kmwyss
Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
August 9, 2021 (edited September 14, 2021)
In short: Tasty and perfectly serviceable bourbon that I would likely buy again, but lacks the wow factor.
The 45-55 price range brings fierce competition: Rare breed, 4 Roses Small batch select, 1792 Full Proof, Knob Creek Single Barrel, makers mark cask strength, Russels Reserve SiB 10, Dickel SiB, Old Ezra 7, and more. To stand out among those heavy hitters takes a lot.
And it’s not that OF 1920 has any major flaws: the nose brings solid classic bourbon, vanilla and char spice with ethanol, which the palate delivers on. It is a sweet vanilla brown sugar turning to bitter taste of cherry and char, and all flavors are robust thanks to the higher proof. The classic palate tends spicy towards the end, giving way to the underlying ethanol which is not well masked. The finish is in my opinion the most lacking. It is short and lacks the mature sweet oak and more delicate tannins that older bourbons carry.
I’m left at a loss: this is good, robust, and classic, but feels hot and young. This simply won’t do in this price bracket. I’m unsure if they simply used too many young barrels in the batch or I simply don’t like the flavor profile they’re going for in this specific release. An age stated OF product doesn’t exist (besides birthday bourbon), but would do wonders for the series. I would buy this again and recommend all to buy it at least once, but I will likely not always keep a bottle on hand.
54.0
USD
per
Bottle
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Nice detailed review. Its been a while since I had this but I would take it over everything you mentioned. This profile really works for me