I really like Old Forester and this Old Forester Single Barrel picked by K&L is absolutely no exception. Bottled in their new-style bottle, aged for 4 1/2 years and picked by the Davids it was all but destined to be a good whiskey. Good distillery, good palates doing the pick… wonder if they have anything to say about this bottle?
In K&L’s Words: Old Forester Single Barrel
“We’ve started to see more and more interest in the Old Forester brand as it represents some of the finest values in the industry. When we finally got into the distillery in Spring of 2017, we found a very classic operation using a proper souring room, like you’d find at Four Roses or Wild Turkey, and two of the only thumpers left in Kentucky. The result is one of the smoothest, easiest to appreciate bourbon on the market.
This great little cask of Old Forester was dumped on July 28th, 2017 and distilled on November 1st, 2012. Incredible how much depth and complexity they achieve after only 4.5 years, the result of several cold winters in patent warehouses no doubt. The nose is toasted brown sugar, fresh mocha and herbal mint. On the palate, a sweet entry that remains super soft and fruity in the middle until a building spice on the finish. A long lingering black cherry note persists for a while after that. This whisky is so overt and approachable, almost any drinker will be able to appreciate the wonderful nuance and great drinkability here.”
Of course they had something to say about it, what was I thinking ;) Anyways, onto the Old Forester Single Barrel review!
Old Forester Single Barrel Info
Region: Kentucky, USA
Distiller: Old Forester
Bottled For: K&L
Mashbill: 72% Corn, 18% Rye, 10% Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 4.5 Years
ABV: 45%
Barrel: 2023
Floor: 5
Warehouse: H
Price: $40
Old Forester Single Barrel Review
EYE
Dark amber
NOSE
Heavily oaked with layers of brown sugar, brulee, dark fruit, biscuits, vanilla and a light bit of acetone, grain and nutmeg.
PALATE
Oak, burnt caramel, dark fruit, vanilla taffy, brulee, brown sugar, peanuts, biscuits and a light bit of acetone and baking spice.
FINISH
Oak, dark sweets, vanilla taffy, dark fruit, peanuts and bits of baking spice, toasted biscuit and acetone.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Well balanced, medium body and a warm sticky feel that turns drying.
OVERALL
This particular Old Forester Single Barrel is darker and oakier than you might assume at its 4 and a half years. It’s a commonly held belief that the bare minimum for bourbon to be “gettin’ good” is four years and that’s no arbitrary number. It comes from decades of distillers tasting, waiting and experimenting with their whiskey.
While 4 years in Scotland may result in something that’s spirit heavy and, depending on the distillery, undrinkable – in Kentucky it produces a full matured and delicious bourbon exactly like this Old Forester Single Barrel. Can 3-year-old whiskey taste good? Sure, but there’s a reason when Pappy had to restart Stitzel-Weller after prohibition he didn’t slap the Old Fitz name on a bourbon until he had 4-year-old stock. Cheers to a solid $40 bourbon!
SCORE: 87/100 (B+)
Old Forester Single Barrel Review - Score Breakdown
Summary
This Old Forester Single Barrel is good.
Overall
- Nose - 87
- Palate - 88
- Finish - 87
- Balance, Body & Feel - 88
User Review
( votes)( review)
Really Excellent
Josh I stopped by my favorite local chain, Bourbon Street Wines & Liquors, which has recently been bringing in a lot of store pics from a large variety of distilleries. For the first time I saw a single barrel Old Forester store pick, and remembering how much you liked this one I went for it. It came from Warehouse J Floor 7. It has many of the qualities of your Single Barrel, except I did not detect any acetone. I can’t believe I waited this long to try some old Forester. It’s terrific! It never ceases to amaze me how all of these Bourbons can be so different.
Ditto, love the variation! I just picked up another from K&L last week, and it’s pure candy sweetness. No oaky acetone notes, it’s easily the sweetest OF I’ve ever had.
Cheers Tony, glad you got a good one!
anyone know the char no. for these? or are all OF lines done in char 4?
I believe they’re all the same. Cheers!
Having never had anything Old Forester related, I thought what better way to jump in than with a single barrel… mine was selected from Stellar Cellar in Memphis and they picked a gem…. Warehouse G, Floor 2… brown sugar…cinnamon…hints of oak…. incredibly smooth… Really impressive and one that I will be picking up until it disappears… terrific barrel selection…
My bottle came from a barrel on floor 1 of warehouse K (bottled for Total Wine). Strangely it doesn’t say what barrel# it came from. Anyway my experience was different from the others. A lot of times I’ll open a bottle and decide at first taste I’m not liking it. But once the bottle has been open and had some air exposure it starts to come around. Black Saddle and Longbranch are two that come to mind.
When I first opened the OF SiB the first glass was heaven. My palate isn’t as sophisticated as yours and some others who post here but I know what I like and this stuff was good! I came back to it a few days later and it felt like it had fallen off a bit but I thought maybe it was just me. Sadly it wasn’t. It continued to deteriorate and by the time I polished off the bottle in a mere two weeks the thing was a muddled mess especially the palate and finish. I was disappointed because I had tried some of the other OF products recently (the 1870, 1897 and 1920) and liked them – particularly the 1920.
SiB can be a crapshoot I understand but then I look at something like a Henry McKenna SiB BiB and while there are some variations barrel to barrel it has been consistently excellent for me. So disappointed here but not deterred.
Cheers Bryce,
I agree that some SiB producers seem to have a more even quality than others. Jack Daniels seems to have the most variation between truly awful and utterly sublime.
I do notice the word “oak” prominently in your review, and not just yours. That’s something I’ve always felt was a bit overdone on the OF Single Barrels. I have not gotten my hands on a bottle of this iteration yet, and currently still have a store bottling from (I think) 2016. It’s not really off-putting, but it’s a reason I’ve always found Woodford in the same general price range and from the same distiller to be the preferable choice. A Single Barrel is only worth the premium if it is actually better than the batch whiskeys.
” A Single Barrel is only worth the premium if it is actually better than the batch whiskeys.” – Wise true words. Cheers Burk!
I rarely buy my bourbon from the accursed BevMo, but this was proportionally priced as local SF stores so I took chance. I’m always on the hunt for a “session “ whiskey, and this biddy seems to fit the bill. Aroma is amazingly neutral and smooth for a “four” year bourbon. The taste is mellow, elements of banana and corn. Somehow I always equated age with artistic expression integrity, but this whiskey belies such a thing. Smooth, yet bold it prominent in flavor, this bourbon is as complex and nuanced as many whiskeys twice its age. I now have yet another bourbon worthy of casual parlance. Cheers old Forester!
Nice, sounds like you got a great barrel. Cheers!
This an insanely good underrated bourbon. I picked up a bottle of a store pick in Louisville last year & was blown away. Is this something regularly available or is it only available as store picks?
So far, single barrels are only available as store picks.
The closest wide release you can get would be their annual Birthday Bourbon, but that will be far more expensive and difficult to find.
Only store picks at the moment.