Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2023

A friend of mine took me out for a belated birthday dinner and much to my delight, this fine establishment had the 2023 edition of Birthday Bourbon on the tasting menu. Granted, $40 a pour does seem a bit steep for a pour of anything but in the grand scheme of it all, I don't actually think it was that bad specifically for Birthday Bourbon. Besides: Birthday dinner, Birthday Bourbon. See what I did there? The nose sings with complexity and was a tantalizing taste of things to come. Sweet milk chocolate and cherries kick off a full bodied and sweet nose complimented by vanilla wafer cookie. Some tannic oak presents itself but is very much a background flavor to the sweet, tart and fruity character traits. I had to smell this bourbon several times, at different proximities to the glass as there was so much complexity and goodness wafting out. The palate kicks down the sweetness several notches and where the cherry on the nose was fresh, bright and vibrant; the cherries on the palate become more stewed with simple syrup. Overall the flavors become darker but still rich and complex - brown sugar and caramel swirl in toward the front of the taste and just when you thought that this would be a strictly sweet bourbon, tannic charred oak and leather dry up the taste just before the finish. The cherry becomes very muted toward the finish but is still present, along with that tannic oak from the end of the taste and leather. Somewhere between the end of the taste and finish, sweet and spicy cinnamon became a player and is more evident on the finish than any other point of the taste. Wow! My God this was truly one of the most complex, beautiful bourbons I've tasted. It won't be soon forgotten. The only problem now is; being able to find a taste with each new yearly release. Oh the struggle.

Nose - Off the bat you get red hots. Cinnamon, vanilla, a touch of barrel spice. Caramel pastries, yeast. Typical bakery smells. Palate - Flavor explosion. Lots of heat lots of flavor. Starting with a big ole bite of bread that fades quickly into the Nose. Red hots, lots and lots of cinnamon and barrel char, with vanilla lingering underneath. Hot cakes with the syrup. This is nice. Finish - Finish is cinnamon with more vanilla/caramel.

Nose is a standout. A somewhat odd combo of dark fruit and chocolate but also something buttery, like buttered popcorn almost? Palate and finish are disappointing. Thin and short, and don’t deliver nearly what the nose promises. This year’s release continues the trend of disappointment for the fourth straight year. Seek out 2019 or earlier.

Nose: wheat, light caramel & vanilla, grain(?), light oak Body: medium Palate: caramel, vanilla Finish: medium to long, carmally Note: pretty light, very approachable dram but not complex or rich. Pretty one note. Tasty but not memorable.

On the nose: very cherry, dark fruits and oak, hints of maple. Extremely smooth, full cherry and oak flavor, chocolate covered cherries,and maple sugar char finish.

Very smooth right from the start. Sweeter dessert like flavor. Good bourbon, but overpriced. Not "stellar" in my opinion. Glad I got to try though. 4.1