The rumor as I understand it is that older bottlings contain higher % of premium barrels before many of these houses started making specialized high end ones. Somewhat akin to older ‘regular’ CNDPs made from all their vineyards before the old vine bottlings became popular.
Well, okay, but I remember Walkers Deluxe, Old Charter, Early Times and Rebel Yell from the 70’s and 80’s and they were pretty ordinary whiskies - nothing special at all. And since spirits don’t age in the bottle they’re still going to be pretty ordinary whiskies, no?
Well, I don’t remember how ordinary they were in the 70s because I was well below the drinking age at that time
Also why I didn’t make any claims on those particular producers, because I can’t speak to their value. It’s a line of beverage I’m just starting to learn about due to some cellar evaluations I’ve done recently
When I was a bartender in the 80s, at least Early Times and Rebel Yell would have been “well” bourbon, meaning that was what you served if no brand was specified.
Would think there would be a market for the Jim Beam just for the older bottle. Very pretty!
Check for any further distinguishing marks on the bottles, like lot #, anything that can give info on when the bottles were filled. May be able to research each house to see if certain lots may have more value than others.
Hope that helps. Again, just starting to learn about older Bourbons myself, so anything you may find will help the community. Thanks for asking our help.
Thanks for posting pictures! I have done a bit of dusty hunting in my day and the prize in that collection is the Rebel Yell 90 proof, which is most likely Stitzel Weller distillate (I believe more recent non Stitzel Weller versions are lower proof and have dropped the age statement with a redesigned label). Other than that there isn’t much there with too much interest. Here is a review by sku for the Walker’s: Sku's Recent Eats: Another Illinois Dusty: Hiram Walker's DeLuxe Bourbon .
I have had Old Charter 8 year in the past (United Distillers) and was very disappointed. I have read that the Old Charters have a lot of bottle variation - mine tasted like cardboard. The Early Times is too low proof to be of interest to most bourbon drinkers / collectors. I am not as familiar with the Jack Daniel’s, but I do know collectors exist for them (no idea what is desirable to them though). The Beam is a 200th anniversary bottle from 1995. It may be worth something to a collector, but I have passed on bottles on the shelf during dusty hunts.
I’d be interested in seeing the blends / malts as well - always up for looking at old bottles!
