Old Forester Batch Proof 150th Batch 1 750mL

Batch 01 of the Old Forester 150th Anniversary Bourbon was released in 2020 to mark 150 years since the brand first went on sale. Bottled unfiltered at 125.6 proof, it was presented by the distillery as the fruit-forward member of the three-batch set.

About This Bourbon

For the anniversary, 150 barrels were filled on the same day and aged together in one warehouse location. Three were lost entirely to evaporation, leaving 147. Master Taster Jackie Zykan split them into three blends, a nod to Brown's three-distillery batching. Batch 01 used 46 barrels and went into bottle without filtration at batch proof, meaning full barrel strength from a group of casks rather than one. Each bottle came in a commemorative tube.

Tasting Profile

• Nose: Maple syrup, ripe apricot and plum, with dark brown sugar and char.
• Palate: Dense and fruity: blackcurrant, dark berries and deep caramel, then toasted oak.
• Finish: Long and fairly dry, with graham cracker, a flicker of mint and rounded spice.

Serving & Food

Use a Glencairn and start with a very small neat sip; at this strength a little cool water helps. Serve it with seared wagyu, black pepper beef or a fig and walnut tart.

How to Enjoy

Old Forester fans building the full anniversary trio, and high-proof drinkers who like fruit over spice.

Product Details

About the Distillery

The founder, George Garvin Brown, was a Louisville pharmaceutical salesman who saw that whiskey sold loose from the barrel was often watered down or tampered with. In 1870 he began selling Old Forester only in sealed glass bottles, so customers could trust what they were paying for.

Brown did not run a distillery at first. He bought whiskey from three Louisville distilleries, Mellwood, Mattingly and Atherton, and batched them for a consistent style, later buying the Mattingly plant. His business on Main Street, known then as Whiskey Row, grew into Brown-Forman, which still owns the brand.