Old Forester 1924

Cost: $52 for 2oz pour (I got it free because…well, story below)/$130 for 750mL bottle locally IF you can find it.

Age: 10 years

Mash Bill: 79% corn, 11% rye, 10% malted barley

Proof: 100

Well, it’s my birthday and this is the pour of the day! I’ve been keeping an eye and ear out for Old Forester 1924 for the last few months but have had no luck obtaining a bottle. I’m in between night shift stints at work right now, so tonight for my birthday, the Mrs. surprised me with a dinner out on a Wednesday followed up with a stop at a new whiskey and cocktail bar. As we were walking into the bar, you go by a line of caged whiskeys and of course I perused what they contained. There were certainly a few that I would love to try but knew I couldn’t afford (22yr Blade and Bow, every Blanton’s, all the Pappy’s, GTS, 20yr Michter’s, WLW, etc.), but they had a bottle of 1924 in there that caught my eye and I was thought to myself, “Just maybe…” Well, I wound up with a 1oz pour of it before the night was over, but not because I bought it…

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

Appearance: It has a burnt caramel color with a thick simple syrup appearance on the sides of the glass with fat legs.

Nose: A dark red fruit compote with a hint of orange zest. I’m also picking up a caramel apple with a chocolate drizzle. There’s a lot of sweetness going on here, but it’s balanced well by a light note of toasted wood and butter.

Palate: Buttered popcorn immediately! And very closely followed up by a ripe apples and cherries. It transitions to a bit more savory notes of black pepper, allspice, and a spicy oak. This has an absolutely wonderful buttery mouthfeel! If I was rating the mouthfeel alone, it would be a 10/10.

Finish: The finish is surprisingly light and medium in length, and most of the sweetness has faded away. It’s buttery, a light tannic oak, some clove, and a hint of almond. The finish is actually quite nice, but I somewhat feel robbed after the nose and palate.

Rating: 8.0/10

Overall: This is a great pour with a lot of depth and complexity throughout. There’s a little disparity between the nose, the palate, and the finish though. This is something not easily described in words, but is best left just experienced. You may be able to somewhat see it in the notes in how you had a very robustly sweet nose, but then dominating buttery popcorn on the palate, and then light but savory notes on the finish. Idk…it’s interesting. I generally like finding something that transitions through the entire experience very nicely that has complexity built up around it (generally a cherry note, or corn, or cinnamon, etc.). I really didn’t get that on this though. I can see how the nose transitions to the palate, and then how the palate transitions to the finish, but if you look at the nose and the finish, it leaves you wondering how did we get from this to that. Overall though, this is still a stellar pour well worth trying, and if I find a bottle I’ll definitely be buying it.

Behind the Bottle (Pour)

So, I made my way to the bar to order a bourbon and a cocktail for the Mrs. I asked the bartender if they had Old Forester 1924 and she started rambling off the Old Forester bottles they had, but it didn’t include 1924. So I reiterated, “So…you don’t have 1924?” to which she said, “No.” The gentlemen that was making my wife’s cocktail chimed in and said they’re supposed to get it next week, and yaddy, yaddy, yah. Now, I didn’t question what I saw on the way in because it dawned on me that perhaps that was a bottle just for display but it was empty, I honestly didn’t pay that much attention on the way in. So I let it go and asked for a pour of their hotel exclusive private pick of Maker’s Mark Grand Bohemian Blend.

While the guy was mixing up the cocktail, a gentlemen sitting at the bar to my left opened up a menu and was pointing out the Brown Forman section to me with a, “Here’s what they have from Old Forester. Is one of these what you’re looking for?” I kindly replied with a, “Yeah I saw those but no sir, what I’m looking for is the Old Forester 1924 expression. I saw it in their cages our front so figured they may be serving it.” The gentlemen making our cocktail overheard and said, “You saw it in the cages on the way in?” Let me go out there and check for you. Maybe it came in already and I didn’t notice.” So he finished making the cocktail and then headed towards the entrance.

While I waited, I made small talk with another guy sitting near me who was asking what my pour was that they already poured (the Maker’s Mark) and we talked about his daughter graduating this week, etc. A few minutes later (literally, minutes), the gentlemen was coming back with the 1924 bottle in his hand and breaking the seal on it. After he got behind the bar, the lady bartender that was taking my order informed me it was going to be $52 for a 2oz pour. I winced. I asked, “Can you do $40?” (Now mind you, I had the “it’s my birthday” card that I could play, but that’s just not me, so I didn’t go there.) The lady bartender kinda acted like she didn’t here me and responded to another question from someone else at the bar and then asked, “So, do you want the 1924?” Now, I live comfortably. $52 for a 2oz pour wasn’t going to kill me, but it’s really just the principal of the thing. For 2.5-3x that cost I could get a whole damn bottle if I was just patient to find one. And considering they had a private pick of Maker’s Mark for $18, and I’m already a MM fanboy, I asked again, “For $40 on the 1924.” She replied with, “Please don’t put me in that position.” So I kindly replied, “I understand, no thank you though, I’ll stay with the Maker’s Mark.” I grabbed my Glencairn and martini glass and headed back to the Mrs.

About 15-20 minutes later, I’m about ¾ of the way done with my dram, and the gentlemen that retrieved the 1924 bottle came over with a Glencairn and placed it on the table and said, “Someone at the bar bought this pour of the 1924 for you.” I quickly jerked my head towards the bar to see if someone was looking our way, particularly the two gentlemen that I spoke with, and no one was looking. The bartender then informed me that the gentlemen that bought it already left to go upstairs for dinner, but that he was a really cool guy and very nice and he didn’t want you to walk away tonight without trying it just because of the price. Considering I saw the gentlemen at the bar who I spoke with about his daughter graduating, I’m 99% confident it was the older man who was showing me the list of Brown Forman options they had. I didn’t speak to him except for about 10 seconds and he didn’t even know it was my birthday…

So, I proceeded to quickly finish off my private selection of Maker’s Mark and move on to the 1oz pour of Old Forester 1924 that I’ve been hoping to try for quite a while. As we were leaving, we asked the bartender to please inform that gentlemen if he returns that he didn’t know it but it was my birthday today and he made my night.

Now to pay it forward…

1 | Disgusting | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

2 | Poor | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Widow Jane Decadence

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, WhistlePig PiggyBack SiB, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, JD SiB BiB, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Barrel Bourbon Batch T8ke, BBC DS #7, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08