Last Night's Tipple

Ben evidently decided that the bottle of Old Forester 86 that he bought and hated was just too vile to remain in his presence any longer, so he brought it with him to Houston this weekend and unloaded it on me. He also gave me a barely-tasted bottle of 1792 Ridgemont Reserve, which he also thinks is execrable. I happen to love that Bourbon, so Ben's taste in spirits is already somewhat suspect in my book. I wanted to determine if he is fully or only partially cracked, though, and so I had a pour of the Old Forester 86.

It's very interesting on the nose: I pick up cocoa, black walnuts, and mushrooms; and the fact that I do is unusual. I'm not one of those tasters who can smell and taste every food product under the sun in a glass of wine or whisk(e)y. Most of what I detect are the elements that hit me over the head. Atomic Fireballs in a rye-heavy Bourbon is about as exotic as I tend to get. In any event, while I could smell cocoa, black walnuts, and mushrooms in the Old Forester, they were muted. It reminded me of a Canadian Whisky in that respect. On the palate, it was a bit green-tasting and thin. I didn't think that it was the best Bourbon that I've ever tasted, but it certainly isn't vile. I think that 100 proof version would be better. Ben is only three quarters cracked.