Old Forester Birthday Bourbon Bottled At Whiskey Row This Year
This is the 18th year for Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, but it brings a little something new to the serious. That is because this is the first iteration to be bottled at the new Old Forester Distilling Co. on Louisville’s historic Whiskey Row, in the same space that Old Forester called home before Prohibition.
Selected from a single day of production and handcrafted by Master Distiller Chris Morris and Master Taster Jackie Zykan, this small batch bourbon offers a one-of-a-kind character and flavor profile that will never be replicated. A total of 120 barrels, distilled on June 9, 2006, were marked for this year’s Birthday Bourbon release. They were drawn from two locations: 93 barrels matured together on the 3rd floor on the northwest side of Warehouse J; the remaining 27 barrels matured together on the 3rd floor, northwest side of Warehouse I. The angels opted for a hearty share of 2018 Birthday Bourbon – the total yield was just 39 percent and five barrels were found to be totally empty.
The 2018 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is offered at a suggested retail price of $99.99. Roughly 2,400 (six bottle) cases will be available for purchase nationwide. It is offered at 101 proof, the highest to date for this annually released Bourbon.
Brown-Forman Master Taster Jackie Zykan said, “I find this year’s expression to possess a flavor profile perfectly aligned with the time of year in which it is released – days are subtly shortening, and we find ourselves indulging on the last remnants summer has to offer, all the while longing for the upcoming autumn transition – like a late summer evening at a lake house, enjoying a cherry cobbler, speckled with crunchy toasted almonds, still perfectly residually warm from the oven; sipping a tepid hot toddy, lemon wheel lazily floating in the mug as the stars begin to present themselves across the falling night sky.”
