Old Forester Birthday Bourbon Review (2024)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

In some ways, the bourbon calendar is more predictable than the real passage of the seasons, especially here in Kentucky and in the era of climate change. Today it is dry and quite pleasant outside, but I have no idea if the next round of storms will bring with it a return to steamy, late summer weather. Meanwhile, I know for certain the autumnal season of red hot American whiskey releases is around the corner, because Old Forester has dropped the year’s Birthday Bourbon.

The 2024 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is already unique in that it was bottled at 107 proof, which is the strongest ever bottling for the expression. The release was also attended by a sweepstakes, which saw 1,000 lucky contestants bypass the usual trouble of bottle hunting (or expense of paying market value). They won the right to go to the Old Forester Distillery on Louisville’s Whiskey Row and buy a bottle at MSRP. Past that, the tale of this year’s tribute to George Garvin Brown is typical. Master Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris and Master Taster Melissa Rift hand-selected 209 barrels for the release, with all those bottles being 12 years or older. That is part for the course for this expression, which is routinely middle aged.

The Bourbon
The pour took a dulled, middle amber look in the glass, and I could tell right away that it was borderline on whether water should be added. I frankly find the fever for drinking Hazmat whiskeys neat baffling (as concentrate bottles, they’re great, but drinking something you could run your weed whacker on neat?), but 107 proof is a spot where maybe water is needed and maybe it isn’t. As I left the glass on the table to take some air, I detected a hint of heat. Subsequent nosing showed it stayed there, but a hint of heat is not problematic. So, no water added to this bourbon.

The nose was spice-forward, with the initial impression being very gingerbread before candy corn and caramel. Further nosing developed that spicy current on the front into cloves, ginger and charred oak, with the sweet side remaining quite rooted in candy corn and caramel, with a little green apple thrown in. Most interesting is the trademark Old Forester banana note is gone.

That spicy current morphs into a herbaceous spiciness on the palate. The ginger note continues, but now it is tied to spearmint. That sits atop a syrupy , thick bourbon sweetness of molasses, vanilla and pipe tobacco. The finish ran woody with an almost meaty undertone, before turning woody and spicy to fade away with.

The Price
The official price for this year’s Birthday Bourbon is $200.