Jim Beam’s Old Overholt Just Released a Premium New Cask-Strength Rye Whiskey
Jim Beam’s budget rye whiskey brand, Old Overholt, has certainly been getting a lot of love over the past few years, with an increased proof and age statement for the core expression and some higher-end new releases that are both older and stronger than the original. The latest is the new Extra Aged Cask Strength 11 Year Old, which builds upon two previous Old Overholt bottles from the past four years.
The history of Old Overholt dates back to the early 1800s, when German immigrant Abraham Overholt started making whiskey in the small town of West Overton outside of Pittsburgh. After years of ups and downs, not to mention several different owners, Jim Beam acquired the brand in 1987. It is now made at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Kentucky from a mashbill that is somewhere just over the 51 percent required rye grain, which is quite different from how Abe himself would have made it back in his day. Earlier this year, the brand launched A. Overholt, a whiskey made in the style of Monongahela rye that used to be common in the state of Pennsylvania, with a mashbill of 80 percent rye and 20 percent malted barley.
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Long known as a bartender’s favorite budget rye, Old Overholt started to get some renewed attention from its parent company back in 2020—the core expression’s age was increased from three years to four, and the proof was dialed up to 86 from the minimum 80. A bottled-in-bond version was also introduced, as well as a stronger 114-proof version and a limited-edition 11-year-old bottling at 92.6 proof. Last year, the fantastic Extra Aged Cask Strength expression came out, a 121-proof whiskey aged for a full decade that was absolutely delicious (read our review here). That leads us to this new expression, which was aged for 11 years like the limited release from four years ago and bottled at cask strength like last year’s release.
According to the brand, the new Extra Aged rye was distilled and barreled in 2012 and matured in four warehouses on the Beam campus—M, J, F, and 5, to be exact—for 11 years before bottling. This release is actually significantly lower in alcohol content than last year’s at 107.4 proof (which, for many drinkers, might actually be a good thing). That’s because, according to global small batch ambassador Tim Heuisler, the barrels came from lower floors. “The blending team really liked how these barrels were maturing and we feel that the final product, while at a ‘lower than average cask strength proof’, came out beautifully,” he told Robb Report. “The intention is to seek out the best possible barrels for super limited and special releases such as this, and it just so happened to land at a low proof and I think we were all pleasantly surprised by it. We chose to pull from multiple warehouses as they best showcase the Overholt profile.”
We were not able to sample the whiskey yet, but official tasting notes detail vanilla and tobacco on the nose; allspice, sweet vanilla, caramel, and charred oak on the palate; and a full-bodied finish with lingering notes of rye. The new Extra Aged Cask Strength 11 Year Old (SRP $100) is just rolling out this month so it might be hard to find online at the moment, but check your local liquor store. Last year’s release can still be found at websites like Total Wine now, however, along with the rest of the Old Overholt lineup.
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