Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whisky

A little background

On October 22nd, 1910 the Old Forester Bottling line came to a halt as the result of a fire. Due to the fire, the decision was made to dump mature whisky ready to be bottled into a secondary barrel for holding. According to Old Forester, “what emerged was a delightful whisky, remarkable enough to become an entirely new expressions – Old Fine Whisky”. Old Forester has mimicked this secondary barrel finishing technique to bring a piece of history back to life through the release of 1910 Old Fine Whisky as the fourth and final release of the Whisky Row Series. This bourbon is bottled at 93 proof and has a retail price of around $60.

(Tasted neat from a Glencairn Glass)

Color

Dark Amber

Nose

The nose is full of rich notes of caramel, baking spices, cocoa, candied apples, and even a little hint of orange saltwater taffy. The longer you let it sit, the more it opens up and evolves.

Palate

The palate on Old Forester 1910 is rich and complex with many pleasant sweet notes. Toasted marshmallow with a bit of green woodiness, similar to a toasted marshmallow over a fire with a stick used as a skewer. Other great flavors of caramel, cherry, chocolate fudge and vanilla are present as well.

Finish

The finish is medium-long with oak notes really coming through. Pleasant hints of dried fruits, caramel, vanilla, and chocolate stick around as well.

In closing

Old Forester 1910 is the fourth and final release of the Whisky Row Series and is everything but disappointing. I found this bourbon to be very well balanced and really incorporated the additional oak influence from the secondary barreling quite nicely. There is a lot going on in this whiskey that begs you to keep coming back for more. Although quite different than the third and fan-favorite 1920 Prohibition Style Whiskey Row Series release, 1910 ended the series with a bang in my honest opinion.