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Here’s a weird one that gets kind of glossed over in the history books – An Old Overholt rye whiskey from the period of time shortly after American Brands (owners of Jim Beam) purchased what remained of National Distillers in 1987. Everyone has either heard of Old Overholt in terms of the boring, poorly-made version that uses Jim Beam’s rye whiskey mash bill or original traditional Pennsylvania-distilled product. But hardly anyone remembers the few short years that they actually made rye whiskey at the Old Grand Dad Distillery.
Around this time (early to mid 1980s), rye whiskey was so out-of-demand that almost all Kentucky distilleries had stopped making it. The only reason why some of them were making it at all is because the Pennsylvania and Maryland distilleries they sourced it from had shut down. This was the case with National Distillers (ND). By the late 1950’s, the Broad Ford Distillery in Pennsylvania (where ND got rye whiskey barrels from) had shut down. This forced them to look for an alternative rye whiskey supplier.
There are two trains of thought as to what happened next. The first one is that they switched sources to another distillery in Pennsylvania or perhaps Maryland. This would have only been possible until about 1980 because almost all of them had closed down by then. The second likelihood was that they might have vatted all of the barrels that remained at Broad Ford and continued to use them for two decades until they ran out.
Let me explain why that second scenario isn’t as crazy as it sounds. For starters, I can’t find evidence of Old Overholt Bottled-in-Bond with a distilled-by date anytime in the 1960s, 70s or 80s. If barrels of all ages were dumped into a giant vat (holding tank) at the National Distillers’ Dekupyer Cordial Plant in Cincinnati (which is where Old Overholt was bottled during that time), then no rye whiskey would ever have met the requirements of the Bottled in Bond Act (being a blend of rye distilled across multiple seasons and years).
Secondly, rye whiskey was not popular. The number of people drinking it dwindled each year which meant that even a large vat of whiskey could probably be stretched out for years, if not decades. Think that’s far-fetched? Just look at the story with how Julian Van Winkle III stretched a limited amount of Medley rye for Van Winkle Family Reserve or how Buffalo Trace used a giant vat of Cream of Kentucky rye for over a decade until their own barrels hit 18 years old and became Sazerac 18.
The truth is that we may never know where the rye whiskey for Old Overholt came from between 1960-1984, but if you know where, please leave a message in the comments.
Old Overholt production switches states
Whichever version you believe to the story I just told, we do know this much: there came a point in the early 1980’s where National Distillers decided to produce their own rye whiskey at the Old Grand Dad Distillery (also referred to as the Forks of Elkhorn Distillery). We don’t know the mash bill that they decided upon or the specs they chose to make it, but (spoiler alert) it has that characteristic National Distillers’ butterscotch note. That leads me to believe that they used the same kind of yeast in their rye whiskey that they did in their bourbon.
Rye whiskey production seemed to be short-lived because National Distillers appears to have ceased production at the OGD Distillery in 1986. The barrels of bourbon and rye whiskey were included in the acquisition of the company to the aforementioned American Brands (Jim Beam). This allowed Jim Beam to use excess stocks of each for the original brands for at least four years after the deal went down in 1987.
Most dusty enthusiasts view 1991 as the fork in the road where the liquid provenance for bottles like Old Grand Dad and Old Overholt aren’t a given. Theoretically it could be Jim Beam since anything they made to replace the brands they acquired would be at least 4 years old. Realistically, Beam used up all stocks of ND-produced whiskey before bottling their own. The one telltale sign that most dusty lovers will look for to confirm if it was ND or Beam is the UPC numbers on the barcode. As the old saying goes…
What I believe to be in this bottle is a rye whiskey made the old Pennsylvania way – except it was made at the National Distillers’ Old Grand Dad plant – sometime between 1980 and 1986. The barrels used in this release were likely a bit older than four years seeing as how ND stopped distilling sometime in 1986. My guess is that I’m drinking a blend of 5 to 8 year old rye whiskey.
So here we go with the tasting. I have my friend Chris from the New Jersey Bourbon and Yacht Club to thank for the opportunity to taste this. Thanks again, Chris! Now onto the tasting. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: The bouquet on this nose is amazingly refined for a whiskey like this. The floral notes combine with a light butterscotch scent and are really the only two notes that matter. Speaking of which, I thought the butterscotch thing was only the trait of National Distillers bourbon?! Looking a little bit deeper, I find a smattering of fruit scents like orange, caramelized pear, cherry and a sort of grape/plum combination.
Palate: Grape/plum notes follow to the palate and are also joined by a moderately strong floral bouquet. This makes for an extremely easy-sippin rye whiskey – quite unlike most other ryes distilled today. Light pine, cinnamon, cherry licorice and a tangy sort of citrus note are revealed as the session goes on. Believe it or not, I find a flavor that tastes like Sunny D (except not in a gross way). In the background is a faint butterscotch flavor which makes me wonder what process was shared between Old Grand Dad and Old Overholt (was it the yeast?). Finally – and here’s the part where some people are going to riot – I find this rye whiskey to have a couple of similarities to a rum. It’s hard to explain, but the fruit flavors that underline each note kind of conjure up this tropical profile to it that makes me think of unadulterated rum. Roast me in the comments
Finish: Being just 86 proof, I wasn’t expecting much by way of the finish. And maybe it’s because of this self-fulfilling prophecy that I find that to be mostly true. The flavors are quick to leave my tongue even though what stays behind is mostly pleasant and sweet. Butterscotch candies with a bit of cherry and a small amount of floral notes. Simple. but enjoyable.
Score: 8.1/10
If you read my tasting notes, there should be no doubt that I really liked this rye whiskey. But I had to ask myself “if I was drinking this back in 1991, would I have felt it deserved an 8/10 rating?” That’s a tough one. I think the reason why this bottle is so enjoyable today is because no modern ryes are as soft and floral. The butterscotch note also kicks it up a notch – it’s just not something that you find a lot in modern whiskey.
Final Thoughts
The secondary market price for this bottle (around $400) make me wonder what other low-proof rye whiskies should be competitive with it. The first one that came to mind was Michter’s 10 Year Rye Whiskey. I just so happened to have a bottle open to compare them side-by-side. The Michter’s tasted like an oak bomb compared to the Overholt. Whereas the OO was soft with barely hardly a hint of tannins, the Michter’s had a slight astringency to it that I normally wouldn’t find if I was drinking it by itself. The experience was eye-opening to how different modern and dusty whiskies can be.
I hate to end yet another review with the phrase “they don’t make ’em like they used to,” but it rings true yet again. There’s just something so right about drinking a whiskey from yesteryear. It’s like they’re a completely different category of spirits with how effortlessly smooth and mellow they can be. If given the choice between a low proof, dusty Old Grand Dad bourbon or this bottle of Old Overholt, I may choose the latter. I hope that this doesn’t cause a run on these bottles now that the secret is out, but OO may just be the best obtainable dusty rye whiskey on the market that nobody is talking about.