Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 Review [In Depth]
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 Details
Distillery: Old Forester
Type & Region: Bourbon, Kentucky, USA
Alcohol: 53.5%
Composition: Unknown
Aged: At least 12 years
Color: 1.6/2.0 on the color scale (mahogany, henna notes)
Price: $200 (good luck with that)
From the press release:
This year the bourbon is 12 years old and 107 proof – and consumers can earn the opportunity to purchase this rare bottle via a national sweepstakes.
Hand-selected by Master Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris and Master Taster Melissa Rift, with aid from Assistant Master Distiller Caleb Trigo, the liquid came from 209 total barrels.
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 overview
Another year and another super allocated Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, meant to celebrate the distillery’s founder – George Garvin, that I won’t be able to buy…sigh oh well. To be fair though, I am lucky enough to receive media samples (this is my second Birthday Bourbon sample) so I’m not totally shut out. Sure…I’d love a full bottle or even 100ml, but who knows if that will ever happen.
Going into this review, all I know is that this is Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024. Other than that, I don’t know the age, ABV, or the blend. I’m going into this sort of blind and it’s kind of exciting.
Now to contradict myself because I write these overviews after I do the actual smelling and tasting, Old Forester provides some nuggets of information on the 2024 release. Apart from the age and ABV, the media release states, “twelve years of maturation in Warehouses G and L has produced a rich and unique flavor profile perfect for this sought-after annual release.” I personally don’t know much about these warehouses and why they matter in this blend, but I’m sure others do.
For added context, I was told by Mike from The Bourbon Culture (aka Prepreludesh) that 107 proof is the highest proof that they’ve ever done. Why did Old Forester choose this ABV? Who knows, but that’s cool context to have.
Let’s find out if 2024 ends up being a spectacular vintage in this Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 review.
This sample was provided to me at no cost (lucky me). All opinions are my own.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 smell
After one smell, I’m almost at “wow”. It’s densely dark caramel, mocha, dark chocolate, vanilla, dense dried cherry, roasted oak that’s dark but not overly burnt, dried date, orange peel, tobacco, cinnamon and what seriously feels like a hint of old funk and this lightly medicinal thing. It is just a tad hot for me, but I get the feeling that it’s more me than the bourbon this time.
Right off the bat, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon smells incredible. It’s a dark, mature, and rich set of scents with dark sweetness, dark fruit, and dark oak. I’ve had a fair number of dusty bourbons in my day, and this has hints of that dusty feeling, more than most other older / more expensive bourbons that I’ve had.
I smell this and think that I’ve never smelled anything like this before…in a good way.
My one critique is that the definition isn’t great. All the scents kind of blob together, which is often my critique of Old Forester bourbons. I just wish that it were more expressive and defined, and less hot.
After swirling and rest, I smell dark caramel, cola, a hint of bright lime zest, old oak, maraschino cherry, chocolate, dried apricot, cinnamon, and mocha. I can’t escape thoughts of dusty bourbon, with I associate with rounder nosefeel, dark sweetness, dark fruitiness, and a certain type of refined oak. It’s still kind of hot for me, which is not so dusty.
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 has very dark oak, yet it’s not all that roasty / burnt and in your face like Elijah Craig 18 Year is. It’s prevalent yet subdued.
But once I get past the heat every now and then, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 is a surprisingly dark, mature, and rich bourbon that feels unique to most bourbons I’ve had recently.
Actually, Old Forester 1924 had similar old and dusty bourbon scents to it.
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 taste and aftertaste
I initially taste dark caramel, dried cherry, orange peel, vanilla, coca cola, roasted oak, cinnamon, chocolate fudge, some shimmery old oak, and just a little fennel and mocha. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 feels round and viscous, as Old Forester bourbons often do. I wouldn’t say that it 100% fills out the roundness, but it’s still excellent.
I’m going to make a wild statement – this really does have some dusty bourbon vibes. Unlike Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024, which I reviewed shortly before this, Birthday Bourbon doesn’t have the super defined and in-your-face roastiness, dryness, and oakiness. The oak is still very present, but in a way that reels more refined and reserved. It’s bold and woody, yet also kind of soft and pillowy at the same time. It’s delicious, but also a strange feeling.
The first sip, with a noticeable cola flavor, is already leaving quite the impression. I’m going to keep digging because this is delicious. I’m definitely intrigued.
With “chewing”, I get a huge rush of caramel, dried cherry and apricot, lemon zest, roasted oak that’s very dark but not so heavy on the char, vanilla, cinnamon, maraschino cherry, chocolate fudge, mocha, coconut, and a hint of funky vanilla.
Yeah, this is a “wow” and unique experience that occasionally feels dusty-ish. It’s crazy to think that.
The finish initially leaves caramel, dried cherry, refined and shimmery oak that feels old at times, cinnamon, chocolate fudge, and lemon peel. After “chewing”, it leaves caramel, chocolate fudge, maraschino cherry, vanilla, lingering old oak, lime peel, and cinnamon. The finish isn’t as impactful as expected, but it’s still good. Everything else is so unique, delicious, and interesting that it can be forgiven.
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 has a really nice mature and refined oakiness. It’s not quite on the level of a 90’s Wild Turkey 12 Year CGF (I don’t think anything is these days), but I get a little bit of that feeling. There’s a lot of emphasis on dark sweetness, dark fruitiness, dark oak, and chocolate, although this is not at all overly oaky. The dark notes, slightly vanilla funk, and roundness are there, although it’s not quite as fruity as many of the dusty bourbons that I’ve had.
Regardless, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 is round, rich, and really interesting…and puzzling.
I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too.
Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 Rating
Well I’ll be damned, I am pleasantly surprised with Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024. It gets this exceptional rating in part because it feels so unique. It’s dark, rich, sometimes expressive, well-controlled, and also feels like a dusty bourbon from the 90’s. This also gets a “Top Shelf+” rating because I know I’m going to remember this one fondly for a while.
I hate to write this because the hype is still so absurd, but this is the one Old Forester Birthday Bourbon to get, and the best one I’ve had so far…from a sample of 2 releases. Honestly, it’s one of the better modern-age bourbons that I’ve had in 2024.
And if you’ve never had a dusty bourbon before, it can be hard to explain what that feels like. There’s often this dark and round sweetness, dark fruitiness, and this really dark, creamy, and chocolatey oakiness doesn’t feel too dry or woody. I know that sounds contradictory, but the oak in dusty bourbon doesn’t feel that woody or burnt. It’s integrated very well into the overall experience. I have no idea if that made a sliver of sense.
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 is still far from perfect. I don’t know if it was just me, but the scents are surprisingly hot, even for 107 proof and a lot of air in the glass. I could taste everything just fine, but that heat did not want me to fully enjoy the scents.
Then, there’s the slightly blobby scents and flavors that haven’t fully tightened up after 12+ years in oak. Whatever you want to call it…structure, definition, or clarity, the scents and flavors still often blend / muddle together in ways that feel less mature than the flavors otherwise suggest. More separation and expressiveness would have made a huge difference in the overall experience.
Let’s be honest with each other. Does it really matter what I write? Even if I wrote that this is a major letdown (it’s not), this would still be impossible to find or highly marked up on a shelf. There’s still too much demand and too little supply. That also means that poor little ‘ol me will not be able to get a bottle…which sucks because I really want this one. Well…it doesn’t help that I completely forgot about the sweepstakes too, so that’s my fault.
Dammit Old Forester…you’re doing me dirty with a sample of such an amazing release that I’m not going to get to try again. To those who get to enjoy a sip, I hope you get a similar if not better experience. To those who won the sweepstakes and didn’t immediately try to flip it on secondary, cheers to you and I hope that you enjoy it.
This one is special.
Meet the Author: Alex
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
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Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)
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