan, there are two varieties of Early Times for sale as KSBW -- yellow label and brown label (looks like the US non-straight variety.) Somewhere else I posted the mashbills and learned that the yellow matches the US Early Times, and the brown matches Old Forester(!)

I like the yellow label when I'm in the mood for something light and sweet.

[boone]

I note that the Dant comes from Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and though 10-years-old was not a straight whiskey.

HH bottles Dant now...

When I saw the J.W. Dant I could not remember the "exact words" on that label. I forgot all about it until last week it was next up on B-line. I stopped to read the entire label and check the paper's. No where on that label does it state straight bourbon whiskey. Just the charcoal perfected, old style whiskey.

The product inside the bottle is straight bourbon whiskey. I checked the paper's.

[cowdery]

I suspect this shows, more than anything else, that there wasn't the premium placed on the words "straight bourbon whiskey" that there is today. The Dant product may always have been straight bourbon, as it is now, they just didn't feel the need to put those words on the label.

Even in the early 1980s, Brown-Forman felt little compunction about taking those words off the Early Times label. Jim Beam has always encouraged the trade to value the words "straight bourbon whiskey," but those efforts have not slowed the juggernaut that is Jack Daniel's.

Early Times, on the other hand, may have been destined for the dustbin of history and the change just let Brown-Forman manage the decline a little more profitably.