Old Charter is yet another bourbon brand dating back to the nineteenth century (don't they all?). Post-prohibition it was made at the Bernheim distillery. In the '70s and '80s, Bernheim was best known for Old Charter and I.W. Harper. Eventually, Diageo (then United Distillers) sold the distillery to Heaven Hill and the Old Charter label to Buffalo Trace, which continues to make it today.The Old Charter I'm sampling today is a seven year old, 86 proofer. It doesn't have a number on the bottom of the bottle but the fact that it has a tax stamp and uses a metric measurement (it's a 375 ml bottle) would place it in the early 1980s.
Old Charter, 7 years old, 86 proof (43% abv.)
The nose is really nice with vanilla and marzipan. The palate is less complex with a general sweetness but not a lot of flavor. There's a quick flash of those dessert flavors from the nose, but then they're gone. Late in the palate it has some wood and gets a bit chewy which is nice but as soon as you start to enjoy that, it's gone and your left with a vaguely oaky finish. This one is not bad but certainly nothing I'd be tempted to reach for if I had other choices.
Did you see I called you the king of dusty hunting today?
ReplyDeleteThanks David! I appreciate it, but I am a mere duke compared to some folks out there.
ReplyDeleteSteve - I've picked up this label over the years and to be honest, they sit in the bunker, untouched. Of the two you mentioned, I prefer the IW Harper at 86 proof.
ReplyDeleteI had this exact same bottle in college 1981 - it's in a photograph of my dorm room. I recall it was consumed in a game of "Bob". The rules were simple: watch the Bob Newhart show. When anyone says the name "Bob" you do a shot. Did you ever play Bob? Needless to say I have no recollection of how this bourbon tasted. Indeed, no recollection of that particular evening at all, really.
ReplyDeleteIW Harper must have been much younger than the Charter. I don't know exactly what they were doing back then, but the '80s Old Charters (and Old Foresters in the late-'80s) taste so woody and imbalanced that they're pretty much undrinkable. The IW Harpers are nice and sweet, and the Old Taylors and Old Grand Dads seemed to keep the wood in check. The Old Foresters from the early '80s also kept a balance. The Old Charters were a bit older, perhaps, but not that old compared to current offerings, even with the whiskey glut, but they tasted creaky and tired. Compare them to bottles like Buffalo Trace or even the current 10 year Old Charter, and, while younger or nearly the same age as they are now, they tasted so past-their-prime.
ReplyDeleteI just got an oc ten year old yesterday of the same era, I did not get around to trying it yet, but I look forward to it. I have always been a big OC fan. I have heard the 7 year old has a dirt flavor though. From your notes I guess you did not get that at all.
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