“Each year on September 2nd – in honor of our founder George Garvin Brown’s birthday – Old Forester releases a limited-edition, 12-year old vintage-dated expression. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon has become a must-have for bourbon enthusiasts who want to experience the ultimate in rare handcrafted bourbon. Since its introduction in 2002, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon has received unprecedented acclaim, with an impressive collection of national and international whisky honors.” – oldforester.com
Also, it’s interesting to note that all of the barrels used to create this bourbon are from a single day’s production. This year marks the 16th year it has been released.
Last year zero bottles came to Oklahoma, and very few made it this year, so we are super excited to have scored this one. We actually tried this just recently at the Fork + Bottle dinner at Mary Eddy’s located in the 21c Museum Hotel. The dinner was amazing and the cocktails/drinks were paired exceptionally well. If you are local, definitely look into going to the next one!
Sidenote: If you are interested in what I have said about the last 3 Birthday Bourbons look no further, and click here!
Company: Brown-Foreman Corporation
Distillery: Old Forester
Location: Lousiville, KY
Mash Bill: 72% corn/13% rye/15% barley
Age: 12 years
ABV: 48% (96 proof)
Released: 2017 (limited annual release every September 2nd)
Price: $100
Color: Golden Amber Lady
Nose: Cherry, blackberry, vanilla, tobacco, leather, barrel funk, nutty, banana nut bread, and earthy.
Taste: Very earthy but sweet, banana nut bread, light caramel, refined sugar, mint chocolate chip, bitter floral (really want to say dandelion, but that makes me feel like a pretentious asshat, so I’ll just put that in parenthesis and tell you how I feel about it.)
Finish: Medium finish, lingers warm with some heat on your tongue, slightly sweet and warms your soul.
Overall: I like it overall, I think this the best Birthday Bourbon in a while. Kris says he thinks its the best since 2014, so to him way better than 2015 and 2016. We both agree that we really like it. We just poured some 2015 to compare, and whoa that 2015 is so hot and oaky. So, yeah, this year wins with its better balance.
If you are lucky enough to find bottle, I say buy it!
Level: Medium for flavor, advanced to trying to find that shit.
Rating: 4/5
