Old Forester Single Barrel Bourbon Barrel Strength

PICK // Spec’s WHSE. // 6 FLOOR // 7 ALC/VOL. - 64.30% PROOF // 128.6 NEAT NOSE - Maple Syrup, Dark Brown Sugar with hints of caramel. The nose is rich, bold, and sweet. It’s one of the best bourbons on the nose that I’ve had. PALATE - Thick mouthfeel. Everything comes through on the nose but it seems faint as it is overpowered by a cherry cola note. Unlike the 1920, which I though was a “flat cherry cola”, this hint of cherry cola is more similar to it warm out of the can, freshly cracked. FINISH - Oak and Cherry Cola. Long. I wish more of the sweetness came through on the finish, but not surprising that it doesn’t given the experience on the palate. 💧 💧 - With just two drops, more sweetness comes through on the finish and the richness of the pour on the nose is somewhat subdued, but still very present. BUY? - This is an interesting one as I have heard from many reviews that some of these are overly hot more often than not. Prior to this, I’ve had a sample in a store and it was not ‘hot’ at all. While it may be a toss up, I’d say try to buy at a place where you can sample the barrel first if you don’t want to take the gamble. I have two bottles and I took a gamble with both. Atleast I’m very pleased with one so far. BUY AGAIN? - It’s a gamble if you can’t sample before buying, but I’d still buy again. **DON’T underestimate what a drop of water or two will do to change the profile of a whiskey.

Albertsons-Vons-Pavilions Barrel Pick: Warehouse K Floor 5 128.7 Proof Color: Medium Copper-Amber Nose: Leather, brown sugar. Palate: (Drank with a large ice ball) From the very first sip, I could totally tell this is Old Forester. Not sure how to explain it, but..... I'm getting a lot of oak and tannins from this initial pour. Before the ice began to melt into it, I would say it definitely drinks per the high proof. Chest hug is there, but it dissipates after a few sips. This is not very sweet, nor is it very spicy. Damned if I can figure this one out from get-go. I feel like this one is going to take time to get a handle on. It's got potential, but I was hoping it would impress me — that it would present more defined and nuanced flavors out of the starting gate. Let's see how the second pour fares... First sip of pour #2 presents the same high proof spicy blast as the first. Not much difference from the first. I'd say, "spicy" has made a comeback on this second spin. Other than that, I think this bottle is what it is: Not bad, but not great. No Old Forester offering has really been able to match the 1879 and 1920 for me. All OFs have been "good" at the very least. But this one failed to push the envelope. A respectable 3.5 stars. Finish: Fairly short with lingering tongue tingle and some baking spice. Something akin to "apple" makes an appearance on the tail-end... which is nice.

Liquor City Uncorked pick, "Gallenstein Selection #17" Warehouse 1; Floor 5 65.8% abv; 131.6 proof Open 4 months Nose - Spicy cinnamon and caramel, nutmeg, cardamon, overbaked bread, sweet hay, medium oak, and strong ethanol. Palate - Red hot cinnamon, caramel, toffee, rye bread, wet grass, harsh grain, and fresh leather. Finish is medium-long with dry, bitter oak, dry cinnamon, fake sugar, powdery baking spices, and harsh ethanol. I think this will be my last Old Forester SBBS for a while, at least until I can taste a sample first. I just don't think there's much value here, the OF 1920 is more refined and simply better. This is either my 4th or 5th bottle of OFSBBS and I've never been impressed. My problem is it sits squarely in between two superior barrel proofs that are the same or cheaper. I've said this before in my reviews, but I think depending on which end of the spectrum you want with the Old Forester profile, Jack Daniel's and Elijah Craig barrel proofs are both better buys. If you're looking for sweet maple, go with Jack Daniel's. If you're looking for an older, refined oak and vanilla profile, go with Elijah Craig. To me, these bottles are too hot, too young, and not sweet enough.

131.1 proof “Jason’s Favorite” pick from Fox Cigar Bar in Gilbert AZ. Nose is 100% on profile for Brown Foreman/Old Forster and is full of cherry cola, orange zest, chocolate, furniture varnish, soft oak, vanilla, sarsaparilla, pine, clove, and slightest hint of banana. Very enjoyable. Ethanol is noticeable but less than expected and not detracting. (It is 131 proof after all) Palate open with maraschino cherry, root beer, tobacco, raisin, toffee, orange peel, pepper, and flan. Flavors are robust as expected. Finish is a pretty jarring departure in the form of a major spice bloom with both cinnamon, ginger, clove, and chili pepper (ghost pepper, much heat not a lot of flavor) along with decently aged oak. Everything is felt under the tongue. Mouthfeel is full and viscous. Yeah, I like this a lot. The sweet/spicy profile worked for me, but I wish it was a smoother transition to the finish with elements of the palate carrying through instead of a quick roller coaster ride into Spice Mountain. That said, it’s bold and a little challenging and I like that. At $109 I paid for this would surely rebuy any variations of this expression I can get my hands on at a similar price.

The Wine Source pick Warehouse I; Floor 4 66.0% abv; 132.0 proof Open 2 months Nose - Cinnamon, maple, toffee, ginger, cardamon, brown sugar, medium oak, and strong ethanol. Palate - Red Hots, gingerbread, peanut shells, rich oak, cigar wrapper, vanilla cream, and clove. Finish is medium-long with harsh oak tannins, burnt sugars, stale gingerbread, dry cinnamon, and strong ethanol. This is the first pick I bought after moving to Baltimore. Liquor stores are really hit and miss around here, most are genuinely terrible. The Wine Source is one of the first stores I visited with an excellent selection of beer, wine, and liquor. They don't do many picks at a time, they only had ~5 available. I went for this because an employee said it was his favorite current pick. It's pretty good, but you can read my previous reviews on my stance on Old Forester picks. This is a good bourbon, but I think you can do better for less money.

Woodman's Rockford Barrel Pick 128.9 proof Nose: very bright and shiny powdered sugar and vanilla, a rich oak coming in secondarily Taste: instantly sweet, bright cherry and powdered sugar, then turns in the midpalate as heavy oak tannins come swooping in going from sweet to bitter as it thickly coats your tongue. The rye and malted barley compete for attention, but somehow the barley seems to have more presence. Finish: relatively simple, hot finish that doesn't last long. Shows both the sweetness you get up front and the bitter oak that sweeps over, but quickly fades away