Old Forester 1910 - Review
Age: Unknown, likely 5-6 years
Barrel type: Double barrel; first a standard bourbon (charred fresh oak), followed by a heavily charred finishing barrel
Region: Kentucky
ABV: 46.5%
Price: $65
We recently attended a four-hour cooking class at Chicago's excellent Cook Au Vin where we learned how to make chicken cordon bleu, zucchini gratin, and apple tarte tatin. I should use "learned" liberally, since we pitched in on some of the tasks but largely hung in the back enjoying some wine while more experienced home chefs made us a delicious meal. Right before we sat down to eat, I made a quick liquor store run to grab us a bottle to share with new friends. To my surprise, when I popped into the small shop 5 minutes away, I found Old Forester 1910.
Old Forester 1910 is part of the distillery's Whiskey Row series, which represents the distillery's effort to market some mid- to upscale products in the $50-70 range. Old Forester is mostly known for affordable but excellent bourbons such as Old Forester Signature 100 Proof, a $20 staple, and its highly coveted limited edition line of Birthday Bourbons which now sell in the triple figures. These Whiskey Row expressions sit right in between those two extremes in a sweet spot both in quality and value.
I've reviewed the prior expressions before, each of which tells a little story based on a particular year of significance to bourbon history. 1870 is the year that George Garvin Brown began bottling bourbon and is an accessible starting point for the lineup, while 1897 is a bottled in bond expression that commemorates the year when Congress passed the Bottled in Bond Act. 1920, which references the beginning of Prohibition, represents the style of whiskey that allowed Old Forester to continue selling its products during that time period -- but as high-proof "medicine" rather than as a recreational product. By far, the powerful and chocolate-y 1920 was the highlight of the lineup until 2018, when the distillery released 1910.
1910's legend (or marketing gimmick) is that, in that year, the facility experienced a fire and had to temporarily store ready-to-be-bottled whiskey in a new set of oak barrels while waiting for the plant to reopen. They claim it's the first known instance of double-barreling in whiskies.
Appearance: This is an incredibly dark, mahogany whiskey for its relatively young age. For some reason, some Kentucky distilleries produce a mature, complete product around the 5-year mark. Old Forester and Maker's Mark, for example, bottle almost all of their whiskies in the 5- to 7-year range. On the other hand, other makers seem to benefit from closer to double digits in aging, such as Wild Turkey and Heaven Hill, whose best products enter the bottle around their 10th or even 12th birthdays. (The flip side of Old Forester's rapid aging is that its older expressions, like the 12-year old birthday bourbons, taste over-oaked to me and would have benefited from coming out of the barrel years earlier.) The double barrel finish of 1910 makes it appear far older than it actually is, and I couldn't imagine what it would look like after another year or two.
Nose: The closest comparison to 1910 may be Woodford Reserve's Double Oaked expression, which also takes a relatively fruity, sweet spirit and dumps it into another barrel to get more depth and complexity of flavor. The difference is that 1910's second life finds it in a heavily charred barrel, and that is exactly what comes through: charcoal briquettes, the smoked exterior of barbecue, and oak. Thankfully, there are still loads of vanilla and caramel, brown butter, and milk chocolate, which offer a pleasing and well-integrated counterpoint. One consistent trait that I've noticed in the Whiskey Row lineup is that the nose is often the highlight, with slight letdown thereafter, and this one is no exception.
Palate: It's not as meaty in flavor as expected, with some lighter creme brulee and brown sugar notes on the initial sips. The reduced proof is evident (this is the second lowest ABV of the lineup and pales in comparison to the 57.5% powerhouse 1920). The char does reassert itself and build on subsequent sips, which is necessary to give this expression its signature profile. Burnt meringue or toasted caramel and some black coffee dominate the more I drink it. Other notes include eucalyptus, spearmint, and occasional bursts of rye spice.
Finish: I wish that this expression had made it to the bottled in bond minimum of 50% because the low proof really betrays this bourbon in a relatively short, mellow finish that does well to intertwine drying oak, caramel, spice, cocoa, and bay leaf. With just a few extra proof points, this could have been a rousing crescendo instead of a gentle diminuendo.
Value for Money and Final Impressions: This bottle was a massive hit when released in 2018, and Old Forester announced it sold out toward the end of last year. I was pleasantly surprised to see it in the store and glad that we got to share a bottle with our fellow class members. It also paired well with the meal, as a lower-proof bourbon is often better with light or creamy foods than a bruiser like Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. I don't think 1910 is the best value in the Whiskey Row lineup -- that honor still belongs to the superior and slightly less expensive 1920 -- but it's a fitting coda to the series as a whole and has a very distinct profile from its brethren.
Score: A-