Old Grand-Dad 114 Bourbon Review

Old Grand-Dad 114
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
114 proof
Non Age Stated
MSRP: $30-$35
Review

Please enjoy my Old Grand-Dad 114 Bourbon Review! I first reviewed this bourbon a couple of years ago. However, as I get some different flavors from it now, I wanted to update my review.

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What makes Old Grand-Dad 114 so special?

So, I always thought that the only difference between Old Grand-Dad 114 Bourbon and the Bonded (100 proof) and 80 proof versions was just a step up in proof. Come on, I know you did, too! It turns out, though, that’s not quite the case. While all of the Old Grand-Dad bourbons (and Basil Hayden bourbons, for that matter) share the same mash bill, the similarities end there. I wouldn’t have believed this had I not read it on the Beam-Suntory website, but it turns out that OGD 114 is distilled to a lower proof than the others – 127. It is also bottled at barrel proof. Now we don’t know the barrel entry proof, but since most bourbons of this age go up in proof in Kentucky, we can assume that it is probably 110 or lower. So, all of these factors combine to give OGD 114 more flavor than its lower proof brothers.

Who is this Old Grand-Dad guy, anyway?

As a quick refresher – Old Grand Dad is Meredith Basil Hayden, Sr., and back in the day he was said to have made his bourbons with a higher rye content than was the norm. So that tradition continues today. Both the Old Grand-Dad and Basil Hayden lines share the same high rye mash bill. Most of the bourbons in these lines are non-age stated, other than the Basil Hayden 10 year.

Tasting Notes – Old Grand-Dad 114 Bourbon Review

Let’s taste it:

🛌 Rested 15 minutes in a Glencairn

👉🏻Nose: Caramel, baking spices, cherries, dry oak, touch of hot cinnamon, mildly sweet; moderate alcohol vapor
👉🏻Taste: Caramel, baking spices, mild dry oak and mild simple syrup sweetness; hot cinnamon toothpicks
👉🏻Finish: Fairly pronounced hot cinnamon spice; barrel char later on; mild simple syrup sweetness; long; moderate burn

The nose of Old Grand-Dad 114 starts off mildly sweet with caramel, cherries and baking spices. Fairly quickly, dry oak and a touch of hot cinnamon, a bit like a hot cinnamon toothpick, join in. After a few sips, the cinnamon and dry oak become more dominant, although the other flavors remain. The alcohol vapor is noticeable, as would be expected for 114 proof.

The same flavors continue into the taste, with mild simple syrup sweetness, as well. However, those flavors fairly quickly give way to hot cinnamon, again of the toothpick variety, but with some sweetness, too. Increasingly hot cinnamon spice dominates the finish, sitting squarely in the center of my tongue, and lingering for quite some time. Mild sweetness also remains, and there is some barrel char later on. The finish is long, with considerable warmth.

In Conclusion

I have always felt that Old Grand-Dad 114 was a very solid bourbon, and one that deserves a spot on everyone’s bar. Tasting it again today, I still feel that way. It has classic bourbon flavors, as well as considerable hot cinnamon spice. While the proof may make this bourbon a bit much for those starting out, this is definitely a bourbon perfect for those ready to make the leap into higher proof. Once they do, Old Grand-Dad 114 will be a bourbon that they will likely keep coming back to. Have you had Old Grand-Dad 114? What did you think? Cheers!🥃

Buy Old Grand-Dad 114 Bourbon at Frootbat!

I hope you enjoyed my Old Grand-Dad 114 Bourbon Review! If this sounds like a bourbon you would enjoy, you might like the Bottled-in-Bond version, too! Check out my Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon review to read all about it. If you would like to learn about the Basil Hayden line, then you can read our Basil Hayden Bourbon Review, our Basil Hayden Toast Review and our Basil Hayden Malted Rye Review.

Would you like to learn more about distilleries and bourbon? Are you planning a trip to Kentucky Distilleries? Maybe you would like to live the bourbon life vicariously through us? If any of these are true, then check out BourbonObsessed.com today!