Old Grand-Dad Bottle

[TBoner]

The Old Grand-Dad label is just about the best thing going, a marvelous middle finger to the trendy packaging and high-gloss labeling of many middle and top-shelf bourbons. But as terrific as the label is, I'm also very fond of the bottle. It's just one notch above the old-school bottom-shelf fifths in terms of shape, but the lightly dimpled shoulder and sturdy look seem only appropriate given the old-fashioned tastes inside.

Recently, though, I noticed a subtle change in the bottle. Beam bottles of OGD have generally been about a half inch taller than ND bottles, leaner and sleeker. The basic shape has been about the same. However, I picked up a few old Beam bottles from shortly after they bought ND that were the slightly shorter and stockier version I was used to. The difference is hardly noticeable without the bottles standing side-by-side, but it is noteworthy when you pick them up. The shorter ND bottle feels beefier, sturdier, and more like a workman's dram.

Last week, I stopped into a store with brand new Beam bottles alongside Beam bottles stamped "06" on the bottom. The new bottles are a touch shorter, like the National bottles were. It's a subtle change, and purely aesthetic, but I like it. And I think it's worthy of a thread, so there.