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Old Forester Signature

Louisville Everyday Whiskey

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@VictorReview by @Victor

4th Feb 2011

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Old Forester Signature
  • Nose
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  • Taste
    ~
  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    83

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  • Brand: Old Forester
  • ABV: 50%

Old Forester is one of the whiskey brands owned by Brown-Forman of Louisville, Kentucky, along with Jack Daniels, Woodford Reserve, and Early Times. Old Forester is probably more commonly sold and drunk in the 86 proof/43% ABV expression. I had first tried the 100 proof 75th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition expression, and liked it so much that I decided to get some of the standard 100 proof bourbon, named Signature. There is no age statement. Most conjecture is that this bourbon is 4-5 years old

Nose: sweet oak, maple, caramel, slight citrus

Taste: When the bottle was first opened I found the flavours to be a little locked up and inaccessible. As is frequently the case with bourbon whiskeys the flavour has opened up and improved very noticeably after several months of open bottle time. This whiskey is very wood-y in flavour, sweet, but also quite spicy. Caramel and vanilla are present with the wood. This is one of the very few whiskies that I prefer with a drop of water added. Water does in this case bring out the flavours, especially the wood, the sweetness, and the citrus

Finish: Finish is fairly long, with caramel and wood flavours lasting the longest. The finish is not as good as the delivery here, though

Balance: this is pretty woody bourbon. It has good strong flavour, but not a lot of nuance or finesse. If you like strong greeting of sweet, oaky, and spicy, you can very much enjoy this. There are much better bourbon options available for all of those parameters, however

Nose:

Body:

Palate:

4 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

About 21 months after having opened this bottle I like its flavours more than at first. This would get a couple of points more up to an 85 rating from me now. Old Forester Signature is still extremely woody, and wood-phobes will not be too keen on this one, no matter how oxidised or not oxidised.

11 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

Four years with the bottle open I am trying Old Forester Signature again. The nose is pleasant at this point, but on the palate my main observation is that even though this is assumed to be a relatively young blend of 4, 5, and 6 yo barrels, the wood here is tannic to the point that it draws too much attention to itself. Old Forester Signature is one of the woodiest of the younger bourbons on the market. New-wood phobes are not going to like Old Forester Signature.

If you want to try the Old Forester brand at its best I recommend the Birthday Bourbon they put out every year, or, if you can find a dusty of it, the wonderful 75th Anniversary issue on The Repeal of Prohibition (2008). The Repeal Bourbon is probably pretty rare now, though.

8 years ago 0

@Benancio
Benancio commented

@Victor I bought a couple bottle of the Signature a while back because it was 100 proof and were $18. I'm not surprised its so woody, Woodford Reserve is also fairly oaky. If I remember correctly Elijah Craig 18y is also filled with tannin, I use to like that a lot. I can't seem to find the right opportunity to open one. Maybe this holiday weekend.

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@Benancio, I do agree with you that both Old Forester Signature and Woodford Reserve are quite oaky, especially for their ages. Elijah Craig 18 yo is, I think, quite variable in its oakiness. My first bottle of it was not noticeably oaky at all, though I have read some reports which described a heavier oak influence in some barrels of EC18 than I had in that bottle.

8 years ago 0

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