Old Forester The 117 Series: Warehouse I
Few major brands have ridden the “Bourbon Boom” like Old Forester. Over the last decade, the Louisville-based brand has executed well on a strategy to penetrate the market at a variety of price points, from the everyday accessible (an 86 proof workhorse) to mid-shelf (the high quality 1910 and 1920 expressions come to mind) all the way up to super premium (the brand’s near-iconic and highly limited Birthday Bourbon).
And Old Forester hasn’t stopped at just establishing a presence on every rung of the liquor retail shelf. Beyond bourbon and rye , the brand has also expanded into cocktails with a ready-to-drink, bottled mint julep.
But what often gets bourbon nerds most excited is Old Forester’s experimental line: The 117 Series. Its latest offering is a delicious 11 year Kentucky bourbon, complete with one of brand’s best flavor profiles in years.
Launched in 2021 and named for the brand’s former Louisville addressed, The 117 Series showcases a range of different aging techniques, environments, proofs, and finishes for Old Forester’s distillate. Previous releases have included bourbon from specific warehouse, finishes in additional casks like rum and Scotch, and even a “high angel’s share” bottling, which focused on barrels that lost a large percentage of their liquid to evaporation.
The 117 Series gives Old Forester’s team a chance to pull a lot of different levers that can impact consumer-facing products. And it gives drinkers a chance to try new twists on favorite expressions — and perhaps even glimpse into the future of the company’s innovation pipeline.
Unlike a lot of experimental (or pseudo-experimental) lineups that are annual drops, The 117 Series is generally released around three times per year. It typically comes in 375 milliliter bottles, half the size of America’s more standard 750ml.
Let’s dive in on the latest such release. Old Forester The 117 Series: Warehouse I is an 11 year old Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. For starters, that’s a high age statement for the brand, just around a year younger than their highest-end Birthday Bourbon. It’s also the latest 117 Series offering to focus on a specific aging warehouse. Warehouse I is one of parent company Brown-Forman’s heat-cycled warehouses, meaning it’s heated during colder months. According to Old Forester, the barrels in this release were picked from the warehouse’s hottest floors.
The result is a rich, delicious whiskey that builds on Old Forester’s trademark profile. The bourbon starts delightfully spicy and fruity on the nose. Perhaps it’s because of the holidays, but brandy-soaked cinnamon and ginger fruit cake emerges from the glass, followed closely thereafter by Bananas Foster, a familiar aroma for Old Forester drinkers.
The palate is a little tamer than the nose at first, but on a second sip, it opens up well with toasted oak, cooked prunes, and more festive dessert, in this case figgy pudding and hot pralines. The oak-forward baking spice carries over from the nose and builds with each sip; at 95 proof, this is a flavorful whiskey with plenty of structure in the mouth. The finish leans toward hot cross buns and cinnamon rolls with extra spice, making it one of the more flavorful and lingering Old Forester finishes I’ve sampled in the past couple years.
Like all The 117 Series releases, this latest offering is available primarily at Old Forester’s downtown Louisville distillery and storefront. The brand also ships to a limited number of states, including Kentucky, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Washington, D.C. The suggested retail price for a 375ml bottle is $64.99.
