alc./vol: 48.5%
Proof: 97°
Vintage: 2000
Aged: 12 years
Product of: United States
This 11th annual release of Old Forester’s Birthday Bourbon is blended from 82 barrels filled on 15th February 2000 and bottled 2012, hence is aged 12 years. Like previous Birthday Bourbons, it is presented in a decanter-style glass bottle replicating a design from the late 1800s.
The mash bill from which this whisky was distilled has a higher malt ratio than is usual for Old Forester and Brown Forman say this resulted in “a delightfully nutty spirit. Once barrelled, it was racked high up on the fourth floor of Warehouse H where it experienced a balanced maturation. This lofty location gave an unusual amount to the angel’s share resulting in a richly intense flavor concentration.”
First introduced in 2002, each year’s release of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon celebrates the work of George Garvin Brown who founded Old Forester, America’s first bottled bourbon in 1870. Fittingly, each year’s Birthday Bourbon is released on 2nd September, Brown’s own birthday.
Sampled on 25/09/2012
Clear, deep golden amber with burnished gold highlights.
Pungent leathery caramel, cedar wood and warm clove with vanilla, toasted hazelnut and hints of anise and dark berry fruit.
Muscular dry oak and clove spice with vanilla, nutmeg, dark chocolate, old varnished wood and old leather.
Lingering clove spiced dry oak.
Although a high proof this is best appreciated with water on the side rather than in the bourbon. Dilution seems to dull the sweet vanillins and amplify the dry oakyness.
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