Old Forester Releases Rarest Bottle Of Bourbon Yet For 150th Anniversary
Buying a bottle gets you a VIP tour of the Louisville distillery, too.
Courtesy of Old Forester
If you act fast, you can secure one of the rarest bottles of Kentucky bourbon today.
In 2020, Old Forester bourbon celebrated their 150th anniversary. The brand, which was founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown, crafted 500 bottles of a 12 1/2-year-old bourbon to share with employees, special partners, and members of the Brown family, who still own Brown-Forman Corporation. (Brown-Forman is also the parent company of Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniels, among others.) Today, they're offering the remaining 150 bottles of the exceptionally rare bourbon to the public at OldForester.com.
The story of this bourbon, much like the story of Old Forester and Brown-Forman, is one of patience and anticipation. In 2008, Master Distiller Chris Morris selected six barrels of bourbon, all made on the same day. The barrels were stored in Old Forester's Shively distillery. Then, 150 months later (12 1/2 years), the barrels were pulled, and the bourbon was bottled.
Just as this is not typical bourbon, the bottle is also not the standard Old Forester bottle. Instead, the Brown family worked to develop one that honored the momentous anniversary and the company's expansive history as a leader in bourbon crafting. The result is a stately (and weighty) bottle emblazoned with the Brown-Forman name that's topped with a regal gold stopper stamped with the corporation's logo.
That decanter is presented in a handmade wooden box, made from wood that survived the 2015 fire on Louisville's Whiskey Row. Old Forester's return to its Whiskey Row distillery was set back years because of the blaze. However, they opened their 70,000 square-foot location in 2018.
What does a 12 1/2-year-old Old Forester taste like? I had the rare opportunity to try the bourbon and can promise aficionados are going to truly appreciate this unique expression of Old Forester. It's creamy but dark, what you expect of an extra-aged bourbon. But one sip is like enjoying a rich bite of decadent dark chocolate torte. Each pour is laced with flavors of strawberry, plum, and dark cherry. The extra-long stay in the charred barrel really pulls out notes of tobacco and caramelized sugar. This is a bourbon made for enjoying, slowly and thoroughly.
Courtesy Old Forester
"Old Forester is the only bourbon to exist before, during, and after Prohibition—and what better way to celebrate that legacy than offering to the public this rare decanter," Old Forester Master Taster Melissa Rift said in a statement.
The rare bottle of bourbon can be purchased for $2,500. Lucky bourbon buyers can pick up their bottle on December 5 at the Louisville distillery. In celebration of the bottle's release and the 90th anniversary repeal of Prohibition, owners of the bourbon will also get a VIP tour of the distillery before enjoying appetizers and cocktails with members of the Brown family.
Related: Old Forester And King Ranch Release Limited-Edition Bourbon
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