This is the latest expression released by Brown-Forman in their “Whiskey Row” series. Is is a ten year old, bottled-in-bond Bourbon made from two different mash bills. These two mash bills are the traditional Old Forester mash bill of 72% corn/18% rye/10% malted barley and the old Early Times mash bill of 80% corn/10% rye/10% malted barley. Brown-Forman have sold the Early Times brand to Buffalo Trace and I suspect the deal included plenty of Early Times Bourbon to support the brand for a year or so until Buffalo Trace could make their own whiskey for the brand. I am also sure that deal left plenty of the whiskey in Brown-Forman’s warehouses. It makes sense to use the whiskey by blending the Early Times Bourbon in with Old Forester in a similar way that they did in Prohibition, thus the 1924 designation for this expression.
It was common during Prohibition to use Bourbon in one brand that was made for other brands. The companies selling medicinal whiskey had a limited supply of whiskey that was made before 1918 and by 1924, they were beginning to run out of barrels of Bourbon for many brands. To keep the brand alive, they started using other whiskey that was available to them. They would start by mixing barrels of their Bourbon with barrels of a similar profile that they might have in their stocks, but eventually, they were using whatever whiskey was available to keep the brand alive. Brown-Forman is paying homage to this practice by blending the two mash bills and bottling it in bond, as was done during Prohibition.
I recently purchased a bottle of the Old Forester 1924 and Matt and I sat down and tasted it. Here are our tasting notes.
Old Forester 1924 Bottled-in-Bond
Proof: 100
Age: Ten Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel, banana, corn chips, baking spices, black pepper, oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, brown sugar, banana, cinnamon, oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel, corn chips, banana, cinnamon, oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the pepper spice comes out. Tasted with a pecan and a chocolate note comes out with a bit of orange and buttery caramel.
- Matt: Caramel, brown sugar, creamy banana pudding, oak wood. The dried cranberry added some sweet French vanilla notes. The pecan brought out cocoa and pepper jelly notes.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak and spice. The dried cranberry made the finish very peppery. The pecan made the finish long and dry with oak wood, pepper spice and lingering chocolate.
- Matt: Medium long with oak, cinnamon and nutmeg spices. The dried cranberry shortened the finish and reduced the oak wood. The pecan made the finish longer with oak and cinnamon.
I would pair this Bourbon with a cigar that is rich in cedar spice in the smoke. I would reach for a Rocky Patel Decade cigar.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller