Maker: Brown-Forman, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Style: Barrel-finished straight bourbon whiskey.
Age: NAS
Proof: 93 (46.5% ABV)
Michigan State Minimum: $55
Appearance: Chestnut.
Nose: Light oak, ghost pepper, toasted pecan.
Palate: Full-bodied. Brown Sugar and then burn. With water: Pralines, plum, cocoa.
Finish: Long. Maple candy, then alcohol and bubble gum.
Parting words: This is the fourth and final entry in Old Forester’s superb Whiskey Row series of historically inspired bourbons. I’ve liked every single one and I like this one too. The first two, 1870 and 1897, were better (probably older) versions of their two standard expressions the 86 proof and 100 proof (fka Signature) Old Foresters. The third (my favorite) was the 114 proof 1920.
Brown-Forman went in a different direction for 1910, jumping backward ten years to replicate an alleged incident when a fire on the bottling line forced the distillery to store bourbon in a second barrel for some reason. The whole thing sounds a bit dubious to me, but, historicity aside, this is a very good bourbon. The second barrel (new I believe) rounds out OF’s usually sharp edges to give it decadent candy flavors without becoming overly sweet. Depite the relatively low (93) proof for serious bourbon people like you and me, OF 1910 benefits from a few drops of water.
1910 is cheaper than 1920, but much harder to find in my experience. $55 may seem like a lot for a 93 proof NAS bourbon from a big distillery, but it’s well worth it in this case. It’s an excellent capstone to the Whiskey Row series. Old Forester 1910 is highly recommended.
Sipology 