by EllenJ » Thu May 17, 2007 12:09 am
It would be my guess that you nailed it.
J. W. Dant (which I just chose for an example in another thread) was the flagship product of one of Kentucky's most prestigeous old whiskey dynasties, prior to Prohibition. A once-well-respected old brand, it emerged after Repeal with a popularity more reminiscent of Desparate Housewives. Between the early '30s and the early '90s the brand has been owned by (at least) National Distillers, Armand Hammer, Schenley, United Distillers, and Heaven Hill. During Schenley's regime, the whiskey (at least the bonded whiskey) was distilled at #113, the George T. Stagg distillery (according to Mark Brown, never actually called Ancient Age, except by us ignorant folks who read the watertower sign -- which now says Buffalo Trace). This is not generally thought of as the best possible example of J.W. Dant bourbon, and, if diluted to 86 proof, is probably indistinguishable from 4 1/2 year old Ancient Age from that time.