147. Old Grand-Dad Bonded Bourbon Review

Welcome to another trip down the Bourbon Road with your hosts, Jim and Mike. So grab a glass of your favorite bourbon and kick back.

We would like to thank our friends at Premium Bar Products for sponsoring this episode. If you're ready to step up your game at your home bar, check out premiumbarproducts.com to choose from their wide selection of glassware, all of which can be custom engraved with your personal message or logo. And there's no minimum order. So after the episode, head over to premiumbarproducts.com and check out everything they have to offer. Now let's get on with the show. Hello everybody. I'm Jim Shannon. I'm Mike Hyatt. And this is the bourbon road. And today, Mike, we're grabbing from low on the shelves, aren't we?

Yeah. You know what? Um, I would say it's low on a shelf, but I guess on most shelves, this, uh, is about mid midway for me.

Between knee to waist, knee to waist, maybe. Yeah. Down at the knee level for me.

Yeah. So we're going to go ahead and review old grad dad bottled and bond, um, special bourbon. And lately somebody said that me knew, um, what they say. They said we were snob snobbery. There's a little bit of snobbery. So you, you see the bottle I have Jim, right? Uh, you've been over here, you, you, you know, um, I will drink anything.

We do. Actually, we drink a lot of stuff off the bottom shelf. I mean, I've got several down there that are my favorites. I think maybe what they might be referring to is on Craft Distillery Mondays, we typically review a craft distillery. Craft distilleries typically have seasonal or unique releases, in which case the prices sometimes can be a bit high. $50 to $100. Yeah, we're trying to lift up those small distilleries, the ones that are trying to break out.

Yeah. And there's nothing wrong with that or the going to those craft stores, but every once in a while, some people want some something near the bottom of the shelf. Now I picked a new bottle of this up. I'm not going to crack it because came home, looked and I was like, man, I still got some left in that bottle. So I want to go ahead and drink it. But $22 is what you can pick this up for.

Yeah. And you went out and picked up a bottle, right? I did go out and pick up a bottle. So you and I both bought these bottles. They weren't provided to us. I have heard, I haven't noticed personally, but I have heard that sometime, season to season, the OGD bonded will change a little bit. It'll be a little bit different from one year to the next. And that just means that they're probably getting pretty close on the profile, but they might drift just a little bit. So you might notice a difference between your open bottle and the one you just bought?

Well, they both are almost about the same color. I think one's a little bit lighter, but there's a lot less liquid in the bottle. Now this should be right up your alley, Jim, our high rye drinkers out there. This has a mash bill of 63% corn, 27% rye and 10% malted barley at 100 proof. I would call this a dark honey color. Your standard whiskey bottle,

Yeah. I mean, it's, it's lighter than a typical Amber bourbon four years old.

You said, right? It is four years old. That's what they say.

Well, granddad has three different expressions, uh, that they put out the bonded, which we're drinking today is right in the middle. And then they've got an 80 proofer, uh, which I can't imagine how light that one's going to be. And then they have a one 14.

And then 114 is pretty dang good too.

Yeah. 114 is a substantial bourbon. It's a firecracker.

Now, for people that don't know, people that like to drink Basil Hayden, this old granddad, it was made for him. A guy named Raymond B. Hayden named after his grandfather, Mayor Basil Hayden Senior. It's been in production since the early 1800s, I guess late 1800s, and it's never been stopped being made or produced. Even through prohibition, it was produced by the American Medicinal Spirits Company. That's pretty cool, right? They never stopped. They just kept pumping it out.

It's really cool. And there's not a lot of brands that could say that they've been in continuous production. There are a few, but there's not a lot of brands that can say they've been in continuous production since the 1800s.

So what's, what for our new listeners out there, Jim, that just don't know all that much about bourbon, what is bottled and bond mean?

Well, bottled and bond is a set of requirements that strive to ensure quality and purity in bourbon. And in order to be labeled as a bottled and bond, you have to first of all be 100 proof. You has to also be four years old or older. You have to be made in the entire batch has to be from barrels made in the same distilling season at the same distillery under the same master distiller. And they have to be stored in a bonded warehouse, which is open to inspection by government officials. Now that no longer really honestly takes place. But the, the bottle and bond act was enacted basically to stop

adulterated whiskeys, things that we have heard of as rot gut and to spitting tobacco juice in there, pouring other additives in there to make it look like whiskey, give it that dark age color. Maybe they have a one year old, right? And then they spit some tobacco juice in there, which is just as gross because this can be, um, they wanted to prevent that.

And you know, bourbon already has some requirements. You know, it has to be made in the United States. It has to be made 51% corn. Uh, it has to be, uh, aged in a new charred oak barrel. So there's already all these requirements just for bourbon alone. Then when you take it up to this next level and you call it bottled and bond, or in the case of old granddad, they just call it bonded. Uh, you're pretty much guaranteed to get quality. Now it doesn't mean you'll like the profile, but it means you're going to get quality in the whiskey.

Well, heck, I say let's stop chatting and let's nose this thing. Let's do it.

And it's got a spicy nose on it.

I get a little bit of worn leather on this, um, like a, not an old boot, but a, like a baseball glove. And you, you know, you're working the leather and making it softer, some old saddle. Yeah.

You know, those cinnamon bears little. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Reminds me a little bit of a cinnamon bear.

You talking about the cinnamon bears rolled in that sugar?

No, no, no. Just the gummy ones, but they're, but they've got that cinnamon content.

I could smell the little bit of corn on this deal. Um, I'll see that sentiment, just super powerful in this because of the ride content, I think. Um, and it says right on the bottle. It is a high ride mash bill, but there's no doubt about that.

I think let's taste it, Mike. Let's do it. There's that sizzling pop.

It's almost like drinking one of those cinnamon bear candies. Yep. Very, very cinnamon. Got a sweetness to it. I really like this.

I do too. Well, you know, this is right up my alley. Like you said, um, I think it's got a nice, um, a nice level of sweetness to it. I think it's kind of well-balanced in my mind. Uh, it does got that, that sentiment. If you're not a spice person, if you're not, if you're not liking that, um, that little bit of burn, uh, probably not your thing. Uh, but old granddad has always been known for being a little bit on the spicy side.

I think it's almost like sticking that fresh piece of big red chewing gum in your mouth. You know, you get that cinnamon pop to it and, you know, it just kind of carries all over your mouth when you're chewing on it. Very beautiful. For a 100 proofer, this thing's got some viscosity to it. It's very oily, not watery and stuff. Now, we reviewed one of Beam's bourbons in the past, Old Tub, and it amazes me the difference between this and Old Tub.

There is a big difference between the two. Now, they're both bonded whiskies, but I can't tell you how they differ otherwise. I don't remember the mash bill, if it is different or not.

I think it is the match bill. I think there's like 13% to 17% rye where this 27% rye is definitely gives us a little zing, you know? Are you getting anything else on this gym besides that cinnamon?

I'm getting, I'm getting that oak on the, a little bit on the backend, a little bit. I'm getting a little bit of that leather. I think I get a little bit of that antique flavor we get sometimes just a little bit. The more it sits on the back of my palate, the more I kind of get a little bit of nuttiness out of it. But I, you know, it's kind of a nutty wood.

I can get the oak in there just a tad bit. Um, definitely that leather, the spice. almost like a hot cinnamon roll to, um, from, uh, what's the, what's the place over there by the gas station by you? What's the Cinnabon, Cinnabon, Cinnabon's, um, big old roll would just, just doused in cinnamon. Right. Um, who, who doesn't like one of those?

Now it's got a pleasant finish. Um, I would call it probably medium at best, not a long finish, but it is a pleasant finish.

You know what's weird about this, Jim, is it doesn't have that gigantic Kentucky hug on it though, right? For that high rye, you would think it'd have more kick to it. Um, or I don't get that right now. I'd get a little bit of one, but not much of one. I would expect more, but I think the higher the rye you go, it's not going to give you that Kentucky hug. It's going to give you that pop on your tongue.

Yeah, this is, this is well rounded. It's nice and balanced. Uh, Well-rounded, if you like a spicy, higher rye bourbon. I think that presents itself well to the best of my knowledge. I've always liked this one. I don't drink it very often. I'm not sure why I don't reach for it because at what? $24, $25. You can't beat it.

Yeah. I don't know how you beat this at all, um, for the price. It's a, it's a great bourbon to me. And some people might get offended by this, but this might be one of Beams best bourbons right here for the money for me. Um, I like it. Um, very tasty. You just can't, I don't know how you can beat it. It's just hard to say, Hey, I'm going to beat this with something else. I would say if you're doing a blind bottle challenge and it's a bottle to bond, that's everything's gotta be 100 proof. I guarantee you can take a bottle of this and you do all right with it.

do all right with it. Now it is going to be an outlier. It's going to be one of those that appeals more to the people with the spicy palate. So if you're coming in with something a little more baking spice, a little more caramel, vanilla, less rice spice to it, you're going to have people that sort of polarize towards those two opposites. Probably not a good bottle to take to a challenge. Right?

We might just have to find out, Jim. We just might have to find out. A bottled and bond challenge. I get a little bit, the last sip I had, I get a little bit of dark fruit in there. Maybe some dark, some cherries on that. Maybe, you know, I like to eat those dates. I wouldn't say that's a, that's not that dark fruit, is it? Or is it?

You know, I, what is a dark fruit anyway, right? I mean, it can be almost anything.

Well, Jim, another great whiskey. I'm glad we did this one. Um, I think it's something that we needed to do. We, we kept talking about getting down and proof a little bit because we've been up there in a high numbers, 130s and 120s, um, a hundred proof. We've still got to drop it down a notch to get down to that 90 proof.

Um, maybe one of these days we'll pull all three of the old grand dads and the 80, the 100 and 114. And we'll just try them side by side and see how they are. See how they are. See how proofing down a whiskey affects its flavor profile.

Have you lately, have you picked up anything that, uh, that you're surprised by? My goodness.

I don't know that I have.

Did deliver a box of bourbon to you last night after we ate dinner. So that's always nice to get a box of bourbon or case almost.

Yeah. Six bottles, wasn't it?

Yeah. Five or six bottles. Just, you know, we've got friends out there that wanted to make sure that we didn't run out of bourbon, correct?

Well, I don't think there's any hazard of that. Probably me, me or maybe I'm more likely to run out than you.

I don't know, but, um, you're not going to run out. Yeah.

That was a pretty nice, pretty nice box of bourbon you brought over. I have to say, uh, thanks for bringing that. I'm, uh, I'm going to enjoy every one of those. I guarantee it.

Well, I just took a trip to Oklahoma to see my baby brother in a OKC and, uh, I was quite shocked to find it. a lot of Weller antique 107 out there and a plethora of Elijah Craig barrel proof all the way from, I found a 19 out, a 119 out there. I found that a 120 and then I went to another liquor store and they had a 121. So, you know, I was thinking about just throwing some clothes away for my trip back. I was thinking how much bourbon can I fit in my suitcase? And I guess that's a good thing, I guess. But I didn't have a carry-on going, but I bought myself a little bag to come back with. I stuck a pair of cowboy boots in there, stuffed all my underwear and socks inside the cowboy boot, and then stuffed all my blue jeans inside that carry-on. It was heavy, but I wanted to make sure, sure. I had plenty of room for bourbon to bring back. So I stocked up on Elijah Craig Barrelproof and Weller 107. And then I got a couple other bourbons that we're going to review on the show in a short time that I think we're going to be just shocked by. I'm looking forward to it.

I can hear the, I can hear the roadies now. They're all hollering road trip, road trip, Oklahoma. Let's go.

Well, you know, um, we do need a road trip. Um, we need to get back out on the road. We've got some great shows coming up.

Well, I think final word on the old granddad is, uh, definitely a sipping whiskey, definitely a value at $25 more or less. It's spicy. It's, it's a cinnamon, uh, it's a cinnamon bear in a bottle, but, uh, it's, it's pretty good. And it's, uh, I think it's a great value for me. Got to have it on my bar, going to sip it, uh, share it with my friends, a little bit low on the price list to be given away as a, as a gift. But if you need a bottle in your, my place and I got an extra one, I'll hand one to you.

Well, I will tell you, Jim, this is my thoughts on it. Great sipping whiskey, like you said, it's a buy all day long at that price, $25. How can you beat that? If I knew somebody that was just getting into bourbon, I'll give them this. I don't think it's overly spicy as we've had other stuff because the proof is down at a hundred. It is a different kind of spice, that cinnamon spice we talked about. So what I give somebody once, if they're starting a bar or they're getting into bourbon whiskey, I'd probably buy them a bottle of this. So it's just not so shocking to them. And it's affordable and you can find it everywhere. So if you're looking for a great bottle, I'd say go out there and pick up a bottle of it.

And it looks a little antique on the shelf at your bar too, because it's the same daggone bottle and label they've had for a hundred years more or less, right?

They haven't changed nothing. I think we knew actually drinking old granddad bottle and bond from the sixties with our friend Dusty Dan. Um, which a little different than this, um, as you would think it's been bought and sold several times. The company itself has been so, or the name brand, but still a great bourbon to have on your shelf. Jim, where can you find us on social media?

Well, we're on all the social medias at the bourbon road. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and we keep saying it. Tick tock, but it's coming.

It's coming. I've been thinking of some stuff. I got, I got an idea for a video for our first video.

You got to be creative on TikTok because there's a lot of competition on there.

I'll just say this, Jim, I'm going to drink bourbon from a cereal box. What just think about it. All you listeners out there, think about big chief drinking bourbon from a cereal box. That's all I'm going to say about that. Um, yeah, you can check out our website, uh, the bourbon road.com. You can find our swag on there. Find our bourbon bullshit or t-shirt. I promise you this week, we'll get a photo of our bourbon road shirt. It is going to be a, pre-sales, meaning you'll purchase the shirt first. We'll put our order in. We'll get the shirts out, ordered, and then we'll send them out. So look for that Bourbon Road shirt. Jim's already got one. So we just kind of been to keep it on the wraps. We've both been extremely busy.

Check out that. Check out our reviews on there, like the old granddad bottled in Bond.

Also check out our articles on there. If you want to leave us a comment about what you like about the show or what we can do better, go ahead and leave us a comment on there and we'll try to get to it.

So we do two shows a week, one like today's, which is a craft distillery Monday episode and a one on Wednesday, which is our normal full length episode where we usually have a guest on or Mike and I sit around and chit chat. We want you to catch both shows every week. Listen to them. If you like them. Definitely Mike, what do they need to do?

Well, you need to subscribe to it first. You need to go ahead and scroll on up and hit subscribe. That way your phone tells you, hey, those two jokers over there at the Bourbon Road, they're talking again. They've done another show and your phone will let you know that we got a new show up. Secondly, you scroll down, hit that five-star review because you know you love Jim and Big Chief. Hit that five-star. If you got to hit a one-star hit it, but leave us a good comment on there about what we can do better, what we can do to earn your trust. and respect and get you to give us a five-star. That's our ultimate goal, I guess, is to make sure everybody's happy. Jim, are we going to make everybody happy? I don't think so, but we'll sure try. We'll damn sure try. That's for sure.

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Now we, we try not to have any of those people in there just because, um, you know, everybody, everybody in there gets along. We, it is the best group there is out there. I'll tell you that I'm, I think I'm in about 54 different bourbon groups on Facebook and there's not one of them that is as good as the bourbon roadies. Um, everybody treats each other with respect on there. We got a bunch of master distillers in there, distillery owners, um, Anybody in the bourbon culture you can think of that's doing business, they're part of the roadies. They'll come in and comment and help us out with answers. It is definitely a giant family and we can't say thank you enough roadies.

Yeah, so if you're drinking on a whiskey from your local area and you think it's just exceptional and it's something you'd like to share with the world, let Mike and I know about it. We'd love to hear about it and possibly even feature it on the show. We do that often. If you have an idea for a guest, we'd love to hear it. We do, like we said, two shows a week. We'd like you to listen to both of them. If you need to reach out to us and let us know how to do things better, you can reach me on Instagram at jshannon63. I'm one big chief and we will see you down the bourbon road. You know, you can't drink whiskey without glassware and Mike and I are extremely pleased to have a sponsor like premium bar products. Premium bar products offers direct to consumer, the finest whiskey glasses, cocktail glasses, and bar tools with your own personal engraving. I mean, you can write anything you want on these glasses, anything from a company logo to a personal statement. And there are no minimum orders. Their direct consumer platform offers you the opportunity to purchase small quantities of your favorite glass shapes that enhance the pleasure of enjoyment and drinking a whiskey and make it all very positive. They offer the absolute finest trending and handmade classes as well as a comprehensive range of styles and all of their items have been designed with purpose, practicality and longevity in mind. So if you're a bourbon or whiskey group and you need custom logos, you need to reach out to premium bar products. If you're an individual, you just want a few for your bar to impress your friends, to give out as gifts, you need to call Premium Bar Products. They need to be your one and only source for custom glassware. I can tell you right now, the Bourbon Road, that's who we use. Janie and Carson and the team there at Premium Bar Products will take care of you. They'll treat you like family and they'll take care of you with every order.