Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2021

Picked this up today, kinda me accepting I'll get nothing good from 2021 and this is kinda the boobie prize. Not the worst deal ever but with what I spend and the effort I make to get bourbon, a bit frustrating. Nose - This instantly brings me back to classic bourbons. Nice age, at 12 years old comes off while classic intense candied vanilla bourbon notes shine through. A bit of puddy, some shoe shine varnish, touch of cigar ash, and dare I say some chocolate birthday cake? Given the reasonably low ABV the alcohol is stronger than expected, giving a rather drying element to this. After letting the glass sit and settle, I get really rich oakey caramel. Near the end I am getting dark cherries, interesting, but nothing overwhelming. Taste - Thinner on the palette than nose. More alcohol astringency. It is a bit chocolatey, good vanilla, plenty of varnish, it has this caramel and aspartame and oak thing on the back end. The alcohol bite doesn't go away, and yet it isn't unpleasant. There's a surprisingly alcohol forward. All that said, it's this very classic bourbon with good sweetness, refined in terms of youthful elements, and good oak notes. And a lot of oak, I'm really struggling to explain this almost refined alcohol note that meshes with the oak. Normally, you get a big HOT note from alcohol and then it subsides, if anything the alcohol picks up and builds on your cheeks as the oak waves come at you. Odds are I'm missing some fruit notes here but the oak and tannin/alcohol forward elements are kind of hiding them. I'm sure this will open up over time, but I must say, good bourbon, with some really great classic notes. I'm sad that this profile, which I enjoy, has become so rare that I can fully get why people wait in line for it. I'll give this a 2.5, about an 86 but I could go higher on both. The nose is solid 89 or 90 about a 4 star nose. But the drinking experience does not do enough. I should note a dab of KoK makes this into a glass of lower proof KoK ;) It might be my secrete hack! You know second thought 2.75. In a sane world this would be a 75 dollar bourbon that you could get on a daily basis. We sadly don't live in a sane world anymore.

Nose of leather and caramel Palate of cinnamon rolls Finish is long of sweet oak and spice Beautiful well balance pour

Very smooth. Brown sugar at the front. Great flavor all around.

Cherry candy on the nose and taste, in addition to brown sugar vanilla cookies on the taste