2004 Old Forester 12 Year Old Birthday Bourbon Whiskey (750ml)

In the 1800's, American whiskey was sold in bulk to rectifiers, wholesalers, brokers and retailers. Barrels were branded with a distillery or 'brand' name. Package stores and druggists bottled their own labels from bulk supplies. Unscrupulous rectifiers, jobbers and retailers would often tamper with the quality and integrity of the whiskey in a barrel. In 1870, George Garvin Brown, a young pharmaceuticals salesman in Louisville, Kentucky, saw the need for a consistently high-quality whiskey that met medicinal standards. With $5,500 in saved and borrowed money, Brown and his half brother started J.T.S. Brown and Bro. They sold Old Forester Bourbon Whiskey exclusively in sealed glass bottles to assure its quality, making it America's first bottled bourbon.

Unlike the standard Old Forester bottlings, which are a blend of whiskeys from several different years, Birthday Bourbon is a vintage-dated Bourbon, hand-selected by Master Distiller, Chris Morris from one specific day. The result is a one-of-a-kind character and flavour that will never be replicated again. Its unique decanter style glass bottle is a throw back to the late 1800’s when Old Forester was first produced. This release marks the sixth Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, chosen to honor the birthday of George Garvin Brown.

Of a previous bottling, Jim Murray wrote, "One of the most rye-studded stars in the Bourbon firmament and wholly in keeping with the fabulous quality for which this brand has now become a byword." (94 points)

Other reviews... A lovely bouquet that is perfumed, gently woody and breakfast cereal-like. The palate entry offers melded tastes of toffee, buttered popcorn and marzipan; at midpalate flavors include butterscotch, brown sugar and dark honey. The aftertaste displays the oak influence and is long, off-dry to semisweet. 96-100 points. - www.wineenthusiast.com