Last Night's Tipple

Know what happened on September 2? Yes, yes, we all know that it was the second day of World War II, but that's not what I was going for. It's George Garvin Brown's birthday, and it's also the day that Brown-Forman, the company that he founded and that his family still owns, releases the new batch of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon every year. Given the difficulty in digging Birthday Bourbon up in Houston, I doubt that I'll be able to find the new edition on September 2 or any time close to September 2. Heck, I can't even find the 2006 release. That's okay. The 2005 release is pretty good.

I had another pour of this last night because I remember it having characteristics that might appeal to Ben -- that is, wood and orange aromas flavors that might make it less of a dessert-type Bourbon. And I remembered correctly -- there were oranges and wood on both the nose and the palate. Those aromas burned off after with some time in the glass to reveal dark chocolate and, believe it or not, white pepper. I'd still classify this one as a dessert Bourbon, but it makes me wonder if the regular bottlings of Old Forester might not be Bourbons that Ben would enjoy.

Brown-Forman's main brand, of course, is Jack Daniel's, which is the world's most popular American whiskey. Compared to JD, all of the expressions of Old Forester put together are strictly small potatoes. Heck, Old Forester sales are pretty puny even when compared to noon-mega-brands like Buffalo Trace or Evan Williams. When Brown-Forman wanted to enter the boutique Bourbon category, it restored the old Woodford distillery in Versailles and developed the Woodford Reserve brand. That they would choose to build a brand from scratch rather than expand their existing brand with upscale bottlings (Birthday Bourbon doesn't really qualify because it's not made in quantities sufficient to make it a real nationwide hit) indicates to me that Old Forester had the reputation to make it successful at $25 or $30 a bottle -- even though Woodford Reserve's core is and will probably always be honey barrels of Old Forester. Brown-Forman keeps Old Forester around not because of the sales but out of respect for the founder of their company and the brand that he created.