Old Grand-Dad Bonded is hands down one of the best deals in bourbon. I’m not wild about the new label design, but the bottle is obviously the Basil Hayden’s bottle – which I like. I like it because it’s a nice visual nod to what’s in the Basil Hayden’s bottle… older OGD.
Bonded bourbon, if you’re not familiar, means that this bourbon was created during one distillation season by one distillery. It also needs to be aged in a federally bonded warehouse for a minimum of 4 years and be bottled at 100 proof. Finally, the bottle’s label must also list the distillery it was created in and where it was bottled at (if different than the distillery). I wish more of the bonded rules bled into, and were enforced on, non-bonded whiskey; giving us more transparency into the whiskey on our shelves.
Old Grand-Dad Bonded Review Info
Region: Kentucky, USA
Distiller: Jim Beam
Mashbill: 63% Corn, 27% Rye, 10% Malted Barley
Cask: New charred oak
Age: 4+ years
ABV: 50%
Price: $21
Old Grand-Dad Bonded Review Review
EYE
Polished copper
NOSE
Dark sweets like caramel and butterscotch followed by waves of vanilla, caramelized fruit, spice, oak and raw grain. A touch of vegetal waxiness hides in the background.
PALATE
Caramel, oak, spice and vanilla make the bulk of the flavor with light notes of white pepper and leather coming up towards the end. A bit muted compared to the nose, but still quite nice all-around.
FINISH
Long finish of caramel, oak, spice, vanilla and a light bit of grain.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Good balance, med-full body and heavy, almost oily, feel to it that helps solidify it as a solid sipping bourbon.
OVERALL
Old Grand-Dad Bonded is among my favorite “daily drinkers” and it performed reasonably well in a recent OGD semi-blind tasting I held at my house. It’s reliably tasty and comparing this bottle of Old Grand-Dad Bonded to the previous version of OGD BiB I reviewed almost 2 years ago there is a noticeable difference – which is to be expected given the bonded rules. This current batch is a bit thicker, richer and fuller than the one from a few years ago and I’d say it’s an even better deal now than it was back then.
SCORE: 85/100
