Old Forester Tasting Event

[bourbonv]

Joe,
It was the 2006 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon we tasted. It will not be released to the public until September 2nd, but Chris brought us a few bottles to taste last Thursday night. It is very similar to last years vintage and that is to be expected because it was made within a week of last year's vintage, stored fairly close in the warehouse to last year's vintage and is bottled at the same proof. I think what Chris is trying to show by doing this is the subtle diffences a year of aging can make as well as a week of time in the distillation. I am looking forward to doing a side by side comparison.

The Older Old Foresters were interesting. I did not take notes but here is what I remember:
1953 is very floral designed decanter: The cork broke into the bottle and there was some cork taste, but not bad. It was fruity with a slight maple syrup sweetness.

1957 in squarish molded decanter: Very tasty with citrus fruit and caramel and a nice finish.

1959 in Lava lamp shaped decanter: Very strong butterscotch with some cinnamon spice and a hint of fruit.

Personalized Old Forester President's Reserve 1956: The cork was very loose and it had a lot of cork to it, Slightly fruity with some dark fruits like cherry or date and spice, but the cork taste overpowered most of the good flavors.

Old Forester Signature: Very good, but I like Old Forester 100 proof. The new package is very nice and it will help distinguish the 100 proof from the 86 proof on the shelf.

[gillmang]

Thanks Mike.

I don't get much fruit in modern OF except in some of the Birthdays.

However it still offers the floral very well. I find some OF's just superb especially the 100 proof.

Gary

[brendaj]

Gayle, what did you think of the whiskeys, especially the old ones?

Gary

Hey Gary,
I think you would have enjoyed them very much. The first thing you would have noticed would have been the distinct difference in color. The older Bourbons had lots more red, just beautiful. I thought the nose was slightly more complex, and I did notice more fruit on the tongue, maybe plums or raisins (I'm not very good at that part). They still had the distinctive OF spice, and a nice lingering finish. All in all, it was an awesome opportunity to taste some excellent old stuff, side-by-side. That's the way I really like to do it.

And, you were thought of...
As most of us moved downstairs to munch and mingle, John realized they were pouring out all of the left-over little glasses of the old Bourbons, that for whatever reason hadn't been finished. Lucky for us, one of John's many endearing qualities is, he knows alcohol abuse when he sees it... He immediately began to rescue all of those little darlings, pouring them into one glass. He was kind enough to share a few sips of his Gillmanized rescue effort and it was simply incredible. We wished for you.
Bj

[gillmang]

Thanks Brenda, that's great and just what I was looking for! Glad there was something special to cap it at the end.

Gary

[brendaj]

Here's some photos Gayle shot of the event...

[bunghole]

Thanks for posting the photos Brenda!

[EllenJ]

.. .Lucky for us, one of John's many endearing qualities is, he knows alcohol abuse when he sees it... He immediately began to rescue all of those little darlings, pouring them into one glass

Save the Samples! Save the Samples!

You are absolutely correct; Gary would have loved this expression of his art. Most of that I poured into an empty water bottle and brought back to Linda. That's how I know that even fine '50s Old Forester isn't much good for a sore throat (the fever had already been defeated by Nyquil). It sure tasted good to her Friday, though. She's fine now!

Great photos! Thanks, Gayle! I did a web page on the event for Ellenjaye.com - it's out there now. I'd love to use Gayle's shot of the place mat and setup.

About that place mat... the '50s bourbon glasses all sat on circles marked 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959. These are printed and laminated mats; do you think they were made up specially for the Filson tasting, or could B-F have a stock of whiskeys from those years that they're using for all their regular tastings?

[gillmang]

John, that you explained the vatting in this way gives me more pleasure than if I had sampled it myself!

Good to hear Linda is on the mend - the magic mash (one way or another) does its work again.

Gary

[bourbonv]

John,
The mats were a one time deal. The whiskeys sampled were gone after the tasting.

[cowdery]

About that place mat... the '50s bourbon glasses all sat on circles marked 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959. These are printed and laminated mats; do you think they were made up specially for the Filson tasting, or could B-F have a stock of whiskeys from those years that they're using for all their regular tastings?

I wondered about that too. I suspect they were made up for the Filson event, from an existing template. These days it's easy enough to print something like that in small quantities on an office ink jet or color laser, then have it laminated, and make something that looks manufactured, but was made overnight for a specific event.

As I commented to you at the time, your blend would have been better if you had eshewed the two cork-tainted selections.

The way the BF people grabbed up those decanters and got them out of there before one of us could get at them tells me they don't have a big supply.

I found it interesting that Raymond Loewy, "the father of industrial design," was an OF fan and designed those decanters at least in part as a labor of love.

[EllenJ]

.. . I wondered about that too. I suspect they were made up for the Filson event, from an existing template. These days it's easy enough to print something like that in small quantities on an office ink jet or color laser, then have it laminated, and make something that looks manufactured, but was made overnight for a specific event.

[sigh] -- That's what I believe, too.
Although it would be nice to think there's a stash of old '50s Old Forester somewhere, available in drips and drabs at consumer tastings

I found it interesting that Raymond Loewy, "the father of industrial design," was an OF fan and designed those decanters at least in part as a labor of love.

I may have missed the part where Chris said he did that. I assumed he was contracted to design them (and paid for it).
By the way, do you know if Loewy also designed the similar Old Charter bottles of that era?

And while I've got your ear... THANK YOU for a really thought-inspiring (if short) discussion about the part of the whiskey biz no one else seems to want to talk about. I wish you and Chris would have been able to interreact more than you did, but I'm guessing neither of you was aware of how closely related your themes would end up being. I can see a really great return engagement in the future, though, if you guys work something out together.

Thanks again!

[bourbonv]

I don't know if it will be the exact same type of program, but I do have a bottle of 1928 Old Charter under my desk along with some other prohibition era whiskey that the Filson is saving for a tasting. The Old Charter is interesting because Stitzel bottled the remaining Old Charter for Wright and Taylor in 1928 and sold it on Commision. This whiskey will be the last of Wright and Taylor Old Charter made at Chapeze. I thought I might approach Buffalo Trace about a similar event to open this bottle. The other whiskey was from Frankfort distillery (Antique) so that might be of interest to Four Roses. I may make a coup[le of programs out of the whiskey.

I am not sure but it seems to me that the same designer did do some work for Schenley.

[bourbonv]

If anyone wants some of the place mats, I have about 30 of them left over from the tasting. I would be happy to give you some.

[cowdery]

I assumed Loewy designing the decanters was, at least in part, a labor of love because Chris did say Loewy was an OF drinker. Loewy was a pretty major dude and designing a holiday decanter for OF would have been small potatoes for him, though I assume he didn't do it for nothing.

In earlier conversations with Chris about the event, he had indicated that we would be tasting OF from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, but as it turned out we got four bottles from the 50s, and decanters at that. Presumably they have other odds and ends like that, but not a huge stock.

[cowdery]

I enjoyed meeting ChuckMick and Gayle Hack at the event. Sorry I didn't get to talk to you more, but who can get a word in with John in the room.

Okay, in fairness, who can get a word in with me, John and Mike all in the same room. (And Brenda is no slouch either.)