Old Forester may be one of the oldest bourbon distilleries, but age doesn’t always bring wisdom.
Founded by George Garvin Brown in 1870, Old Forester has certainly left its mark on the bourbon world. For starters, Old Forester is the longest running bourbon brand on the market and was one of the chosen few to continue production during Prohibition. On top of that, they were also the first to sell bourbon in sealed bottles, create a double-barreled bourbon, and create a single barrel bourbon. Old Forester is definitely the over-achieving valedictorian of the bourbon school, so all that prestige has to translate to the final products, right? Wrong.
For us, Old Forester has always fallen a bit short. From the strangling heat of 1920 to the stifling herbs of their Rye, we have yet to fall in love with an Old Forester product. And yet, here we are stumbling back for another shot at romance with Old Forester 100 Proof.
The first smell of this bourbon is a bit underwhelming with just a subtle whiff of oak, honey, and clove. We normally wouldn’t mind such a mild start, if it weren’t for the MIA middle taste. The 100 proof portion of Old Forester 100 Proof helps to convert the oak smell into an oak taste, but otherwise the taste is extremely thin and unmemorable. The saving grace is a big finale of pepper with another dose of clove and oak, but that’s about it.
The high proof is really what carries Old Forester 100 Proof and for only $23, you could do a lot worse, but the whole experience for us was a bit anticlimactic.
As much as we’d love to fall in love with an Old Forester product, we’re still left a little heartbroken.
STATS: Old Forester 100 Proof Bourbon
- Price for us: $23 for 750 mL
- Proof: 100
- Aged: NAS
- Distillery: Old Forester, owned by Brown-Forman
- Recommendation: Neat
