Milliardo
Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whisky
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
December 30, 2019 (edited December 10, 2020)
This year for the holidays I’m going to try a brand new whiskey every day in December. #lifegoals
Dec. 30
I tried to make today’s entry for Jim Beam Peach. As I was attempting to create the spirit, Distiller crashed. I tried a few times after, and the system couldn’t or wouldn’t process it. I’m going to take that as a sign that I shouldn’t submit the review. Pretty sure I compared it to goat sacrifice at some point. Probably for the best.
Anyway, this is a bourbon I’ve been looking forward to for some time. Used to be super hard to find in my region, no longer is. I’ve never had any Old Forrester products, so I’m excited about that too! If this is good, I’ll have to dip more into the other numbers. Let’s see how fine this little guy really is.
Nose reminds me heavily of Booker’s, and I mean that as a compliment. There’s oak, vanilla, honey. There’s a little something extra there that I can’t place, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be a flavor on the body and then make sense to my nose.
Holy cow this body. So that scent on the nose was strawberries, because that is on this body, and detecting that as a whiskey note is a personal first for me. I love it when that happens. Other flavors include honey, cane sugar, and possibly watermelon, but that strawberry really takes the show. That is fascinating.
After a rockstar nose and body, the finish is a bit of a let down. A bitterness enters that knocks you back to reality after a really sweet body. There is a bit of an aftertaste that reminds me of something from Elijah Craig—something that quite frankly turned me off from the product line for over a year now. Black licorice maybe? Even if it’s a letdown, I’ll allow it. That body is so good and unique to anything I’ve ever had on a bourbon, that I’ll suffer through some nasty ass black jellybeans at the end. This tastes like a cousin of Hotel Tango Bravo. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had similar mash bills and yeast strains, and if you’re a fan of one, you should try the other. I’ll have to have them back to back one day, but from memory, I think I slightly prefer Hotel Tango. That licorice or whatever is potent.
‘Tis the season. I DO have 1 more new whiskey lined up. Thanks St. Nick!
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@Soba45 - It’s pretty difficult to find in my area too. I feel very lucky I found the bottle I did. There’s another shop that’s hoarding a few at $200 a pop so they know they are sitting on something good.
@Scott_E @geologyjane Damn I REALLY want to try that Red Spot whiskey. I still have a spare bottle of the Yellow lying around which you can get in NZ as well as the Green Spot but no retailer can get me Red Spot here as the middle men don't have any.
Apologies gang and @PBMichiganWolverine, I’m late to the party! Got back from a ski trip to ring in the new year and service was terrible and WiFi was nonexistent. But sometimes it’s good to be unplugged for a bit! Here are a couple of my quick picks for 2019... Best Scotch: Old School Highland Park 18 (hard for me to top that whisky tale) Best Irish: Red Spot Best Surprise: Pikesville Rye (thanks @dubz480 for the recommendation!) Worst: Black Eagle Bourbon (retch!) Best Spirit (excluding whisk(e)y): Fortaleza Blanco Craft Shoutout: I really like what OsCo is doing with their gins! I think 2019 was a good whisk(e)y year for me and I picked up quite a few bottles I am really looking forward to cracking open in 2020. Happy new year, all!
My highlights of 2019 that immediately spring to mind are 3 new releases. OldFo Rye ($24), Dickel BIB ($36), and the completely out of the blue less than $20 Rebel Yell 100.
@jonwilkinson7309 Always rooting for the craft guy. But most of the time the stuff they put out is rushed to market. I am hoping they come around. Would love to see a Northerner come through.
@LeeEvolved that Ardbeg 23 would make the most devout into a sinner. It was amazing
@Scott_E I went to a food and drink expo in Portland Maine in September and Old Port was one of the vendors. I have to agree that the Liquid Riot was not a winner. I wish I could say it was just an outlier in an otherwise strong set of offerings, but I didn't find that to be the case
@PBMichiganWolverine - mmm, that Ardbeg 23. If there was ever a whisky that may be able to reignite the fire, that’s probably it.
@Soba45 and to add to that, I thought that by comparison Glendalough's first Single Pot Still was very good and I'd rate that my Top Craft Whiskey of 2019 (presuming that Kilkerran are too established/big to be called craft)
@Soba45 their Single Malt that I had in 2018 was more than fine. There is a lot of fanfare about their releases and some are selling for silly money. The pot still I had was harshly youthful I thought - I'm gonna give it a while before I return to a pot still; until they release a 10yo say
Oh and worst Inchmurrin 21 ir Loch Lomond 12 organic. Anything from that distillery i find repulsive..constantly under a 2 rating for me
@1901 Ah damn i thought Dingle did good stuff!
@PBMichiganWolverine of the whiskey tasted for the first time in 2019 this is my list.: Top single malt - Talisker 18yo Top blend - Midleton VR Rare 2019 Top Irish - Teeling Renaissance 18yo Single Malt (Volume I) Worst - Dingle Single Pot Still Batch No. 3
@PBMichiganWolverine With some contemplation (and research), my 2019 list. A couple of ties: Top Blend: Sagamore Rye Port Finish Top Single Malt: Kavalan Soloist Vhino Top Scotch: Hazelburn Oloroso 14 / Craigellachie 51/Benromach Imperial Proof Top American: Elijah Craig BP A119 Top Craft: Westland Handfilled 5 Year Moscato Finish / Barrel Craft Spirits Dovetail Top Irish: Red Spot Worst of the Year: Liquid Riot Old Port Honorable Mention: Legent, Octomore 10 Dialogos, Winter Queen, Craigellachie 17
@PBMichiganWolverine. My best of 2019 (quite a few are pre-2019 releases, but all are whiskeys I first had in 2019) - Top single malt (tie): Ardbeg Grooves, Caol Ila 18 Top Scotch blend: Compass Box Hedonism the Muse Top Bourbon: Barrell Bourbon Batch 015 Top Craft: Del Bac Dorado Top American Single Malt: Wanderback Batch 1, Biggest surprise: Stolen Whiskey 11 Worst: New Holland Zeppelin Bend Honorable mention: Mckenkie BIB Bourbon, Parker's Heritage Orange Curacao, Old Pulteney 15, Barrell Bourbon Batch 019
@PBMichiganWolverine For the 2019 Year: -Top Bourbon: Makers Mark PS (2-0-4-2-2) -Top Single Malt: Orphan Barrel Forager’s Keep -Top Canadian: Crown Royal Noble Collection 13-year Bourbon Mash -Top Blended: High West Bourye (2019) -Top Barrel Finished: Isaac Bowman -Biggest Surprise: Rabbit Hole Heigold -Biggest Disappointment: Kentucky Owl Confiscated -Top Overall: Very Olde St. Nick 12 Year -Worst Overall: Rare Perfection 14-year Canadian Whisky
@Richard-ModernDrinking I’ve heard really good things of Bimber. Their inaugural release was reportedly fantastic (and sold in minutes, all 1000 of it).
@PBMichiganWolverine Blend: Compass Box Stranger & Stranger; Single Malt: among new releases, a Longrow 11 Port Cask from Cadenhead’s; American: Michter’s Rye 10; Craft: Milk & Honey Single Cask for Whisky Show and Bimber PX Cask sample; Worst: Lagavulin 10
@PBMichiganWolverine @PBMichiganWolverine Top Single Malt: Benriach Albariza 18 Top Blend: Batch 1 35 years old (That Boutique-y Whisky Co.) Top Bourbon: Booker's 6 year True Barrel Bourban Batch 2107-01E Top (Other) World: kavalan Solist Sherry Cask Matured Best IB: Woodwinters ‘Isle Solera’ 16 Year Old Best Non-Whiskey: Del Maguey Arroqueno Mezcal Best VFM(Retail)/Honorable Mention: Talisker 8 Year Old (Special Release 2018)
@PBMichiganWolverine Single Malt Lag 24 year from a few years back lol. American King of Kentucky 15 year second release Blend - tobias is a good call, but I got Not A Luxery Whisky this year and that floored me. Craft - I am biased but new riff single barrel rye. I however had most of the better malts i can get last year. Worst - Garrison Brothers Bourbon, awful!
@Milliardo meanwhile mine: Top Blend: Compass Box Tobias & the Angel Top Single Malt: Ardbeg 23 Top American: Michter’s 2019 rye 10 yr Top Craft: Del Bac Dorado Worst of the Year: Glyph Would love to hear @Soba45 @TheWhiskeyJug @Generously_Paul @cascode @Swahili1 @dhsilv2 @Richard-ModernDrinking @dubz480 @geologyjane @jonwilkinson7309 @1901 @SolanaRoots @Slainte-Mhath @Scott_E @brooklynwino
@PBMichiganWolverine I love his idea.
If you have the time (and inclination), I’d love to see your ranking for these December runnings