Dusty Thursday: Older Overholt - Pennsylvania Rye circa 1940

I recently compared the current Beam produced Old Overholt to the National Distillers version made at the Old Grand-Dad distillery in Kentucky. Now, a generous soul has sent me a sample of Overholt from 1940. At the time, Overholt was owned by National Distillers, but they were still making it in Pennsylvania. This is only my second tasting of an old Pennsylvania rye, but let's see how it stacks up.

Old Overholt (circa 1940), 4 years old, 50% abv.

The nose on this is really nice with sandalwood and other spice notes along with some vanilla and a dash of maple syrup. That sandalwood carries through on the palate with some soapy type notes (in a good way). The finish is bold and spicy like cologne.

I've only had one other Pennsylvania Rye, but this Overholt tastes much more like that one than any of the other Overholts I've had. As I said then, the spiciness is less in the character of cooking spices, which I detect in modern ryes, and more in the character of wood, soap and subtle cologne. I assume some of that is due to a high rye content and a lack of corn but is probably also due to elements, such as yeast and water, that were specific to that particular industry in that particular location.

Having had two Pennsylvania ryes now, what is becoming clear to me is that Pennsylvania was more than a geography, it was a distinct style of whiskey which no longer exists today and may not be able to be recreated.

Dusty Thursday: Old Overholt (circa 1984)

For today's Dusty Thursday we look at our first dusty rye whiskey. Old Overholt is a storied brand of rye whiskey, originally distilled in the rye whiskey heartland of Pennsylvania. After prohibition, Pennsylvania rye never recovered and National Distillers, the post-prohibition owner of the brand, shut down its Pennsylvania distillery and moved production to the Old Grand-Dad distillery in Kentucky. In 1987, Jim Beam purchased National Distillers and closed most of its distilleries, moving production to the existing Jim Beam distillery. Now, Overholt is essentially just another bottling of Jim Beam rye. For a more detailed history of the brand, see this post by Chuck Cowdery.

This dusty Overholt dates from National Distillers days. The red cap is one indicator of the older version. The bottom of the bottle is marked with both a 76 and an 84. Given that the bottle measurement is metric and the bottle has a UPC code, 1984 is a more likely date than 1976. I picked this dusty up for $10 at my corner store.


Old Overholt Rye Whiskey, circa 1984, 4 years old, 86 proof/43% abv.

I was immediately taken aback by the rich, caramel color in this relatively young whiskey. The nose was almost Cognac like, with lots of sweetness, fermented fruit and some herbal qualities as well. Taste gave a big bang of fruit, a tad bit of spice and some woody notes as well. It doesn't have much in the way of rye spice but it's a very nice whiskey.

I had some current Old Overholt on hand, so I did some comparative drinking. The new Overholt, distilled by Jim Beam and pictured on the right in the above photo, is also a four year old but only 40% alcohol (80 proof).

There is a huge difference between these two whiskeys. The color of the current version is much lighter and the flavor profile is completely different. Modern Overholt is sweet, light and fruity without any of the deep complex notes of the older version. The Beam version lacks the depth and richness of flavor of the older version. Indeed, it is a completely different whiskey, which bears little resemblance to its older brother.

One of the things that's apparent in American whiskey is that because of all the changes in ownership of labels, an old whiskey doesn't necessarily have anything in common with the current version of the label. The National Distillers Overholt, as with the National Distillers Old Crow I tasted, was made at a different distillery than the current Beam version, likely with a different mashbill and a different yeast. Only the label seems to remain the same, which is a pity.

Whiskey Wednesday: The Ryes (and Fall) of Jim Beam

As you know if you are a regular reader, rye whiskey is one of my favorite American whiskies. We are in the midst of a rye explosion, and the quality of new ryes I've tasted has been uniformly high. In all my rye reviews, I've scarcely found anything to complain about.

There is no greater sign that rye has arrived than the release of the highly touted (rī)¹ by Jim Beam. Pronounced, we are told on the packaging, "Rye One," this whiskey comes in a tall, sleek bottle fit for a club-friendly vodka drinking crowd. It also comes with a steep $50 price tag.

The reaction of the whiskey connoisseur community to this new release was immediate flagellation of this interloper. We in the American whiskey world are used to bottles with names of people we've never heard of packaged in a manner reminiscent of something that might be served in a nineteenth century saloon. We have no use for sleek packaging and are wary of style over substance, and the advertising copy on (rī)¹ didn't help deter this impression("(rī)¹ is the definition of ultra-premium rye whiskey"; "the smoothest alternative on the cocktail scene"). It's unclear if this reaction reveals a healthy skepticism, a high degree of snobbery, or both. American whiskey expert Chuck Cowdery took on this attitude in his blog, arguing that (rī)¹ is a good cocktail whiskey and "not as superficial as you think."

Personally, I'm skeptical anytime Jim Beam comes out with a new, highly touted product. Beam already has two rye whiskies that run in the $10- $15 range: Jim Beam yellow label and Old Overholt Rye. What is it about this new, fancy rye that merits $40 more than these other Beam ryes?

Well, I picked up a bottle of (rī)¹ along with an Old Overholt to find out. Both are straight rye whiskies. The (rī)¹ is slightly higher in alcohol at 46% vs Old Overholt at 40%. While it usually hovers around $50, I picked up the (rī)¹ at Wine & Liquor Depot in Van Nuys for $38. The Old Overholt put me out $11.99 at the same store. And now the tasting.


Old Overholt: More Sweet Than Rye

Old Overholt is an old Pennsylvania whiskey which moved to Kentucky and is now owned by Beam. It is a four year old whiskey that is about as unhip as you can get, with a picture of old man Overholt on the bottle and the catchy slogan, "Reg. in U.S. Pat. Off."

For a rye, there is surprisingly little rye in the nose of Overholt. I get very subtle notes of hay and grass as well as some banana. The flavor surprises me with its initial sweetness. There are a few rye notes if you hold it in your mouth, but you don't get any real rye spice until the finish. It's an odd rye, almost tasting more like a Jack Daniel's product than any other rye I've had.


(rī)¹: Rye Lite

As noted above, (rī)¹ is slightly higher in alcohol than Overholt. The label suggests serving it on the rocks or "to elevate an otherwise ordinary cocktail," but here at Sku's Recent Eats, we drink our whiskey neat. (rī)¹ has no age statement, which means that it is at least four years old.

(rī)¹ is very light on the nose; as with Overholt, it has some subtle rye tones. The flavor is a bit more rye than Overholt and lacks Overholt's sweetness. Like Overholt though, it fails to deliver much in the way of solid rye flavors. Eventually, if you hold the whiskey in your mouth, you get some dulled rye in it, and there is some in the finish, but it's definitely Rye Lite. This lack of rye spice, including all of that clove, pepper and other spice that make rye whiskey so interesting, is amusing given the bottle booklet's claim that "spice is in." To be fair, though, the label does describe (rī)¹ as having a "slightly spicy, yet lighter rye flavor." I would modify that to read "barely spicy." Overall, (rī)¹ is very similar to Overholt, but less sweet.

Just to give it the benefit of the doubt, I chucked a few ice cubes in a glass and tried some (rī)¹ on the rocks, as per the label's instructions. (With all the instructions, how did they leave out "Do not use as a flotation device"?). The ice dulls the rye flavor and really brings out the sweetness. It's actually not an unpleasant drink on the rocks but it has precious little in common with anything rye.


Conclusion

In the end, I wasn't enthralled with either of these ryes. In fact, these were among the only two ryes I've had that I really didn't care for. If you are not huge on spice but want a subtle, balanced rye for a cocktail, get some of Wild Turkey's Russell's Reserve Rye or some Rittenhouse 100, and if you want your rye neat and like the spice, you have many excellent choices. If you like things sweet, these Beam ryes may suit you, and if you want to pay a premium for a fancy bottle, (rī)¹ is the one rye for you.