Old Forester
Old Forester
60.25%
NAS
This is the 2025 release of Old Forester's annual President's Choice Bourbon, which in 2025 for the first time ever is available beyond the distillery. Also new this year is the addition of a President's Choice Rye Whiskey. You can find that review live on bottleraiders.com alongside this one. Exciting stuff all around! President's Choice is a single barrel product, so your mileage may vary, but each is aged between seven and nine years and typically proofed between 110 and 125. Old Forester says "only the finest" barrels are deemed worthy of carrying the President's Choice name. My sample is bottled at 120.5 proof. This whiskey has a suggested retail price of $225.
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The nose is rich, floral and sweet: Vanilla latte, soft oak, cherry, lavender, blueberry scones.
Much oakier on the palate than the nose suggested — more baking spice here, as well. Tobacco, clove, big oak, medicinal cherry, melted butter
Long finish. More clove and tobacco, plus toasted oak, coconut shavings, almonds, cocoa powder and fresh mint.
This is really interesting. Based on the nose, I was expecting a soft, sweet, floral and decadent bourbon, but those notes ended up taking a backseat to oak and baking spice. I wish my sample had been a bit larger, as I bet a couple of drops of water would help bring those softer, sweeter notes to the surface. Alas, I'm all out of President's Choice. If you end up scoring a bottle (that will be a tall task, I'm sure), taste it with a drop or two of water, reach out to me at [email protected] and let me know what changed! Even without tasting with added water, this is a pretty great bourbon. My barrel was oak-forward with some decadent, soft and sweet notes peaking out behind the oak.
92
Disclosure: The producer provided this sample to review free of charge, and without expectation of review or rating.
