Old Forester 1924

When Brown Forman SOLD the Early Times brand to Sazerac in 2020, they must have kept some choice barrels of that mashbill behind which were bottled initially WAY back as Early Times 354, and later the straight whiskey version of Early Times itself, which was then, and still is a sleeper hit. Fast Forward to 2024 with the release of this latest “Whiskey Row” series, and BF is rolling out a 10 year version the this 79% corn, 11% rye, and 10% malted barley mashbill in the form of Old Forester 1924, commemorating a year when mashbills and whiskies from Prohibition-closed distilleries arrived on their doorsteps. It’s a clever bit of marketing with some actual factual parallels, but setting all that aside, what’s it taste like? First off, I LOVE the straight ET for its brown sugary goodness, along with lots of sweet body and traditional leather and spice flavors. The mixer whiskey for ET always had to be a little sweeter because that’s what that target demo demanded, and so once you saddle 10 years of age and bottle at an appropriate 100 proof you’re left with an OUTSTANDING whiskey in 1924. It actually tastes sweeter and younger than its age statement, but that’s the point. Sweet sugar goodness from start to finish. If you want something different and little more lively in your glass, go for this!