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As the Presidential election nears, a New Yorker can’t help but wonder how other states might react to the issues. Take Utah, the home of High West Distillery, which in 2008 won Double Gold in the World Spirits Competition for their Rendezvous Rye (a marriage of a straight 6 year old containing 95% rye and 5% barley malt, and a straight 16 year old containing 80% rye, 10% corn and 10% barley malt.  Utah is also the state that cast the deciding vote to repeal Prohibition.  The 36th Vote is now a barreled Manhattan made from 2 parts High West’s...

Come to think of it, it probably is your daddy’s bourbon.  But thanks to the vagaries of marketing, it almost certainly isn’t your bourbon.  It’s Old Grand Dad.  For decades, Old Grand Dad was a nearly iconic presence on the American spirit industry landscape.  Throughout most of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, it was almost impossible to read a magazine without coming across an Old Grand Dad ad (one of which, from around 1980, is above).  But it’s popularity wasn’t just the result of a clever advertising campaign.  The fact is, Old Grand Dad has always been a consistently smooth,...