Old Forester Birthday Bourbon (2019 Release)

Old Forrester is celebrating once again, and we all get a present — Old Forester Birthday 2019.

Old Forester has about as much tradition as you can get in a Bourbon. It is a single brand of Bourbon that has been continuously available for 145 years — most of that time from the same family of craftsmen at the same distillery. Interestingly, it was the first Bourbon to be available exclusively in sealed glass bottles. There was a lot of nefarious re-bottling and dilution going on and this was a way to ensure quality and integrity. Today it is owned by Brown-Forman, available in eight different varieties and is a sister Bourbon to Woodford Reserve.

Since 2002, Old Forester has issues a very special limited release of their “Birthday Bourbon” to celebrate, well … the birthday of the distillery on September 2nd. It’s a fun tradition and it’s always a tasty treat. This year, master Distiller Chris Morris and Master Taster Jackie Zykan spent a few happy days in the rickhouses hand-selecting this year’s casks. They came up with 120 special-special barrels — which is the equivalent of one full day’s production — that aged eleven years on the second floor of warehouse #1. All Old Forester Bourbons use the mash bill of 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malted barley. And this year’s release is bottled at an impressive 52.5% ABV, which means that they didn’t use a whole lot of water bringing it to proof. Meet Old Forester Birthday 2019 and raise a glass to wish them a Happy Birthday.