That was a successful bourbon hunt. Two stores, 2 bottles and a book about whiskey. I’m looking forward to trying the Redwood Empire.
Tell us about the book. 
Do you recommend it?
Just got it today. Only skimmed through it briefly. First impression is good. I’ll write more about it once I have time to really read it.
Not the best image quality, but so you can get an idea of how the individual descriptions are structured. The book contains a total of 300 whiskies.
I like it. The nose is nice. Honey, vanilla, roasted grain, pear, and a hint of clove.
On the palate, a lovely honey sweetness with some vanilla, again a pleasant note of roasted grain and cinnamon. It drinks hotter than the 90 proof would suggest.
The finish is just medium length and could definitely be a bit longer. Some buttery caramel, grain, and a subtle ginger spice.
I’d love to try the cask strength of this one.
Whiskey weekend! The highlights for me were the Still Austin Rye, the Michter‘s rye and the Willett. As much as i love Michter‘s, i think the Willett came out on top. Full of rye spice and such a rich mouth feel. Really great pour.
Yeah, Willett is King.
Unfortunately, the book isn’t a recommendation. I did poor research this time. I also let myself be fooled by the “revised & expanded Edition.”
When I leafed through it yesterday and today, I noticed a lot of outdated information. Wild Turkey Rare Breed in the old bottle design. Weller as well, and on top of that under the old name Old Weller. The edition is from 2015.
I use these — one is kind of a 101 on bourbon, not too deep but thorough enough to get into the history and stuff without it feeling like a sponsor-funded book.
The other one is more like Google Maps for paper nerds, all the distilleries are in there.
Cheers 
Paper Nerd. Yeah, right here! Me! Me!
Thanks for the recommendations.
Thomas Domenig best man.
Can someone tell me something about this?
I received it as a gift and visually it’s a bit different from what I see when I Google it.
So far I’ve been able to figure out that it’s an older version. These were designated with different lot numbers. This one here is Lot No. 1
If anyone knows more about it, I’d love to hear it
I did some research on that bottle, and I also have a couple of old OGDs at home, but from the 70s and then again from the late 80s.
It’s an Old Grand-Dad 114 “Special Selection” from the National Distillers era, most likely from the early 1980s. This early version was positioned back then as a special premium product and bottled at 114 proof or 57% ABV in “barrel proof.” In contemporary advertising, the Special Selection was even promoted as “the most expensive bourbon in the world.”
The back label fits that as well. It explicitly states “Old Grand Dad Special Selection,” “114 Barrel Proof,” and “LOT NO. 1” as well as “Distilled and bottled … by The Old Grand-Dad Distillery Co., Frankfort, KY.” However, you shouldn’t automatically interpret Lot No. 1 as proof that this was actually the very first bottled batch, since these lot numbers apparently were reused.
What’s particularly interesting is the contents. This is still whiskey from the National Distillers era, so long before today’s Beam OGD. For these old OGD bottlings, a very high rye ratio of approximately 63% corn, 27% rye, and 10% barley malt is specified. For the early 114 Special Selection, people also discuss roughly 10–12 year old stocks, possibly some even older — though the bottle doesn’t carry an official age statement.
Bottom line: not just a simple “old OGD 114,” but an early Special Selection version from the National Distillers era, probably early 80s. For fans of old American whiskeys, definitely a pretty exciting dusty.
If you open it, I’d happily take 10cl off your hands.
Wow thanks for all the info
I got them recently from a friend because I started trying to make Old Fashioneds. Her grandpa was an importer of spirits as far as I know, and she found it in his cellar while clearing things out. So it’s a good thing I haven’t used it in a cocktail yet 
Thanks for the feedback!
Sure thing! Since I collect a lot of Dusties anyway, I’m always in investigation mode
For a cocktail, I’d actually feel bad using it because of its origin, but I can definitely see myself enjoying it with a big ice ball on warm autumn evenings. As I said, if you manage to open that one, let me know. I have this one open:
I will
I just can’t tell you when yet, since I’m still at the beginning with Bourbon and I think I want to try a few others first
Is there anything available here in Germany that is even remotely in the same league as the Willett?