The old geezer
2009-01-26 23:15:13 UTC
Old Crow is a relatively low-priced brand of Kentucky bourbon whiskey,
distilled by Fortune Brands, which also produces Jim Beam and several
other brands of bourbon whiskey. The Old Crow brand has a venerable
history, and is distinctive for being the first sour mash process
bourbon whiskey. Old Crow is aged for three years, and in the United
States is 80 proof.
Old Crow is named in honor of Dr. James C. Crow, the Scottish chemist
who invented the sour mash process now used by all bourbon distillers.
In this process, a small amount of the previous batch is left behind
to help activate the work of the yeast in the new batch.
[edit] Old Crow in History
Old Crow was the drink of choice for American general and 18th
President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. An apocryphal story
about Grant's drinking has the general's critics going to President
Lincoln, charging the military man with being a drunk. Lincoln is
supposed to have replied, "I wish some of you would tell me the brand
of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to
my other generals."
Common apocrypha of the Senate holds that Henry Clay, of Kentucky,
would sit through Senate sessions, boots upon his desk, whittling and
hitting a jug of Old Crow that was within easy reach.
[edit] Old Crow in popular culture
A quick glance at American culture reveals that Old Crow has made
quite an impact, and is often lovingly portrayed as the drink of
choice for characters who might be down and out but are often still
sympathetic. Reportedly the archetypically American writers Mark Twain
and Hunter S. Thompson loved this bourbon (as evidenced in Twain's
house in Hartford, Connecticut and in Thompson's novel The Rum Diary).
In the movies, one can see Robert DeNiro's character, Dwight, in the
film This Boy's Life, drink it straight from the bottle; even a Beavis
and Butt-head character, Principal McVicker, drinks Old Crow (in the
episode "No Laughing," for instance).
In popular music, Old Crow is to be found in many different genres--
from hip-hop, in the Beastie Boys song "Slow Ride" (on the album
License To Ill), to rockabilly, in The Reverend Horton Heat song
"That's Showbiz" (on the album It's Martini Time), which contains the
lines "You could have a fever and the dry heaves / From that left
handed cigarette / And shot of Old Crow you did between the first and
second show." Stereotypically a favorite of the lower classes, Old
Crow is found in the music of those folk--in the very name of the old-
time string band Old Crow Medicine Show, and in the song "Doreen" by
alternative country band Old 97.
Perhaps the ultimate Old Crow reference in American popular music is
to be found in the song "Gin Soaked Boy" by one of the ultimate
American champions of the downtrodden, Tom Waits, one of whose
characters (on Swordfishtrombones) one whiskey-soaked night finds his
woman gone for good: "I come home last night / Full a fifth of Old
Crow / Said you're going to your mom / Where the hell did you go."
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Crow"
The Old Geezer
ND: Evan Williams Sour Mash Bourbon
NP: Streams & Currents - Steve Roach
distilled by Fortune Brands, which also produces Jim Beam and several
other brands of bourbon whiskey. The Old Crow brand has a venerable
history, and is distinctive for being the first sour mash process
bourbon whiskey. Old Crow is aged for three years, and in the United
States is 80 proof.
Old Crow is named in honor of Dr. James C. Crow, the Scottish chemist
who invented the sour mash process now used by all bourbon distillers.
In this process, a small amount of the previous batch is left behind
to help activate the work of the yeast in the new batch.
[edit] Old Crow in History
Old Crow was the drink of choice for American general and 18th
President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. An apocryphal story
about Grant's drinking has the general's critics going to President
Lincoln, charging the military man with being a drunk. Lincoln is
supposed to have replied, "I wish some of you would tell me the brand
of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to
my other generals."
Common apocrypha of the Senate holds that Henry Clay, of Kentucky,
would sit through Senate sessions, boots upon his desk, whittling and
hitting a jug of Old Crow that was within easy reach.
[edit] Old Crow in popular culture
A quick glance at American culture reveals that Old Crow has made
quite an impact, and is often lovingly portrayed as the drink of
choice for characters who might be down and out but are often still
sympathetic. Reportedly the archetypically American writers Mark Twain
and Hunter S. Thompson loved this bourbon (as evidenced in Twain's
house in Hartford, Connecticut and in Thompson's novel The Rum Diary).
In the movies, one can see Robert DeNiro's character, Dwight, in the
film This Boy's Life, drink it straight from the bottle; even a Beavis
and Butt-head character, Principal McVicker, drinks Old Crow (in the
episode "No Laughing," for instance).
In popular music, Old Crow is to be found in many different genres--
from hip-hop, in the Beastie Boys song "Slow Ride" (on the album
License To Ill), to rockabilly, in The Reverend Horton Heat song
"That's Showbiz" (on the album It's Martini Time), which contains the
lines "You could have a fever and the dry heaves / From that left
handed cigarette / And shot of Old Crow you did between the first and
second show." Stereotypically a favorite of the lower classes, Old
Crow is found in the music of those folk--in the very name of the old-
time string band Old Crow Medicine Show, and in the song "Doreen" by
alternative country band Old 97.
Perhaps the ultimate Old Crow reference in American popular music is
to be found in the song "Gin Soaked Boy" by one of the ultimate
American champions of the downtrodden, Tom Waits, one of whose
characters (on Swordfishtrombones) one whiskey-soaked night finds his
woman gone for good: "I come home last night / Full a fifth of Old
Crow / Said you're going to your mom / Where the hell did you go."
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Crow"
The Old Geezer
ND: Evan Williams Sour Mash Bourbon
NP: Streams & Currents - Steve Roach