Old Forester label question

[mrdctaylor]

Ok. I'm a little confused. I've purchased Old Forester twice. The first time was several months ago and the label looked like it does on their website:

However, when I walked into the liquor store a few days ago, the label looked like this:

I emailed the company and they said they had no new labels. So I'm a little confused. I think the second label looks much classier. The first one seems rather cheesy to me. Anyone care to enlighten me? I'm kinda guessing that the second one was an older label that just happened to be in the liquor store.

[Nebraska]

LOL...must be an Old Forester night! I've been posting in a different thread.

[ratcheer]

I agree that the second label is much classier and I believe that it, unfortunately, is the old one. The "diamond" label is , in fact, new for about the past couple of years.

Tim

[Black85L98]

Tim has it right.

[mrdctaylor]

Hmmmm. I wonder why they went away from the cool paper label? The new one just looks kinda cheap to me.

So is it odd to see an old labeled bottle for sale in a liquor store? It was right next to bottles with the new label on it.

[cowdery]

Many of us engage in the pastime of combing liquor stores looking for antique bottles. Because whiskey in a well sealed bottle will keep more of less forever, you can sometimes find bottles that have been on the shelf for 20 years or more. That OF label isn't that old, but it's maybe ten years out of date.

[Veevee]

The new one is really unfortunate-just saw it today, and thought "ugh" I hate that dumb looking label.

Iit really does make it look like a bottom shelf choice. Decent enough idea for a label that was shoddily executed IMO.

The previous label was perfect-if you had never seen it up close, you may think it was how it looked 40 years ago. But in hand, it was really well done, seemed modern-if you understand how they produce these things. And I don't know how many whiskeys have that type of bottle-it's somewhat unique. (I know EvanW single barrel is similar).

They sorta ruined it.

Chuck, don't know if you'll revisit this post ever-but do you really mean that they haven't shipped OF in the previous label for that long?

PS-so you're the one that has cleared out all of the dusty bottles in the area?

cheers

[Sijan]

I am pretty sure the new label was introduced since I became interested in bourbon, about 2 1/2 years ago. I seem to recall receiving an email about it, similar to the one where they announced OF Signature.

[mrdctaylor]

FYI...

I emailed Old Forester and they were very polite and receptive. In fact, the reply I got said they were forwarding it to the brand manager (or whoever--I forget the exact title) because they are interested in hearing from customers. I also enclosed the link to this thread so I'm thinking at least someone from Old Forester will be reading it.

Anyway, here is their feedback form:

http://www.oldforester.com/guest/contact.asp

[cowdery]

I'm not sure when the new label came in. It may have been as recently as 2-3 years ago. Also, stock does sometimes move through the pipeline slowly.

I certainly have a nostalgic affection for the old paper label, which was little changed from the original. The story goes that George Garvin Brown supplied that statement to the printer, written in his own hand, intending for the printer to typeset it, and was surprised when it appeared as a direct reproduction of the handwritten text.

[shoshani]

The story goes that George Garvin Brown supplied that statement to the printer, written in his own hand, intending for the printer to typeset it, and was surprised when it appeared as a direct reproduction of the handwritten text.

And yet it has changed over the years. For as long as I can remember the label has said something about the quality of the contents of the bottle having been "developed with care", the "with care" being underlined; however, if you look at prohibition-era medicinal bottlings or even 19th century advertising that shows the label, that same phrase is rendered "developed by age", with every word being underlined.

[Jazzhead]

The Old Forester website (see the link provided by mrdctalyor) states that the new label was introduced in 2003. There's a whole page of info devoted to it.

Like the majority here, I prefer the old white and gold paper label. It's just classier. But the bourbon, of course, remains a great favorite.