pkingmartin
Old Forester Single Barrel Bourbon Barrel Strength
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
August 5, 2022 (edited November 9, 2022)
Continuing my little blind series is sample 4 that @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington was very generous to provide.
After pouring the sample, I went in for a nosing and found that this is a chocolate and cherry flavored napalm; however, after letting the glass rest for around 15 minutes it significantly calmed down from a fiery napalm blast to allow the aromas to peek through.
The nose is huge and rich starting with dark chocolate fudge, cherry brandy and cigar wrappers then sugar daddy candy and roasted pecans followed by caramelized bananas, figs and mandarin orange that transitions to anise, cloves, spearmint and freshly lacquered antique furniture with high ethanol burn.
The taste is a syrupy rich mouth coating texture that starts with Hershey’s dark chocolate syrup over cherries jubilee, vanilla gelato and freshly lit cigar then a moderate spice that slowly fades to caramel pecan clusters followed by fried bananas, figs and charred orange peel that transitions to anise, cloves, spearmint, vintage leather and freshly lacquered antique furniture with high ethanol burn.
The finish is long with sweet pipe tobacco, cherries jubilee, fried bananas, anise, cloves, spearmint, vintage leather and freshly lacquered antique furniture.
This is an intense bourbon with syrupy rich flavors that are dialed up to an 11 where the chocolate and cherry notes dominate but aren’t overpowering those traditional bourbon notes and mild rye spices with well-aged oak.
So, what is this intense bourbon………………. Old Forester Single Barrel K8 at 134.4 proof.
Sheesh, no wonder this had so much ethanol with that high proof, but it was a real treat to be able to taste a single barrel Old Forester and huge thanks to Lex for sharing.
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@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington Yeah, I’m glad there were no fireballs created en route and my GI tract is doing fine likely due to years of cask strength experience. I could easily see how someone not acclimated to high proof whiskies have a lot of issues with this one.
I was a bit worried about spontaneous combustion en route but I’m glad it made it and hopefully no harm was done to your GI tract by this one.