Boys of Bourbon

On a recent trip up to the Texas panhandle to see my parents we decided to have dinner at “the club.” The club is full of wood paneling, 1970’s carpet, club chairs with wheels, and delicious steaks. It is almost like a trip back in time. In its hay day during the oil boom this was the place to be on a weekend. Of course it is still my parents favorite place to eat dinner. Having never had a glass of bourbon at the club I decided to see what unusual selection they might have.

I headed over to the bar to take a look. More of a scotch selection than anything else. Finally I spotted something called Old Charter. That sounded like a bourbon since a good rule of thumb in naming bourbons is to choose any word and add “old” in front. On delivery everyone asked what I had chosen. I said, “something I never heard of called ‘Old Charter.’” That resulted in several of these baby boomers nearly spitting Yellow Tail merlot out their nose. Apparently Old Charter is a classic bourbon they had been drinking all their life, and I was an idiot for not knowing anything about it.

Here is what I found out. These people knew what they were talking about. Literally this is a classically styled bourbon. I found it to be very fruity with significant amounts of caramel and charring. The alcohol is a manageable 90 proof that for me did not require anything but ice to easily enjoy.

Overall I say this is a terrific bourbon. A poor man’s Woodford in some ways. Pick it up for less than $12 a bottle, but make sure you never suggest to someone over 50 years old that you never heard of it.