Bourbon Heritage Month may be over but the bourbon releases keep on coming. This time, it’s from Old Forester Distillery and what they claim will be the final release in the Whiskey Row Series – The Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whiskey, a double barreled bourbon.
First launched in 2014, the Whiskey Row series tells the story of Old Forester’s history, highlighting significant milestones and production innovations along the way. “Old Forester has endured nearly 150 years of uninterrupted history and has survived prohibition, world wars and changing consumer tastes,” said Old Forester President Campbell Brown. “The Whiskey Row series is a great way for consumers to taste through Old Forester’s unique 148-year history.”
The First Documented Double Barreled Whiskey
Like others in the series, 1910 Old Fine Whisky represents a specific point in Old Forester’s nearly 150-year-old history. Old Forester says that in October 1910, a fire caused the bottling line to be shut down for an indefinite period of time. Complicating matters, there was a vat of mature whisky waiting to be bottled. Otherwise facing ruin, this whisky was instead stored in new, charred oak containers to rest until the line could be repaired. The resulting product, the first documented double-barreled whisky, was both different from Old Forester and remarkable enough to become an entirely new expression – Very Old Fine Whiskey.
“There are often pieces of our brand’s history that we happen upon by accident. Years ago, while searching through archives, we discovered a case of bourbon with a label I hadn’t seen before. We uncovered that Very Old Fine Whisky not only carried a great story, but a previously unknown heritage of double-barreled expressions,” said Chris Morris, Master Distiller and VP Whiskey Innovation at Brown-Forman.
Today, mimicking this historic bottling, this unique expression of Old Forester has undergone a second barreling in a lightly toasted, heavily charred barrel.
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“Mature Old Forester enters a second barrel at 100 proof, just as it did in 1910,” said Old Forester Master Taster Jackie Zykan. “The second barrel is charred nearly to the point of incineration. This low entry proof allows more of the wood’s sugars to be dissolved into the whiskey, resulting in a smooth, sweet whisky with a clean, spicy finish – yielding an exceptional character.”
Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whiskey Tasting Notes
These tasting notes are provided by Master Distiller Chris Morris and Master Taster Jackie Zykan.
Aroma: Interlaced layers of buttercream, sticky toffee, cedar, and apricot.
Taste: Smooth, well-rounded mingling of sweet oatmeal raisin cookie and milk chocolate, leading into caramel corn and evolving spice.
Finish: Charred oak leads with a clean peripheral spice.
The Old Forester Whiskey Row Series
The four year old series includes the following collections.
- 1870 Original Batch – A small batch bourbon pulling from three distinct warehouses, meant to reference founder George Garvin Brown’s original batching process.
- 1897 Bottled in Bond – A small batch of barrels from one distilling season, in the same year, aged in a federally bonded warehouse for a minimum of four years.
- 1920 Prohibition Style – Which represents a barrel strength of the prohibition era when Old Forester was granted one of just ten permits nationally to continue being sold as a medicinal whiskey.
- 1910 Old Fine Whiskey – The latest edition of double barrels Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whisky is bottled at 93° proof (46.5 ABV) and is expected to arrive on shelves nationally this October with a suggested retail price of $54.99 for a 750 ml.
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Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whiskey
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