Old Forester Birthday Bourbon

[suntour]

I really think there's a cilantro-like flavor component in many brown-Forman products. I get astringency, some get acetone. Fwiw I loved '13 and haven't tried '14. Will have to remedy that, a place in town is pouring it.

[flahute]

I sometimes get the nail polish remover scent on the nose, but for me it always dissipates if I let the glass sit for a while before drinking. I liked the '13 better, but I'm still quite happy with my '14.

[CorvallisCracker]

I really think there's a cilantro-like flavor component in many brown-Forman products. I get astringency, some get acetone. Fwiw I loved '13 and haven't tried '14. Will have to remedy that, a place in town is pouring it.

If you mean Block 15, the OFBB is gone. I was there on Sunday and had hoped to try it; seems they'd poured the last of it earlier in the week. Did try the WT Diamond ($18 a shot) and liked it - it adds a hint-o-mint to the usual WT profile - but it's not worth $125 per bottle. Talked myself out of the EC 20 and 23 ($20 and $24 per shot respectively) and instead tried Nick's own barrel pick of EC12 ($8 I think but might have been $6), which was okay but not exceptional.

Next year definitely gonna have to get by earlier during "Bourbon Month".

EDIT addition:

And OF COURSE all the VW bottlings are long gone. Of course, you could always come by my place and try one. I have 12, 15 and 20yo bourbon and the rye.

Edited February 27, 2015 by CorvallisCracker

[leebo]

Really liked the 2013, others have been very woody. Last year in MA, picked up several @ 50, passed on this year's @78 per.

[Richnimrod]

Really liked the 2013, others have been very woody. Last year in MA, picked up several @ 50, passed on this year's @78 per.

You are wise, grasshopper to have passed on it for that much cheese. I went against my better judgement and paid $60 for one a few months ago. 'Uninspiring' is the adjective that comes to mind. It isn't 'bad' per se; just not quite as good as '13, which wasn't quite as good as '12 (which was pretty woody; but I liked that extra character)... Well you get the picture. Saving $78 is never a bad decision, anyway.

[TunnelTiger]

I sometimes get the nail polish remover scent on the nose, but for me it always dissipates if I let the glass sit for a while before drinking. I liked the '13 better, but I'm still quite happy with my '14.

Same opinion here. The '13 was a killer but the '14 is excellent to my taste as well. I also don't have a problem spending $60 on known product from an actual producer. I will jump all over the '15 even if it is more expensive and if it's as good as the '13 & '14 I'll buy multiple bottles if available.

Price is only revelant to your area and your wallet.

With the past years price increases I can hardly find any sub $20 bottles on the bottom shelf that I would actually drink and it doesn't matter if members living in Ky can buy bottles everyday @ sub $15.

It is what it is.

[P&MLiquorsEric]

Expect a price increase. Brown foreman knows it has a hit on its hands.

Woodford, JD and OF get annual price increases while its lower shelf brands do not. The action is on the top shelf and limited editions.

[BigBoldBully]

Expect a price increase. Brown foreman knows it has a hit on its hands.

Woodford, JD and OF get annual price increases while its lower shelf brands do not. The action is on the top shelf and limited editions.

Haven't the prices gone up enough, at 50-60 simoleons? Birthday bourbon was collecting dust around here just two years ago, multiple vintages available at 29.99. I thought I must be a fool for buying a couple bottles from each vintage when obviously none of the more experienced bourbon drinkers deemed it worthy.

Ended up really liking the 2011--a lot. Unfortunately, once I figured that out the multiple cases that seemed to be going nowhere anytime soon were suddenly gone.

[flahute]

.........when obviously none of the more experienced bourbon drinkers deemed it worthy.

A lot of them still don't, especially at current prices. It's all the "gotta have the limiteds" chasers who are new to the hobby and the flippers who are driving demand and prices. Prices will keep going up until demand loosens I'm afraid.

[kcgumbohead]

A lot of them still don't, especially at current prices. It's all the "gotta have the limiteds" chasers who are new to the hobby and the flippers who are driving demand and prices. Prices will keep going up until demand loosens I'm afraid.

May be my imagination or wishful thinking but I am sensing a subtle push back as prices have escalated and in some cases availability of previously common bottles has tightened.

I have noticed that thread responses increasingly of late are circling back to affordably priced commonly available everyday bourbons with the qualifier "IF" a given bottle appears in the wild without a mark-up and sans any flaming hoop jumping, member X "MIGHT" pick it up.

I can say without reservation that that's where I am at with my purchasing and if the majority of the enthusiast community turns that way I am inclined to take that as the leading edge of some cooling in what has been a overheated market for quite some time.

[The Black Tot]

Totally agree, KC. The old hands seemed to turn this corner a long time ago, latecomers like me are doing the same, recently. A lot of the heavy buyers seem to be getting over this hump lately.

...but I also see a lot of new faces just starting out now (heaven help them) and throwing money at anything buzzwordy (or just expensive). These recent waves seem to be pretty young. I'm not sure if there's a wave after them or not. I have a hunch there may not be.

I think in the upcoming future, American whiskey makers are going to have quite a challenge providing bottles that are outstanding enough, and at strong enough value to tempt people sitting on Smaug-like bunkers to open their wallets regularly. "Just good" might start accumulating on shelves again.

I also think we're approaching the boredom point, as you mentioned. The enthusiast crowd has, ahem, "hoop fatigue" (a fitting double entendre, no?).

[The Black Tot]

Haven't the prices gone up enough, at 50-60 simoleons?

[jtlcville]

Well, I've been really excited to try the OFBB, and a friend offered a bottle in trade for one of my extra newly acquired Col EHT Cured Oak bottles ($68), so I did the trade. Call me crazy, but I have been wanting to try the OFBB....He's a really good friend, in case you are wondering..

[BonVivant84]

So was out at one of my local spots and wanted to try the Old Forester 1870 that had just came in. So sitting with it and loving it, taste nice and rich, subtle leather and good sawdusty notes. We get the check and it turns out they had given me 2014 Birthday Bourbon instead. I couldn't believe it since I have a bottle open at home and it tasted nothing at all like this one. Mine carries an overbearing acetone taste to it (the nose as well). It hasn’t really changed in the 7 months or so that it has been open and I rarely ever reach for it. Soon as I got home, tried it again and still blah. I've had corked stuff before so I know it’s not that, but I was really shocked by the huge variation it carried since its’ not single barrel. The bar bottle had no acetone to it at all.

[tanstaafl2]

So was out at one of my local spots and wanted to try the Old Forester 1870 that had just came in. So sitting with it and loving it, taste nice and rich, subtle leather and good sawdusty notes. We get the check and it turns out they had given me 2014 Birthday Bourbon instead. I couldn't believe it since I have a bottle open at home and it tasted nothing at all like this one. Mine carries an overbearing acetone taste to it (the nose as well). It hasn’t really changed in the 7 months or so that it has been open and I rarely ever reach for it. Soon as I got home, tried it again and still blah. I've had corked stuff before so I know it’s not that, but I was really shocked by the huge variation it carried since its’ not single barrel. The bar bottle had no acetone to it at all.

I presume you checked with the staff to confirm it was the 2014 BB and confirmed it wasn't just an error on the receipt? That said I don't recall the acetone note in the 2014 BB so maybe yours is just an off bottle or batch. Can happen I suppose.

[BonVivant84]

I presume you checked with the staff to confirm it was the 2014 BB and confirmed it wasn't just an error on the receipt? That said I don't recall the acetone note in the 2014 BB so maybe yours is just an off bottle or batch. Can happen I suppose.

Yes, def checked it. When she went back to correct the receipt the bartender picked up the Birthday Bourbon to show her it was in fact the one she poured.

[Richnimrod]

Hmmmmm, I'm with Bruce. My '14's were all very similar, if not identical; and none were at all "acetone-like". None were as good as previous years, but they were all decent. I guess it's possible your bottle was damaged some way. Sunstruck??? My meager experience with a bad cork just struck me as gamey and funky, nothing like you describe.

I'd describe the bottle I had (that I assume was damaged by a bad cork --Wild Turkey 101) slightly sour, and definitely off the edge in the direction of rotted wood or a mildewy pile of grass clippings.

BUT... that was the only bottle I ever identified as being 'corked'... maybe it can give other off-tastes/smells...?

[bicktrav]

I actually get the acetone note, but strangely it doesn't bother me. The rest of the bourbon is sound round and sweet that I think it provides a nice counter. Still, I wouldn't say the whole thing is like nail polish remover or anything; it's just a subtle undertone.

[BonVivant84]

Ya, my bottle just seems to be an extreme case im guessing. I've notice others hint at the acetone, but no way mine just has an undertone. The fact that the nose is like that is one thing, but it caries over right through the finish. Oh well, least I got to try how it was suppose to taste and that much I liked so not going to be turned off to OF in the future. Think im getting to the point where i may just start blending it with something to get it to a good place

[t44tq]

My OFBB '14 definitely doesn't have any acetone notes. I like it a lot. I think you somehow got a bad bottle.

[fozzy71]

Is this released right on Sept 2nd and available at their gift shop? That is my birthday as well and I was thinking about planning a trip down to KY that week so I can pick this up from the distillery, and of course lots of other things along the way that we don't see up here.

[amg]

Is this released right on Sept 2nd and available at their gift shop? That is my birthday as well and I was thinking about planning a trip down to KY that week so I can pick this up from the distillery, and of course lots of other things along the way that we don't see up here.

They don't really have a visitor center or gift shop, though Brown-Forman is building something in Louisville that should be open by end of 2016. I think this showed up in Indiana in October last year.

[Richnimrod]

'14 OFBB didn't get distributed in the Mitten State (as far as I could tell) until early November. It used to be available here in September, though never as early as the 2nd, that I know of.

The price in the last several years has not been as closely reflective of the quality as in the previous years (IMHO). Although the price didn't go up last year it had been rising about $5/year for several years before. And (again, IMHO) the quality has steadily declined for several years. The last really good OFBB (IMHO) was '12. And many here would disagree even that '12 was that great. Just some food for thought, Fozzy.

[fozzy71]

Thx guys. Glad I asked.

[amg]

FWIW I think the 2014 is a perfectly fine pour. I don't get any of the off notes that some people have found in it, but it's not a mind-blowing experience or anything.

If you're a fan of the Old Forester house style, I think it's worth picking up around MSRP, though I wouldn't hunt too hard for it.