🥃Review #26: Old Grand-Dad 114 Bourbon

📚Background: Now under the management of Jim Beam in Clermont Kentucky, the Old Grand-Dad brand was named by one Raymond B. Hayden after his grandfather Meredith Basil Hayden Sr. (incidentally the namesake of the Basil Hayden Brand, introduced by Beam in 1992). A truly historic line, the whiskey has been sold under the same name since 1840 and Hayden Sr's face still graces the front of the bottle. The old man was known for using a higher percentage of the more expensive rye in his distilling (the "more costly" small grains alluded to on the back of the bottle). Old Grand-Dad 114 is the highest proof offering of the roster which also features a 100-proof Bottled-in-Bond and an 80-proof budget version, alas reduced from 86 proof in 2013. Together, you may hear Old Grand-Dad and Old Overholt referred to as "The Olds", and Old Grand-Dad's distinctive orange and black visage has graced such cultural sensations as M*A*S*H and Mad Men. Though there have been rumors of Beam discontinuing this release for over a decade, it can still be found on shelves reliably and no news has been released by Beam itself. I would hazard that they only do specific runs of the product and its relatively unique bottle shape, so there may be occasional regional shortages if there are any lumps in consumption.  

🛒Sourced: $29.99 Costco - Atlanta, GA 750ml - Other retailers had it as $32.99 but have since reduced the price to the same sub-thirty as bourbon supply catches up to demand. Old Grand Dad was considered a premium offering in the 1980s but then it's major competition was Jack Daniel's. Now it is comfortably within most pocketbooks. 2025 update - seeing it pretty much everywhere at $29.99, perhaps reflecting softening demand. We may see it go lower!

🧪Proof: 114 proof, 57% ABV  - At the time this was around barrel proof. The product was initially labeled as such with some batch to batch variation before being standardized at 114. This was somewhat controversial at the time as there was an unofficial gentlemen's agreement not to bottle bourbon above 100 proof, mainly to avoid "rotgut" characterization.

🎨Color: R4- a charming rustic orange just a smidge lighter than the packaging. Somewhat leggy, though maybe not as much as I would have expected for the proof. The bottle is short and squat with an oversized fatty cork up top nd a plastic 114 proof badge at the base of the neck. This bottle feels solid. Each bottle also features a lot number on the back... this one is from 2024 Lot 1 (paying homage to the original lot batched releases which had some variation... They're all Lot 1 now).

🥔Mash Bill: 63% corn, 27% rye, and 10% malted barley - Beam's high rye mash bill. Ryes are the preferred spirit for a classics old Fashioned, but a high rye bourbon can sometimes take the cake with sweetness. James Bond orders an Old Grand-Dad based Old Fashioned in the novel Live and Let Die, apparently a go-to before he became a martini man on camera. No age statement noted but we know it's at least four years old and common batching techniques imply that the incoming juice likely ranges from 4-6 years. This is the same mash also used in Basil Hayden (as you have have guess from the background), another reason why this product may occasionally be harder to find as it is substantially less profitable than the 80 proof diluted Basil. 

OGD 114 Old Fashioned - Way better than a martini

👃Nose: Booziness with Oak and rye spice, I get a hint of orange peel on the back of my tongue while nosing with mouth open. 

😜Palate: Medium to full bodied, spicy but more mellow than I expected from the nose. Lots of vanilla mid-palate which opens into baking spices, clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg for me. Looking for more, I added a drop of water via pipette (for maximum mad science vibes) and there is a definite brightening of the flavors. I can find the orange promised by the nose as well as what I can only describe as a popcorning sensation of the vanilla and rye, sort of like a vanilla red hots candy. Little bit of Beam peanut funk is present, but this time I'm calling it peanut brittle. 

💦Finish: Fairly Long, peppery and warm but not unpleasant. It lets you know it has the proof but more like a strong hand on the shoulder, reassuring instead of intimidating. 

🏆 Overall:  6.5/10 - Very Good - A Cut Above - This is the fish you would have caught and thrown back to be bigger next year. There is a lot of potential in this bottle. I really would love to see a version of OGD that has had another couple years under its belt. I guess the older juice gets watered down to  make Basil Hayden's? My granddad would have said this will put hair on your chest and it is certainly a little hot, but definitely well within the drinkable neat range.  Within ten dollars, your options are Benchmark full proof and this bottle for high rye bourbon at strength. With an ice cube, it's verifiably downright delightful. The ice melt brings out a bunch of cream sickle for me. Old Grand-Dad 114 is full of flavor and spice, great for a fall evening on your porch, chill in the air and glass in hand.

🏲Reddit Feedback: Overwhelmingly positive. People love OGD114. Many plugged its cocktail potential. 

💵Would I buy again? Yes! This one will always be on my shelf!

⚖️Rating Scale: 

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out 
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice. 
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws. 
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I'd rather have.
5 | Good | Good, an agreeable dram indeed
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.