The Old Grand Dad brand has gone through multiple changes of ownership over the past decades to include the Wathen's family, National Distillers and Jim Beam. The Old Grand Dad picture on the front of the bottle is a rendering of the old man himself, Basil Hayden. In a kind of ironic twist, Basil Hayden's, a brand also owned by Jim Beam, is the only other label of whiskey in the Beam lineup aside from the Old Grand Dad label that uses their high-rye mashbill exclusively. Seeing as how I'm a big fan of high rye mashbills, I should mention that this one is 63% corn, 27% rye and 10% malted barley. Nose: My nose is given a friendly greeting by all of that rye in the mashbill, delivering a sharp prickle of spice early on. I do get some nice baking spices with cinnamon and clove mixed in as well. It wouldn't be a Beam product without a little bit of musty peanut funk,which I do find and it's pleasant and not distracting. There's some rich and sweet caramel chews that surround soft baked apples. But for all the more pleasant the nose has become, it's also got an underlying grainy note that you can't escape. This shows its youthful side. Palate: I'm enjoying that jolt of rye that I got on the nose, but this time on my tongue. There's cinnamon gum with spiced honey for sweetness. The palate is hot and spicy though, with a nice punch of white pepper. The rye shows its face yet again with tarragon, sweet hay and mint herbal notes. The whole palate is thick and rich if not a bit too hot. Of note, I sipped some Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C919 (136+ proof) immediately after this and found the heat levels to be the same Finish: The rye spice elevates the heat level that is left behind in my mouth and throat, feeding the peppery burn that lingers around. There is some sweet notes of toffee, but they're drowned out mostly with the aforementioned heat and the tannins of tobacco leaf and oak that show that this distillate took a lot of the barrel with it when it was dumped.