Type | Rye whiskey |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Beam Suntory |
Country of origin | Clermont, Kentucky, United States (1987–present) |
Introduced | 1810 |
Alcohol by volume | 43% |
Proof (US) | 86 |
Related products | Old Grand-Dad, Jim Beam |
Website | theoldswhiskeys.com |
Old Overholt is America's oldest continually maintained brand of whiskey. [1] It was founded in West Overton, Pennsylvania, in 1810. [1] Old Overholt is a rye whiskey distilled by A. Overholt & Co., currently a subsidiary of Beam Suntory, which is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan. It is produced at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, Kentucky. It is one of the most commonly available straight rye whiskies in the United States, where it is available at most liquor stores. It is aged for four years [2] [3] and since early 2020 is non-chill filtered and bottled at 86 proof (43% alcohol by volume). [4] [5] A four-year bottled in bond, 100 proof version was released in late 2017. Old Overholt has been called a "foundation stone of American whiskey" because of its long history. [1]
Henry Oberholzer (Anglicized to "Overholt"), a German Mennonite farmer, moved to West Overton, Pennsylvania, on the banks of Jacobs Creek in Western Pennsylvania in 1800. [1] His family came from the area of Germany, which specialized in distilling "korn", or rye whiskey, and Henry took up the tradition. [1]
In 1810, Henry's son Abraham Overholt (1784–1870) took over management of the distillery and made it into a business. [1] By the 1820s, the distillery was putting out 12 to 15 gallons of rye whiskey daily. [1] Abraham grew the company rapidly; by 1843, Baltimore newspapers were advertising Overholt's "Old Rye"; at that time, only the very few top distilleries were advertised by name. [1] By 1859, Overholt incorporated his business as "A. Overholt & Co." He operated out of a new distillery building that was six stories high, 100 feet long, and which could produce 860 gallons per day. [1]
In 1881, Abraham's grandson Henry Clay Frick took over the company. As one of the country's wealthiest people, the distillery was a sentimental side-business for Frick. [1] Frick took on Andrew Mellon and one Charles W. Mauck as partners, each owning one-third of the business. [1]
In 1888, Mauck adopted the name "Old Overholt" as the company's official name, adding a picture of Abraham as the logo. [1] Around that time, the company started selling its product in bottles instead of barrels. By 1900, Old Overholt became a national brand. [1] In the early 20th Century, Old Overholt became one of the country's largest and most respected whiskeys. [6]
Frick died in December 1919 and left his share to Andrew Mellon. This ended family ownership in the company. [6]
The national prohibition of alcohol in 1920 hit most American breweries and distilleries hard, putting many out of business. Perhaps because of its association with Mellon, then secretary of the treasury under Warren G. Harding, Old Overholt secured a permit for selling medicinal whiskey. [6] This permit allowed Overholt to sell existing whiskey stocks to druggists for medicinal use. [6]
In 1925, under pressure from prohibitionists, Mellon sold his share of the company to a New York grocer, thus ending local ownership. [6] The company was sold again in 1932 to National Distillers Products Co., which owned more than 200 brands. [6]
During World War II, the government ordered Overholt and other whiskey distilleries to make industrial alcohol. [6] After the war's end, whiskey generally fell out of favor with the American public, as drinkers switched to vodka. [6] Rye whiskey especially fell out of favor, and by the 1960s, Old Overholt was the only nationally distributed straight rye whiskey. [6] The brand struggled through the 1970s as sales continued to decline. [6] In 1987, Old Overholt was sold to the James B. Beam Distilling Company, a subsidiary of American Brands, which moved production from Pennsylvania to Kentucky. [6] Later the Jim Beam division was acquired by Suntory. [6]
Since December 2015, Old Overholt and Old Grand-Dad, both of which are Beam Suntory brands, have been marketed together as "The Olds". [7] A four-year bottled in bond, 100 proof version was released in late 2017.
Old Overholt is closely associated with the Old West, particularly Tombstone, Arizona and is served in "Old West" tourist saloons in Tombstone today. [8]
The brand was parodied in a Warner Brothers cartoon, various issues of MAD Magazine and the Terry Pratchett novels The Dark Side of the Sun and Soul Music [9] as "Old Overcoat".
The Old Overholt distillery was a plot element at the end of season 3 of Boardwalk Empire . The distillery was part of a deal between Andrew Mellon and Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, who persuaded him to let him manage it to implicate Jess Smith and George Remus.
Overholt is said to have been the alcoholic beverage of choice for notables ranging from Old West gunfighters to US presidents including Ulysses S. Grant and John F. Kennedy, and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. [6] [1]
Food critic Morgan Murphy said, "This very old brand of rye whiskey needles the drinker with zings of fruit flavors, grain bite, and sweet cereal notes." [10]
Whisky writer Jim Murray said "creamy nose...citrus notes...very hard rye...momentarily moist and sweet before going on to perfect the driest, crispest finish of its genre". [11]
Canadian whisky is a type of whisky produced in Canada. Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles. When Canadian distillers began adding small amounts of highly-flavourful rye grain to their mashes, people began demanding this new rye-flavoured whisky, referring to it simply as "rye". Today, as for the past two centuries, the terms "rye whisky" and "Canadian whisky" are used interchangeably in Canada and refer to exactly the same product, which generally is made with only a small amount of rye grain.
Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, which are typically made of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of port, rum or sherry are also sometimes used.
Bourbon whiskey is a type of barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn (maize). The name derives from the French House of Bourbon, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County, Kentucky, and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, both of which are named after the House of Bourbon. The name bourbon might not have been used until the 1850s, and the association with Bourbon County was not evident until the 1870s.
Rye whiskey can refer to two different, but related, types of whiskey:
Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel manufacturing concern. He had extensive real estate holdings in Pittsburgh and throughout the state of Pennsylvania. He later built the Neoclassical Frick Mansion in Manhattan, and upon his death donated his extensive collection of old master paintings and fine furniture to create the celebrated Frick Collection and art museum. However, as a founding member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, he was also in large part responsible for the alterations to the South Fork Dam that caused its failure, leading to the catastrophic Johnstown Flood. His vehement opposition to unions also caused violent conflict, most notably in the Homestead Strike.
Maker's Mark is a small-batch bourbon whisky produced in Loretto, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is bottled at 90 U.S. proof and sold in squarish bottles sealed with red wax. The distillery offers tours, and is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Jim Beam is an American brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is one of the best-selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795, seven generations of the Beam family have been involved in whiskey production for the company that produces the brand. The brand name became "Jim Beam" in 1943 in honor of James B. Beam, who rebuilt the business after Prohibition ended. Previously produced by the Beam family and later owned by the Fortune Brands holding company, the brand was purchased by Suntory Holdings in 2014.
Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. is a private, American family-owned and operated distillery founded in 1935 and headquartered in Bardstown, Kentucky, that produces and markets the Heaven Hill brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and a variety of other distilled spirits.
Canadian Club is a brand of Canadian whisky produced by Suntory Global Spirits, an subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan. Popularly known as CC, Canadian Club was created by Hiram Walker and Sons, an evolution of a brand around a product that took place over the second half of the nineteenth century. Hiram Walker merged with Gooderham & Worts, Ltd. in 1926, yielding Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts, Ltd.
Booker's bourbon is one of the small batch bourbons produced by the Jim Beam distillery, which is owned by Beam Suntory. Having the highest alcohol content of the brands in the Jim Beam "Small Batch Bourbon Collection", it is a cask strength bourbon. Booker's bourbon is aged between six and eight years and is bottled un-cut and without chill filtering at its natural proof between 121 and 130.6.
West Overton is located approximately 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Pittsburgh, in East Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is on PA 819 between the towns of Mount Pleasant and Scottdale. Its latitude is 40.117N and its longitude is -79.564W.
Alberta Premium is one of the few remaining 100% rye grain rye whiskies produced in North America. The brand is owned by Suntory Global Spirits, an subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan.
Small batch whiskey is whiskey produced by mixing the contents of a relatively small number of selected barrels. Small batch whiskeys are commercially positioned for the upper-premium market. The term is most commonly used for American whiskey but is sometimes used for other whiskeys as well. For example, the Bowmore distillery in Islay, Scotland, has produced a single malt Scotch whisky labeled as "small batch".
Willett Distillery Ltd, is a private, family-owned-and-operated company that produces bourbon and rye whiskey. Over the years, the company has bottled whiskeys that range from two years of aging maturity up to 28 years. The company was named Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD) between 1984 and 2012.
Broadford, or Broad Ford, is an unincorporated community in Connellsville Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. Broadford is on the Youghiogheny River downstream from Connellsville. Galley Run, a tributary to the Youghiogheny River, joins here.
Suntory Global Spirits, formerly known as Beam Suntory, Inc., is the American subsidiary of the Japanese beverage company Suntory.The company produces alcoholic beverages.
Old Pogue is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. Located in Maysville, Kentucky, the Old Pogue Distillery carries strong family ties dating back to the 1870s, and is privately owned by members of the Pogue family.
Henry Overholt was an American whiskey distiller and founder of the Overholt Whiskey distillery.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to whisky: