Every September since 2002, Old Forester has released a Birthday Bourbon to mark the birthday of founder George Garvin Brown, who in 1870 became the first man to sell bourbon exclusively in sealed glass bottles. The 2022 edition — a twelve-year-old vatting drawn from 119 barrels filled on a single day in May 2010 — is the most mature Birthday Bourbon in several years, and one of the richest.
The spirit was distilled at Brown-Forman's Shively plant and matured in warehouse H, a multi-storey ironclad that hammers the casks with Kentucky's temperature extremes. Bottled at 104 proof without chill filtration, the whiskey carries the full weight of a dozen summers in oak without tipping into tannic excess — a balance that has eluded some previous vintages.
The nose opens on toasted pecan and dark cherry, with that characteristic Old Forester orange-oil lift playing above worn leather. On the palate it is chewy and confectionery — brown butter, burnt sugar, stewed plum — with clove and charred oak grounding the sweetness. The finish is long and drying, fading on dark chocolate and baking spice.
Birthday Bourbon is a cult release for a reason. The single-day vatting approach gives each vintage a distinct fingerprint, and the 2022 is among the most generous in the series. It is a handsome tribute to a man who essentially invented bottled bourbon as a category, and it drinks with the confidence its age deserves.
