Old Forester Single Barrel (Barrel Strength) - Tasting & Review

Hey guys, welcome to Bourbon Bites. My name is Clifton and today we're reviewing Old Forrester

Single Barrel, Barrel Proof. So those of you that have been watching me for a while may know

that Old Forrester typically isn't my favorite whiskey. I usually am not the biggest fan of the

flavor profile of a lot of Brown Forman products, but I know that a lot of people really are. I know

Old Forester 1920 is a ton of people's favorite whiskey. So this is actually a pretty new release

from Old Forester. It's actually my first time ever seeing it on the shelves. This is a pick

from a store called High Time Wine Cellars out here in Southern California. I know a few other

stores around the area are getting picks. Not sure about your area? Check with your local stores

I know this was kind of announced about four or five months ago. So I'm just now starting to see

it in Southern California. So let me know if you're seeing it in your area. There's not an

age statement on it, but we do know that this is 64.3% ABV, so 128.6 proof. So that's pretty hot

Now, I do have a little bit of a disclaimer here. The store that I picked this up just put it on the

shelves, and they put it up for $39.99. Now, based on my research of this single barrel barrel proof

the MSRP is supposed to be around like $70 to $80. So I wouldn't think, this is a pretty reputable

store so I wouldn't think it'd be a pricing error. So I'm wondering if maybe they came

down on price since announcing it. Because like I said, it's been a few months since this was announced. Maybe they realized that price point was a little too high. I'm not fully

sure but in the end when I give this a score I going to give it two scores One at the price point and one at the more likely to price point So with that I going to go ahead and as you can tell I tasted this a few times It really growing on me So I going to go back and give it another taste just

for you guys. Got my old Forrester glass here for the occasion. So at first on the nose, the biggest

thing that I'm getting is like a strong wood note. Like it's very oak forward. And that's not something

that I typically would say about an old Forrester product. But behind that, there's like a spiciness

but it's not like a baking spice. It's more of like a black, or not even a black pepper. It's

like a, yeah, it's more like a cayenne pepper. It's really spicy. It's almost like eating a

savory dish, like that cayenne pepper note. But it mingles really well with the oak. Not too much

sweetness at first, but I'm curious to see how the nose evolves once we get a taste and maybe we can

revisit it and find something else. Before I give it a taste, I just want to give a shout out to my

amazing patrons um right yesterday before filming this we did our monthly patreon hangout tons of

fun over at patreon so if you're curious go check that out or you can follow me on instagram or facebook i'm really trying to build those out a little bit more um but i just want to say thanks

to everyone that's kind of helped me build this up i've noticed a lot of new likes on facebook

lately so just want to say i really appreciate you guys so cheers oh that's hot first instinct

on the palate hot it's really like bold and spicy like at the tip of the tongue this is 128 proof so

You can feel that at the beginning, but I think once you've had the first initial shock at the tip of your tongue

it really does open up a bit on the finish. So the nose is definitely opened up. It's way sweeter, and it's like a baking spice sweetness

Almost like a pie crust or dare I say pecan pie or pecan pie wherever you from I from South Carolina We call it pecan pie Still a little bit of the banana but it not the banana rutts note which I very thankful for

It reminds me a lot of Jack Daniel's single barrel barrel proof. Maybe one day I'll do a live stream comparing those two

If you all want to see that, let me know in the comments below. Yeah, it's like a banana nut right on the nose, but the nut instead of like a peanut, it's like a pecan

So let's go back for a second taste. a little less hot but um i think it's now it's like some of the oat characteristic that i originally

got on the nose is more on the palate definitely has a bit of a kentucky hug going down um but it's

still got that pecan no that's like a nice like caramelized pecan or another way to think about

it is almost like a caramel drizzle on top of like a banana nut bread um but with pecans so it's it's

very very sweet but it's like a dark dark rich caramel in the palate so i will say i mean like

I said, not the biggest Old Forrester fan, even though I do have some of their merch. I think this is a fantastic whiskey. Like I said, this is a pick from High Time Wine Cellar, so

your mileage may vary depending on your store and their barrel select program, but I think they

knocked it out of the park with this one, especially at the $40 price point. So I guess it's time for

me to start giving this a score. My new score system, I'm going to start doing this a little

bit more on streams and the reviews like this. I think I'm going to do it out of eight because

like 8-bit. It kind of goes with the theme. I don't know if it was supposed to be $40. I don't

know if somebody messed up when they put this on the floor. So I'll give it two scores. One at that

$40 price point and one at that $80 price point, which is literally double. So at $40, I would have

to say I would give this whiskey a 7 out of 8 Now I say that because I not the biggest Ulf Forrester flavor profile fan If you love that if you love 1920 you would give this an 8 out of 8 at hands down You

would not complain. You would love every minute of this. So if you love Old Forrester 1920 and you

see this for $40 at your store, grab it. Just don't think twice. Grab two. I wish I would have

grabbed two, honestly. Now, let's say this bottle is actually $80. Then things get a little bit

different. There are other barrel proofs at a lower price point that I would probably pick up

instead of this. At $80, I would probably put this at about a 5 out of 8. But like I said

if you're an Old Forrester fan, you'd probably put that at a 6 or a 7 at the $80 price. Either way

$40, $80, Old Forrester fan, not Old Forrester fan. I do recommend picking this up. I mean

I think it may change your mind like it's changed mine about Old Forrester a bit. Because like I

said, I just really wasn't a fan, but I'm really liking what I'm getting out of this glass here

So please let me know in the comments below what you've seen this priced at in your area

and especially if you've tried it, let me know what you think, if you think it's worth that price. But yeah, totally recommend this one, and if you're new here, welcome. I do live streams every

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So thank you all so much for watching. This has been Bourbon Bites, whiskey reviews

with a retro twist. I'm Clifton and I'll see you guys next time

Cheers