Old Grand Dad Bourbon 1917 / Wathen Distillers Prohibition Era Bourbon One Pint

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Old Grand Dad Bourbon 1917 / Wathen Distillers Prohibition Era Bourbon One Pint

The stories behind America’s bourbon brands are some of the greatest in whisky history, and no other traces the narrative of Kentucky distilling as closely as Old Grand-dad. Bourbon historian Chuck Cowdery describes the brand’s story as “one of the richest in bourbon country,” with distilling dynasties such as the Beam, Dant, Hayden, Taylor, Medley and Wathen families all having a hand in its production over the years.

The original old Grand-dad was Basil Hayden, whose second-generation descendants named their primary brand in his honor (he still features on the label today). They built the original Old Grand-dad distillery at Hobbs Station, not far from where Jim Beam’s Clermont distillery now sits today. It was at this original distillery that this whiskey was produced, by the brand’s new owners, the Wathen family. They bought the Hobbs Station distillery its brands in 1899 and developed a successful business out of it. Even with the Prohibition Act looming on the horizon, the Wathen family were shrewd and re-organized their company as the American Medicinal Spirits Co. This allowed them to exploit a loophole in the Prohibition laws, which had banned the production and sale of alcohol, but permitted the continued bottling of whiskey for medicinal purposes and as a weekly baker’s ration. Otto Wathen consolidated much of Kentucky’s distilling, filling his warehouses with bonded stock and acquiring brands such as Hill & Hill, Bourbon de Luxe and Old Crow.