How Old Grand-Dad Became Premium Without Rebranding

Описание: Old Grand-Dad came to us with a question.

They had a 16-year-old liquid.
Rare.
Extremely premium.

And the obvious move was to put it under another brand in the portfolio.
Knob Creek.
Booker’s.
Baker’s.
Basil Hayden.

On paper, that made sense.
Old Grand-Dad core sells for around $18.
A $200 bottle felt incompatible.

But strategy isn’t about price ladders alone.
It’s about DNA.

What we uncovered was the mash bill.
The same mash bill used across Knob Creek, Booker’s, and Baker’s.
One of the best mash bills in bourbon.

That mash bill belongs to Old Grand-Dad.

From a heritage perspective,
this liquid had every right to live there.

Keeping it under Old Grand-Dad did two things.
It honored the brand’s deep historical role.
And it allowed us to premiumize perception from the top down.

Then came the design work.

We applied our Modern Heritage framework.

→ Unearth.
We dug through more than 100 years of labels, marks, typefaces, and aesthetics.

→ Redefine.
We took something dusty and reframed it for a contemporary audience.
Refined typography.
Modern cuts of historic letterforms.

→ Reinvigorate.
A new neck label.
A newly created OG monogram.
And the Big 16 age statement placed boldly on pack.

That move might feel radical today.
But historically, it was completely authentic.

Pre-Prohibition bottles proudly stamped age and bond information directly on the label.
We were not inventing something new.
We were restoring something true.

This is exactly how we approach brand building at Tavern.
Strategy led by heritage.
Design that modernizes without erasing.

If your brand is sitting on untapped equity and wondering how to evolve without losing its soul, learn more about how we work at www.tavern.agency.

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#BrandDesign #SpiritsBranding #ModernDesign #OldGrandDad