There’s a revival of the American-born brown spirit called bourbon whiskey. The top shelves are flooded with the pricey stuff, from new-wave craft whiskey to bulk booze resold in fancy bottles. But when it comes to parsing price and quality, the equation isn’t always linear. Often overlooked are the ones toward the bottom shelf, the ones our grandfathers drank, the ones with “old” in their names. I drank them all because, frankly, it sounded like fun. Here’s what I learned: These golden-aged titans of bourbon are too quickly judged and too easily dismissed. Besides the dreck (Old Forester may as well be wood varnish), there are some damn good shoestring whiskies rivaling much of the overpriced corn juice on the market.
Old Bardstown Black Label 90
When wine doyen Robert Parker gave it 94 points and compared it to Pappy Van Winkle’s 20-Year, people went nuts for this candy corn-sweet whiskey; think butterscotch and syrupy cinnamon. It’s not bad with ice on poker night, but otherwise, mix it.
Old Crow
It may be a shadow of its former self since the days when Ulysses S. Grant and Mark Twain drank it, but both the 80- and 86-proof bottles are good values. The former is floral and peppery, the latter, more complex with a quick, minty, spicy finish. Good for mixing.
Old Grand-Dad
The “Grand-Dad” was Basil Hayden, a name bourbonites bow down to. It’s dry and astringent with tons of spice from the high rye, but it has a hit of up-front honey and oak followed by a cinnamon candy and clove finish. This one is best on the rocks or mixed.
Old Taylor
If you could liquefy popcorn, this is what it would taste like. Old Taylor smacks of caramel-vanilla sweetness fading to a lingering peppery-ness. Did I mention lots of corn? It’s best mixed or on the rocks.
Old Weller Antique
When balanced by a splash of water or an ice cube, it’s a sturdy sipper full of honeyed fruit, citrus and cinnamon all the way to its soft, long finish. Mellow from wheat, it’s smooth and sweet. Some call it a thriftier version of Old Rip Van Winkle while others compare it to the rare Pappy Van Winkle’s 23-Year-Old.
This article appears in September 2014.
