Old Grand Dad 114

@JasonHambrey, I am guessing you are calling this "entry level" because it is not expensive. I don't really think that there is such a thing as 57% ABV "entry level" whisk(e)y.

Getting Old Grand-Dad 114 at under $ 30 is one of the great buys available. I don't expect it to last long. It will either be discontinued, increased 50-100% in price, or morph into a specialty product. OGD114 was discontinued where I live 2 years ago. It surprises me how short-sighted people are. People take OGD114 for granted. They shouldn't. I fully expect it to vanish one day, probably soon.

It's not cask strength, "only 57%". I really like this one. It is not the most complex but it some unique and very strong, pleasant flavours. I would likely put it in the high 80s, and if the mood were to strike me, maybe higher.

I would be very grateful to amass a stockpile of this for the future at this low price. I don't like it because it is cheap....I like it because it is great.

Oh, and leave it in the glass (if you can) for half an hour and all the rough edges just smooth out, and the flavour deepens!

This is probably the only bourbon I will ever buy from this point on—assuming it stays on the market for such a great price, of course.

@Oljas I occasionally see great deals for Booker's online in US (currently ACE has it for $40 if I remember correctly) I think a little variety is good.

yes, "cask-strength" is a stretch. However, as distilleries are now calling many >50% whiskies "cask-strength" whether or not that is what is coming out of the barrel (anyone else notice this?) I thought I would join the crowd...yes, yes, not technically so. And yes, entry-level both because it's not the biggest high ABV bourbon but also because it is so cheap.

On the subject of 'Cask Strength' with respect to Old Grand-Dad 114: OGD114 is clearly not barrel strength because it is a large batch whiskey, and consistently sold at a defined exact whole-number proof/abv. But, as relatively young bourbon, presumably 4 years old, 57% is probably very close to the true barrel strength. Calling Old Grand-Dad cask strength/barrel strength is probably only very slightly incorrect. By contrast, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, which averages out with whiskey almost certainly a couple of years older than OGD114, is frequently sold at 52-54% ABV.

Since we're getting a little pedantic about it, I say that whether something is cask strength can't be a "stretch" or "only slightly incorrect." It's a yes or no question: Did you add water or not? There are no in-betweens.

I think we're all singing the same tune here, but I like to be clear on these points when they come up.

Nozinan, if I didn't have the occasional guest who wants a whisky + soda or whatever, a bottle of bourbon would last about 3 years in my house. I hardly ever feel like touching it. So, whichever one I have on hand is already providing variety from my usual stuff, and I might as well just get the cheapest one that fills that role—actually, both roles.

I'm a little tempted to add something here like "even so, I'd love to try that Booker's and all those other bourbons that people get excited about!" but really, I know that's hardly true. I was at my whisky club last night where a few interesting (to the right folks) bourbons and the like were on the table, and I never once considered putting them in my glass. For me, they just get in the way of my Longrows and Ballechins!

JasonHambrey, do you really know of any DISTILLERIES that are abusing the terms "cask strength" or "barrel proof"? I mean, I see bloggers and retailers do it all the time like you say (just browse descriptions of Ardbeg Oogie for plentiful examples), but I've never known the actual distilleries to do it wrong.

@OlJas, if you don't like drinking bourbon, I don't suggest having a variety. I sometimes wish I hadn't tried Booker's because it was my second bourbon and it was the one that really introduced me to the genre, and it's much cheaper only to drink Scotch (when I already buy more than I drink) than to branch out into a whole new realm.

I would be sad to hear of OGD 114 being used as a mixer, because it's so rare to find (here) and so goo on its own. But the price certainly makes it possible.