Are Basil Hayden And Previous Grand-Dad The Similar?

Beam’s Acquisition & Improvement Of Previous Grand-Dad

Previous Grand-Dad was simply one in all many manufacturers Beam acquired in that deal, however it was distinctive. Nationwide’s different bourbons, corresponding to Previous Crow, had been comparable sufficient to Jim Beam that when the whiskey stock acquired within the deal ran out, they might put Jim Beam liquid into Previous Crow bottles and nobody could be the wiser, which is precisely what they did (and nobody was).

However they couldn’t do this with Previous Grand-Dad as a result of it used a unique recipe, a selected yeast pressure, and a mash invoice that contained about twice as a lot rye as Jim Beam and, consequently, that a lot much less corn. In the event that they put Jim Beam liquid into Previous Grand-Dad bottles, it could style totally different and other people would discover. That might be unhealthy as a result of even in the dead of night days of the Nineteen Eighties, Previous Grand-Dad was thought of a premium model and was very worthwhile.

Bourbon pricing in these days was easy. ‘Worth manufacturers’ had been the most affordable; your off-brands, home manufacturers, and generics. Subsequent was ‘fashionable value.’ That’s the place many of the main manufacturers had been, together with Jim Beam. The very best class was ‘premium.’ Previous Grand-Dad was thought of ‘premium.’ The chief within the premium section was Jack Daniel’s. The Beam advertising of us thought perhaps they might ‘squeeze’ Jack Daniel’s with Grand-Dad on its upside and Beam on its draw back, however that technique went nowhere.

Because the model settled in, executives at Beam noticed little alternative to develop Previous Grand-Dad, however they very a lot wished to protect what gross sales it had.

They didn’t guess about any of this. They meticulously researched it with customers and concluded that the extra price of manufacturing a separate recipe could be offset by the estimated gross sales they’d lose in the event that they modified the way it tasted. Spending extra to maintain it the identical was well worth the funding, in order that’s what they did; identical yeast, identical high-rye mash invoice, identical distillation proof, identical barrel entry proof, the whole lot.

The one change was the distillery. Though the deal included the place the place Nationwide had been making Previous Grand-Dad, Beam didn’t want extra capability so that they moved distillation to Clermont. Proudly owning the previous distillery was good, nevertheless, as a result of it gave them quick access to the whole lot they wanted to maintain the whole lot the identical, together with a few of the crew who had been making it there.

At the moment, Previous Grand-Dad is straight bourbon bottled at 4 totally different proofs: 80°, 86°, 100°, and 114°. The 100° proof is bottled-in-bond. Previous Grand-Dad by no means has had an age assertion, so it by no means has been lower than 4 years previous. It’s most likely within the 4- to 6-year vary now.

The Improvement of Basil Hayden

The story of the Basil Hayden model begins with Booker’s Bourbon. That whiskey, with retired grasp distiller Booker Noe as its spokesperson, was one of many first to herald the bourbon renaissance. Its success prompted Beam to create the Small Batch Bourbons Assortment. Booker’s was principally an extra-aged (6- to 8-year), barrel proof model of Jim Beam. Two different manufacturers within the four-brand Assortment, Knob Creek and Baker’s, additionally used the Jim Beam base distillate. It was determined that the fourth one would use the Previous Grand-Dad recipe.

On the time, Previous Grand-Dad itself didn’t have an 80° proof expression, so that they made the small batch model 80° proof and eight years previous and named it after Basil Hayden, the precise grandfather of the model’s founder and an necessary participant within the earliest historical past of Kentucky’s bourbon heartland. It was the bottom proof of the 4, so that they positioned it as an entry-level providing. “An excellent starter bourbon for scotch drinkers.” That was the thought.

Making Basil Hayden simply an older model of 80° proof Previous Grand-Dad, proper?

That is the place the nuanced ‘no’ is available in or, extra exactly, ‘not precisely.’

The Significance Of Taste Profiles

One facet of bourbon-making that many lovers miss is the flavour profile. Beam has many hundreds of barrels of the Previous Grand-Dad base distillate growing older in its warehouses. After growing older, every barrel is just a little bit totally different and mixing whiskey from totally different barrels collectively is the way you create a taste profile.

Each model, and each expression inside a model, has a taste profile that should be maintained from batch to batch. They nonetheless do this the old school manner, with human tasters who examine every candidate bottling batch to a normal for that expression. Sustaining the usual itself may be sophisticated however its essence is, “what it tasted like final time.”

Deciding which barrels to dump for bottling begins by figuring out barrels which can be the fitting age, however it doesn’t finish there. Candidate mixtures are finished on a small scale, tweaked till they get it proper, then scaled as much as the tons of of barrels and hundreds of gallons that may make up a bottling run. Even after the scaled-up batch is ready it’s subjected to extra style exams and tweaks earlier than it goes into manufacturing.

There most likely is nothing producers take extra critically than consistency from batch to batch. That consistency additionally applies to look, however it’s principally about style and aroma.

If Basil Hayden’s taste profile is totally different from Previous Grand-Dad’s, and it’s, then they don’t seem to be the identical whiskey. Keep in mind that Beam’s goal with Previous Grand-Dad, for 35 years now, has been to maintain it the identical. Basil Hayden was a brand new model and wasn’t focused at Previous Grand-Dad drinkers. It was crafted to attraction to that bourbon-curious scotch drinker and different entry-level bourbon drinkers. So, sure, it’s the Previous Grand-Dad distillate, however utilized in a totally totally different manner. The truth is, the Basil Hayden profile might be so far as you will get from the Previous Grand-Dad profile utilizing the identical distillate.

Even throughout the Previous Grand-Dad line, the varied expressions aren’t simply 114 plus totally different quantities of water. Every proof has its personal taste profile, its personal customary, that should be matched. It is probably not a lot greater than including water, however it’s just a little bit extra.

Each Model, Each Firm

After all, it isn’t simply Beam Suntory that does this with Previous Grand-Dad and Basil Hayden. It’s each model at each firm. Each expression of each model has a taste profile, maintained from batch to batch as described above. The large producers have hundreds of samples, in bottles, to allow them to reference not solely the present customary but in addition return and examine present batches to earlier ones from nearly any interval within the model’s historical past. These are the type of essential enterprise information you’ll be able to’t digitize.

In a small craft distillery, tasting could solely be the distiller’s job, however sometimes there’s a panel of people that do that often. Many obtain particular coaching.

Most distillers make a couple of recipe and derive a number of manufacturers and expressions from every of them. It’s common for 2 or extra manufacturers to have the identical base distillate, and that may be a massive factor to have in widespread. It’s helpful to know what a few of these ‘recipe households’ are as a result of in the event you like one expression in a given household you may additionally like others, and likewise that information can recommend labels to keep away from, however being in the identical recipe household, even being usually comparable, doesn’t make them the identical whiskey.

Not precisely.