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| Old Crow (right) and new Crow. |
Josh gave us four dusty, bottom shelf bourbons that he found in his travels. A comparison of old and new Old Crow, Cabin Still and an old Bellow's. Today, I taste the Old Crow and compare it with modern Old Crow.
Bottle marks date this Old Crow to around 1978, back when the brand was owned by National Distillers before it was purchased by Beam. For further comparison, see my previous review of a 1980s Old Crow, also from the National Distillers days.
Old Crow 1978, no age statement, 40%
The nose is fantastic, candy sweet with some herbal noes. The palate is light and sweet with a shot of spice. It's not complex and nothing really special, but it's very drinkable.
Old Crow, 3 years old, current, 40%
From the get-go, you can tell this is a totally different whiskey. The nose has peanut notes with light sugar. The palate is soapy with artificial fruit flavors, and the mouthfeel is watery thin. It's very blah, and while it's not horrible, it doesn't have any redeeming features.
Well, this is another clear example of how Beam screwed up the National Distillers brands (they did the same thing to Old Overholt), managing to turn a perfectly drinkable bourbon into a crappy bourbon. Why did you do this to us Beam?
I inherited a bottle of this from my dad that was old enough to still have a tax stamp on it. Even after spending years in a cabinet at 3/4 empty it was still very easy to drink and had very little effects from oxidation. Thanks for doing the comparison that I had been thinking about for a long time.
ReplyDeleteTook a half-pint of Old Crow to my then-girlfriend's (now-wife's) college soiree 35 years ago. It kept a couple of us happy throughout the entire event.
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