Old Grand-Dad
Encyclopedia
Old Grand-Dad is a bourbon whiskey
distilled
at the Booker Noe Plant in Boston
, Kentucky
. The company was created by Raymond B. Hayden and named after his grandfather Basil Hayden, Sr., a well known distiller during his lifetime who is depicted on the front of each bottle. Today, it is a Beam Inc.
brand.
, the company produced "medicinal whiskey" for sick, blind, and lame patients. In 1987, National Distillers Group sold the spirits business to the Fortune Brands
holding company, which became Beam Inc.
Today, Old Grand-Dad is one of the ten best selling straight whiskies, coming in three different bottling proofs: 86 proof, 100 proof "Bonded," and 114 'Barrel Proof' in a short height bottle often found at holidays in a gift box package.
's favorite drink, and he has one on the rocks after each game.
The fictional character Morgan Kane
, from the book series of the same name, always drank Old Grand-Dad if it was available, and took a bottle or three with him most of the times he had to venture too far from from a liquor store or a bar to his liking. George Thorogood
references Old Grand-Dad whiskey in his song "I Drink Alone", in the lyrics "...the only one who will hang out with me is my dear Old Grand-Dad..." Old Grand-Dad is cited in the Lynyrd Skynyrd song Whiskey Rock-A-Roller (from the 1975 album, Nuthin' Fancy) saying "She likes to drink Old Grand-Dad and her shoes do shuffle around." Also drunk by James Bond
in the novel Live and Let Die
.
Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
distilled
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
at the Booker Noe Plant in Boston
Boston, Kentucky
Boston is a neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky located along Shelbyville Road & Long Run Creek.-References:#...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. The company was created by Raymond B. Hayden and named after his grandfather Basil Hayden, Sr., a well known distiller during his lifetime who is depicted on the front of each bottle. Today, it is a Beam Inc.
Beam Inc.
Beam Inc. is a spirits company established on October 4, 2011 from the remainder of the Fortune Brands holding company after it sold and spun off various other product lines to form a business focused exclusively on spirits and directly related products...
brand.
History
The Hayden family's first commercial distillery was created in 1840 and the Whiskey has been in production since that time - despite several changes of ownership. In 1899, Old Grand-Dad was sold to the Wathen family, whose broad interests in the whiskey business later formed the American Medicinal Spirits Company and the foundations of National Distillers Group. During prohibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, the company produced "medicinal whiskey" for sick, blind, and lame patients. In 1987, National Distillers Group sold the spirits business to the Fortune Brands
Fortune Brands
Fortune Brands was a holding company founded in 1969 as American Brands and later renamed in 1997 and split apart in 2011. The corporate headquarters was in Deerfield, Illinois in the United States. The company historically had a significant diversity of product offerings...
holding company, which became Beam Inc.
Beam Inc.
Beam Inc. is a spirits company established on October 4, 2011 from the remainder of the Fortune Brands holding company after it sold and spun off various other product lines to form a business focused exclusively on spirits and directly related products...
Today, Old Grand-Dad is one of the ten best selling straight whiskies, coming in three different bottling proofs: 86 proof, 100 proof "Bonded," and 114 'Barrel Proof' in a short height bottle often found at holidays in a gift box package.
Lore
Old Grand-Dad is featured prominently in the opening scenes of "Bad Santa", and in the Nick Stefanos novels by George P. Pelecanos, as well as in John Hawkes's classic novel Second Skin. It is also legendary Penn State football coach Joe PaternoJoe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
's favorite drink, and he has one on the rocks after each game.
The fictional character Morgan Kane
Morgan Kane
Morgan Kane is a fictional character created by Kjell Hallbing under the pseudonym Louis Masterson.The Morgan Kane series has become the biggest success in modern Norwegian leisure reading literature...
, from the book series of the same name, always drank Old Grand-Dad if it was available, and took a bottle or three with him most of the times he had to venture too far from from a liquor store or a bar to his liking. George Thorogood
George Thorogood
George Thorogood is an American blues rock vocalist/guitarist from Wilmington, Delaware, United States, known for his hit song "Bad to the Bone" as well as for covers of blues standards such as Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" and John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One...
references Old Grand-Dad whiskey in his song "I Drink Alone", in the lyrics "...the only one who will hang out with me is my dear Old Grand-Dad..." Old Grand-Dad is cited in the Lynyrd Skynyrd song Whiskey Rock-A-Roller (from the 1975 album, Nuthin' Fancy) saying "She likes to drink Old Grand-Dad and her shoes do shuffle around." Also drunk by James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
in the novel Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (novel)
Live and Let Die is the second novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1954, where the initial print run of 7,500 copies quickly sold out. As with Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale, Live and Let Die was broadly well received by the critics...
.