My previous experience with Old Overholt is entirely fictional. I understand it as the distillery Nucky Thompson takes over for Andrew Mellon, then horse trades to Arnold Rothstein in Boardwalk Empire. It was a solid enough show bogged down by the fact it's not The Sopranos.
Jim Beam made it one of the core expression of some late-2010s and 2020s renaissance. The brand invested in reviving the name of Old Overholt, Old Grand-Dad and Old Crow, seeing a rising tide of bourbon nerds with money to spend and valuable IP on its shelves. That sounds cynical, but Old Grand-Dad has been my go-to cheap bottle for about 15 years now, so clearly they've got some good ideas.
An 11-year, cask strength rye goes well above and beyond my typical Old Grand-Dad
tipple. At about $90 per bottle (but prices vary and there are sales everywhere), is it a whiskey worth the extra financial outlay?
11 year cask strength rye: A-
This clocks in at 125.6 proof with a sweet aroma wafting up from behind the malt. It's got some pitted fruits and brown sugar to it, but there's enough of a booze sting at the back of your throat with each sniff that reminds you this hasn't been brought down to a proof befitting of the standard Jim Beam offering.
It opens sweet and dense on your lips. There's some almond to it -- or something similarly nutty that blends into that stone fruit aura that gives you a deep, not-quite-ripe cherry impression. There are lots of bourbon influences up front for a rye, with the vanilla, oak and sugar helping to create a long runway.
Then, bam, takeoff. The rye spices clock in. You get a nice rising tide of warm grain, spice and cinnamon. It doesn't have the pronounced pie crust flavors of some similar ryes, but that sweetness lingers through even as it takes a backseat.
It goes in a few different directions in fits and starts before settling back at rye. That makes it deep and rich.
It's a nice balance between the things I like in a bourbon and those I like in a rye. That makes it a rewarding gift option for the more experienced drinker in your life -- or just for the gal or guy who really likes rye and underappreciated HBO period dramas.
Would I drink it instead of a Hamm's?
This a pass/fail mechanism where I compare whatever I’m drinking to my baseline cheap beer. That’s the standby from the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm’s. So the question to answer is: on a typical day, would I drink Old Overholt Cask Strength Rye over a cold can of Hamm’s?
Yep. I love a good spicy rye. 11 years is enough time to mellow the spirit but strengthen what makes it such a pleasant departure from sweeter bourbons.
This is part of FTW’s Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Old Overholt 11-year Rye review: A cask strength tiptoe between bourbon and rye?
