Old Thompson is a brand of blended American whiskey produced by

Barton Brands Barton Brands, Ltd. was a company that produced a variety of distilled beverages and liqueurs and is now part of the Sazerac Company, which is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has its principal offices in Louisville, Kentucky. The Bar ...

, which has been owned by the

Sazerac Company Sazerac Company, Inc is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,Official page
(Accessed January 2011) The brand dates back to 1904, when it was introduced by the

Glenmore Distillery Company Glenmore Distillery Company was a large distillery company based in Owensboro, Kentucky best known as a producer of bourbon whiskey. In 2009, the company was acquired by the Sazerac Company, and is still operated under the name "The Glenmore Disti ...

, which at the time was owned by the brothers James Thompson and Francis P. Thompson. Today it is a

blended whiskey A blended whiskey (or blended whisky) is the product of blending different types of whiskeys and sometimes also neutral grain spirits, colorings, and flavorings. It is generally the product of mixing one or more higher-quality straight or singl ...

bottled at 40%

alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

(80 U.S. proof), and formulated from a mixture of 80%

neutral grain spirit Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called Distillation#Fractional distil ...

s and 20%

straight whiskey Straight whiskey (or straight whisky), as defined in United States law, is whiskey that is distilled from a fermented (malted or unmalted) cereal grain mash to a concentration not exceeding 80% alcohol by volume (abv) and aged in new charred oa ...

Assessment

Higher quality categories of American whiskey sold in the market, such as straight whiskeys, are not allowed to contain added neutral grain spirits. Under the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

Code of Federal Regulations for American whiskey, a blended American whiskey is required to contain at least 20%

s, and ''Old Thompson'' is formulated according to this minimum requirement. The minimum alcohol concentration allowed under the

Code of Federal Regulations for American whiskey is 40%, and ''Old Thompson'' is also formulated according to this minimum requirement. There is no aging requirement under the

Code of Federal Regulations for American whiskey for the neutral grain spirits in an American blended whiskey, although there is a two-year minimum aging requirement for straight whiskey (and for the straight whiskey used in the mixture from which a blended whiskey is formulated) and there is a requirement for an age statement on the label of a blended whiskey containing neutral spirits in cases where the straight whiskey used in the blend is less than 4 years old. A labeling age statement on American blended whiskey that contains neutral spirits (per Title 27, Part 5, Subpart C, Section 5.40) ordinarily refers only to the age of the 20% content of the product that is the straight whiskey used within the blend, and the neutral grain spirits used in the blend may not have been aged. The company web site for ''Old Thompson'' refers to it as "4 Year Old Blended American Whiskey", and the picture of the label itself on the web site does not show an age statement, so ''Old Thompson'' is formulated from 20% 4 year old straight whiskey and 80% (un-aged) neutral spirits. The company web site for ''Old Thompson'' says that it is "Blended from the finest quality bourbons available", so some of the straight whiskey that is used in the blend is

bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by ...

. The picture of the label on the web site does not contain a reference to bourbon. Possibly, not all of the straight whiskey used in the ''Old Thompson'' blend is bourbon (although bourbon is among the least expensive straight whiskeys to produce). When comparing an American whiskey such as ''Old Thompson'' to whiskeys produced in other countries, it is important to keep in mind that the regulations governing American whiskey production differ from those in other countries. In some regards, the U.S. regulations are relatively strict. For example, there is no minimum percentage requirement for using some amount of higher quality (straight) whiskey in Canadian, Scotch, or Irish blended whiskey production, and as a result, such non-American whiskeys may often be made using a substantially higher percentage of neutral or near-neutral spirits. The one substantial way in which such other countries are more strict than the U.S. is in the aging requirement, which is set at a minimum of 3 years in Canada, Scotland, and Ireland. Under U.S. law, there is no requirement for aging of neutral grain spirits when these are used in a blended whiskey.

External links

Old Thompson
official web page

References

{{Alcoholic drinks Whiskies of the United States Sazerac Company brands