Old Grand Dad (In More Ways Than One)

My friend, Bob Peterson, and gave his approval to my request to share it here:

Bourbon and Dad

A recent article in a magazine, “Wine Spectator” discussed the tastes and features of various bourbons, the “American drink.” One of them brought back a whole bunch of memories for me, and as it would happen, I then inflict these musing on you guys.

I don’t know if I ever told you, but I had to throw out my dad’s hat that I had kept since his death in 1990. Over the 22 years on the shelf, the old Stetson (it was a Western gentleman’s hat, not a cowboy style) had developed some mold problems. It was a definite symbol of Wallie, since he came from a generation that wore hats routinely for work and for dress, and he often said that he felt uncomfortable to be outside without a head covering of some sort. Ergo, I made sure he would have a hat if he ever showed up.

Back to bourbon. My dad bought Old Grand-Dad bourbon by the case, and it had to be a specific one of their bourbons, I think the 86 proof. That brand had several, and I think the 100 proof is the one I see most often, but he liked the taste of the lower alcohol level.

His older brother, Martin, died of a tonsillectomy at about age 8 (my brother had the same operation at about the same age which had to spook my grandmother), so he was essentially an only child. Except that he had a friend, Jake Anderson, who was the same age (he was adopted, so the age was not certain), who was like a brother as they grew up together and were close until Jake died about two years before Wallie. They would get together and “drinked” a little as both of them enjoyed the same bourbon.

The magazine talked about the “spicy” and “classic” and “smooth” general tastes of the whiskey they featured, and Old Grand-Dad, which is apparently owned by the Beam (as in Jim Beam) Distillery now, is a very moderately priced spirit. They list it as “spicy,” and I have no way or reason to dispute this, but this is what else they have to say: “You’ll find sweet cinnamon and cornbread mingling with minty, peppery rye aromas. It’s authoritative in the mouth, a solid punch of hot corn and robust oak is accented by a hint of anise and a long, spicy finish.” Wallie and Jake would have laughed, because if they described it, all they would say is “You’ll find…friends.”

Whenever I have a taste of Kentucky bourbon, I think of my dad and those times. It is a taste that is unique, for sure, and since the hat is gone, I will have to keep a jar of it around. We will enjoy a draught in their memory.