On the heels of my Old Forester review and the interest in all things “old” in the American whiskey scene, I’ve taken it upon myself to explore the culture and history of “The Olds”— a historic part of the American whiskey legacy that today is increasingly forgotten, marginalized or kitschily revamped. As it currently stands, the remaining Olds tend to fit into one of three categories: the bottom-shelf bar favorite, the so-bad-it’s-good-again, and the old-school highbrow.

The hipsterization of The Olds, specifically those owned by Beam-Suntory (Old Crow, Old Overholt, and Old Grand-Dad), rests upon a collection of tired…