Review #98 Old Forester 150th Anniversary: Bourbon

Score: 9.3 / 10

Distillery: The Brown Foreman Distillery

Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Old Forester has been very transparent in that 150 barrels were made of the 150th Anniversary edition. Could it be any other number? Of course not lol. The storage of the whiskey was divided between the original distilleries. Definitely an allocated whiskey in those quantities from one of the best whiskey brands.

I had a moment where lightning struck twice and I was sure that I've used up all my luck for the year. I was talking with a local store and they were telling me to stop in on a certain date as they were releasing their Weller Full Proof pick Sure enough they handed me a bottle of Weller Full Proof and rang it up for $59.99 (score!). I was about to walk away, when I did a double take and saw this bottle of Old Forester 150th sitting on the shelf. I calmly asked the clerk what they had it priced at and they said "$159". Done deal. I walked out with two phenomenal bottles.

Old Forester 150th Anniversary - Batch 02/03 - 126.4 Proof - 63.2% ALC/VOL - served neat in a Glencairn glass:

If you would like to hear about the other whiskeys in the core lineup and Birthday Bourbon, tune into the Po It Up whiskey podcast's "Birthday" episode here.

Whiskey Review:

Nose: Creamy vanilla, caramel and banana pudding (packed with Nilla wafers). Light notes of dark cherries and espresso. Rye spice lingers throughout sniffing. Digging deeper I find raisin and butterscotch.

Palate: Lemon rind hits the tongue first as the viscous turns to effervescent which brings forth tons of incredible vanilla and caramel. A pleasant but intense cinnamon spice crackles with black pepper and seasoned oak. Banana pudding notes and sugary sweetness pop up in between spicy cinnamon and pepper notes.

Finish: Mildly tannic, moderate in length and leaves a numbing sensation on the lips. Caramel, chocolate and dry oak linger. Long after drinking, these notes can still be found on the sides of the mouth.

Score: 9.3

Scale:

S+ Sensational - The Pinnacle (9.5+)

A - AXEceptional (astounding) (9-9.5)

B - bravo (step aBove average) (8-8.9)

C - competent (7-7.9)

D - disappointing (6-6.9)

F - flush it down the toilet (fail) (5.9 below)

Availability? Very Rare. If it's 2020 - early 2021, this is around. You'll find it in the rare cases of a larger store. I don't believe that this was saved for events and drawings at all stores. I could be wrong. 150 barrels should put this one near 30-35,000 bottle mark. However it's not going to stay as this is obviously a 1 year release only.