Old Charter 8 year vs Virginia Gentleman: Bottom Shelf Bourbon Brackets, Round 1

Round 1a of the Bottom Shelf Bourbon Brackets features Number 1 seed Old Charter 8 year old versus Number 4 seed Virginia Gentleman. 

Old Charter was brought to my attention in a twitter thread. The chatter was about good, cheap bourbons. This one kept coming up again and again. Not being available in Minnesota, I just sort of stuck that in the back of my head until I was driving through Kentucky on the way back from Virginia and saw a 750 mL on the shelf for $14.35. That price put it in the range for this contest and so I picked it up. This was the number 1 seed and number 1 choice overall as it is one of two bottles with an age statement (and the only one older than 4 years) meaning that, with the way marketing departments work, it is almost certainly the oldest bourbon of the bunch. 

Virginia Gentleman was initially brought to my attention when I was first getting interested in bourbon. I was online looking up something along the lines of “best bourbon under $25.” I was as cheap then, as I am now. I was especially so considering I wasn’t sure yet what I liked and wasn’t sure what I’d be willing to spend to find out. The expression listed was a 90 proof version that is no longer produced and which, sadly, I never got to try. But it put the name in my mind and when I visited Virginia in February I happened to pick up a couple of minis to include in this tasting. This is the number 4 seed.

Old Charter 8 year old

Purchase Info: Liquor World, Bardstown, KY. $14.35 for a 750 mL.

Stated Age: 8 years

ABV: 40%

Produced by: Buffalo Trace (Sazerac)

Nose: Brown sugar and hints of pickle juice mingled with intermittent cherry.

Mouth: Spice cake and cordial cherries.

Finish: Gentle, as might be expected at 40% ABV, yet complex enough to hold interest. Sweet at first and like a mouthful of cloves, this is both numbing and drying. Transitions to lingering bitterness.

Thoughts: I hesitate to say this, but I think this is better than it’s sub $15 price tag would suggest. I could see this becoming a regular on the shelf if it were distributed near me.

Virginia Gentleman

Purchase Info: VABC store, Richmond, VA. (I bought 2 minis for about a buck each, but the VABC price list lists a 750mL for $12.45 or 1L for $14.95)

Stated Age: NAS 

ABV: 40%

Produced by: A. Smith Bowman (Sazerac)

Nose: Light and sweet. Apple candy.

Mouth: Delicate. A light, but not watery, mouthfeel. Lightly fruity with some cinnamon.

Finish: Gentle with a lingering sour grain or silage flavor.

Thoughts: The finish kills this one. That silage/grain aftertaste makes me not want another sip. It might mix ok though.

Winner: Old Charter 8 Year advances to the next round. It’s a bourbon I’ll be keeping an eye out for next time I travel. It also makes me interested in it’s sibling, Charter 101 (NAS). Might have to keep an eye out for both, providing the price stays right. The Virginia Gentleman seems to have deserved it’s seeding. The finish is...not good. Upon giving it another shot as I type this, I’m getting less silage, but more apple mixed with an odd chemical note. Different, but not better.

Bottom Shelf Bourbon Brackets: Prologue

I’ve been feeling the need for competition lately. No, I don’t want to actually compete. I want to watch competitions. Preferably in a comfy chair. With a drink close to hand. And one would think that this is the perfect time of year for that. What with two big, national college basketball tournaments and a national college ice hockey tournament happening or about to happen right about now.

But there is a problem. I’m bored by basketball. And hockey. When I watch either of those, I need a drink just so I can be interested in something. So what is a guy who is suffering from some serious cabin fever to do when bored by the offerings, yet still in need of competitive entertainment? Easy. Hold your own competition. 

But, it can’t be just any competition. It has to be a competition that means something. It has to be a winner takes all, earn a spot on the fancy bourbon shelf sort of competition. It’s got to be a bottom-shelf bourbon bracket with the winner earning…well...my eternal good wishes and a spot on the shelf? 

I think that’s prize enough. 

I don't want you to think this is some spur-of-the-moment thing though. I gave this some thought. I knew if I was going to have a legitimate competition, I had to have a few rules. 

  1. I wanted to find something new. So except for one selection which just happened to be already in my closet, these are all new to me. 

  2. I wanted them to be cheap. So I put the cut-off at $20 per liter or $15 per 750 mL. 

  3. I wanted them to be Straight Bourbon. Because…yeah, why wouldn’t I?

  4. I wanted them to be available in Minnesota, but I ran across two on my recent trip to Virginia which I decided to throw in as wild cards. As far as I know, neither are available in Minnesota. 

Once I knew I had the rules for selection in place, I also knew I was going to need some way of seeding these. It is a bracket after all. I came up with a few considerations to follow here as well. These are in order of importance. 

  1. Stated (or assumed) age. Straight bourbon has to be at least two years old. But unless it is under four years old you don’t have to put an age on it. So if someone does it’s either a good thing or a bad thing. I like to reward good things.

  2. Proof. Higher proof often equals better flavor. Not always, but it can be a good rule of thumb.

  3. No corporate cousins. I figured I could introduce a little more difference into each pairing if they didn’t come off the same still, or at the very least wasn’t sold by the same company.

So that’s it. The bracket is below. Division 1 chose first. Division 2 chose second. Because, math. Stay tuned.