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Old Forester’s “The 117 Series” was designed to give the producer a platform to roll out experiments on a limited basis to see what resonates with buyers. In fact, Brown-Forman (the parent company of Old Forester) has directed Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel’s to do the same thing. This is why if you show up to any of their distilleries at just the right time throughout the year, you might be treated to a totally unique 375ml bottle of something that never gets produced again.
So far, The 117 Series has included batched releases that highlight Warehouses H and K. Old Forester only has 7 remaining warehouses (8 if you count their downtown Louisville distillery as a warehouse) so with the introduction of “Warehouse I Barrels,” they’ve got 4 left to go until we can say we’ve tasted them all.
Warehouse I
Warehouse I is joined together with Warehouse J. They share a common wall, are 4 stories tall (8 if you factor in the mezzanine floor) and are both heat-cycled. Brown-Forman campus is set up to heat cycle all of their warehouses but had recently spent around 6 years or so with the heat turned off to Warehouses G and H. They didn’t release that information to the public, but I have a few sources that confirmed it to be true.
Does Warehouse I have anything that stands out about it? I crunched some numbers a couple years ago by taking a sampling of average barrel proofs from about 40 single barrels from each warehouse (except for B, which I will cover on why in another article) and came to the conclusion that Warehouse I is probably the hottest warehouse that Old Forester operates. I came to that number by figuring out the average proof of each warehouse/floor by sampling the data of 40 random barrel strength single barrels from 2020 to 2023. You can read more about my process here.
Combining the knowledge that Warehouse I is the hottest warehouse on campus with the knowledge that it’s been aged for 11 years is impressive because there must not have been a lot left in these barrels when it came time to dump them. Unfortunately, Old Forester didn’t provide us with the total proof of the batch before they added water to it. My guess is it could have been as much as 40 proof points higher than it was bottled at.
The age statement means that this release rivals more than a couple Old Forester Birthday Bourbon releases in terms of age. The 95 proof points that it’s bottled at – while not terribly impressive – also is very close to the average proof of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon (which hovers around 99 proof throughout its 24 year history). What I’m trying to say is that Old Forester The 117 Series: Warehouse I Barrels is essentially Birthday Bourbon without the fancy bottle.
But does it taste like a less-fancy version of Birthday Bourbon? Let’s find out. I sampled it neat in a glencairn
Tasting Notes
Nose: Delicious sweet notes of Werther’s Originals combines with sweet oak and brown baking spices. For being 11 years old (and aged in a heat cycled warehouse), the barrel influence isn’t as heavy as I thought it would be on the nose. There are many brighter fruit notes to capture my interest, though. I can find plenty of candied citrus, black cherry and cooked pear. Yum.
Palate: The oak ramps up more on my tongue than it did in my nose. I find seasoned and aged oak along with leather boots. Spice levels ramp up with ground peppercorn, cinnamon, clove and allspice. Interestingly, I find some high-rye notes which I would typically find with Warehouse G and H bottles but not with heavily heat-cycled ones like Warehouse I. I can taste citrus zest, mint and tarragon. It’s a nice change up from the expected, but high-rye lovers may not like this trait.
Finish: The finish turns decidedly drier with a parching leather and oak sensation. The brown baking spices remain, but become slightly harsher. Ground cinnamon now turns into a spicier Saigon cinnamon aftertaste and the peppercorns are hotter overall. The brighter fruit notes fade away tasting more like fruit leathers. Not bad by any means, but it’s obviously influenced by the other flavors I find on the finish.
Score: 7.7/10
I enjoyed the nice array of spice, fruit and barrel influence that this 117 Series release offered. In some ways it was reminiscent to those previous batches of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon I talked about. The one thing that separates this bottle from a typical Birthday Bourbon was that this lacked the complexity I find in those. That stinks because I truly believed I had the value of the decade on my hands.
I’m still satisfied with my purchase. If I had to pay more than $120 – whether by retail or secondary market – I’d probably be disappointed. The reason is because it didn’t offer as much of that classic tannic punch that I’ve found in many other distilleries at 11 years old, let alone Birthday Bourbons. Could this have been pulled from the barrel and tanked at some point?
Final Thoughts
Warehouse I is one of my favorite warehouses from Old Forester, but the decision to proof it down to 95 proof wiped away most of the things that I like so much about barrels that come from it. I don’t know why they can’t take more creative liberties with how they bottle these releases (they’ve all been between 93 and 110 proof), but I think it’s a mistake that they don’t. What could have been a legendary release only ended up being a very good one. What a shame.