by gillmang » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:42 am
John, this is not my experience. I have a 1980's ND Old Grandad and even at only 80 proof it is, IMHO, better than any OG available today. It is rich, balanced, fruity and sweetish: current OG's are less of each and have a characteristic "zesty rye", "fresh wood" note I do not detect in the ND whiskey. I think what I am noticing is nothing peculiar to Clermont OG but rather current house characteristics of Clermont production and aging process. I note similar characteristics in the Beam range and even, say, Old Overholt. Many people like them and it is all a question of personal taste. The only thing I can think of to explain that '59 BIB being similar to today's OG Bonded is if OG actually got BETTER between the mid-50's and 1987. I can't rule that out, but frankly I doubt that occurred. Hang on to that BIB and I'll hang on to my ND OG, we'll have a shootout one day against a current one.
Gary