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BOURBON - DID YOU KNOW?

The name Basil Hayden is well known
as it forms part if Jim Beam’s Small
Batch Collection. Basil had arrived in
Kentucky in the late 18th century and
started distilling. In 1840 his grandson
named his top bourbon Old Grandad
in his honour. After a few takeovers
the company was sold to Jim Beam in
1987.

Old Crow was not a woman. James
Crow was a Scottish doctor who
moved to Kentucky in the 1820’s. He
took up distilling but never owned a
distillery. He worked for a number of
distilleries and such was his
reputation that the whiskey was sold
under his name. He brought a bit of
science to the
industry such as
measuring
instruments. When
he died in 1856 his
recipe died with
him. The Old Crow
distillery opened in
1872 but the new
bourbon was not a
patch on the

original. By the 1970’s it was bottom shelf material. In 1987 the
brand was sold to Jim Beam.

Booker’s is another of the small batch collection. Booker Noe
was a grandson of Jim Beam and the master distiller from 1965
till 1992. He used to select some of the best barrels to bottle for
himself and friends. It was uncut and unfiltered. When he retired
Jim Beam started selling his choices under his name. It sold

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