Old Forester
Old Forester
46%
12 Years
Released in August 2025, this is the 2025 release of Birthday Bourbon, one of if not the most coveted bourbons in Old Forester's portfolio. Released annually, Birthday Bourbon honors Old Forester’s original creator, George Garvin Brown. This year's release is substantially different from previous ones, in that it was made using the "sweet mash" process.
Sweet mash is the opposite of the more common sour mash technique, which uses "setback" from the previous back to kickstart fermentation. Sweet mash is simply the practice of not using any of that setback and instead starting each new batch from scratch. Sweet mash is less common but not unheard of among non-craft American whiskey brands. Notable brands that stick to sweet mash are Hard Truth, Kentucky Peerless and Wilderness Trail.
2025's Birthday Bourbon is a blend of 210 barrels aged on the first and fifth floors of Warehouse K. The barrels were filled April 5, 2013, and aged 12 years. The bourbon has a suggested retail price of $199.99 and is bottled at 92 proof. As always, it was released via a national sweepstakes, where winners earn the right to buy a bottle.
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On the nose, 2025's Birthday Bourbon is rich, lovely, dessert-forward and complex with a lot going on. Coffee grounds and cocoa powder come together for a nice mocha note, joined by bright cherry, cranberry, orange peel and blueberry pie, plus graham cracker, crème brûlée, cinnamon, caramel, lemon meringue pie and Tootsie Roll.
Lots of oak meets custard, smoked wood, cinnamon, candied orange, tobacco and cherry. There’s a big bitter tannin note here that throws the balance off a bit, but it’s surrounded by lots of beautiful, rich flavors.
More smoked oak, plus bitter tannin, cinnamon, coffee grounds, dark chocolate, nougat, cherry and ginger.
This is a very good bourbon, but not an exceptional one. The rich, sweet notes here are quite beautiful, but they struggle a bit to stand up to bitter tannin — although the balanced did improve after my second tasting, when the bourbon was given more time to breathe. I do feel a higher proof could help turn this into a great whiskey and would be especially welcome given the price point. The increased viscosity that more ABV could bring here could, in my opinion, help transform this from an overall good but off-kilter bourbon into a great and cohesive one.
89
Disclosure: The producer provided this sample to review free of charge, and without expectation of review or rating.
