Fifteen years ago, a whiskey lover could walk into a store and find a plethora of very good to great American whiskey for less than $25.
As popularity grew, whiskey price hikes became about as common and popular as a politician lying to constituents. Bottles that were once $28 are now $40. And former $45 bottles are beginning to hover around $100 because, as supply and demand dictates, people will pay a premium for whiskey—even if it’s not worth the money.
Nowadays, we veteran whiskey drinkers find ourselves propping something up just because it’s inexpensive when, in reality, we know that many so-called value whiskeys don’t hold a candle to the $75 bottle.
Value whiskey is now, sadly, around $40. Hell, truthfully, I’m just excited when a new whiskey is less than my cell phone bill. And oh by the way, whiskey geeks like to complain. We don’t hold back the attitude toward the fall of value whiskey, as this Tweeter notes: “The liquor equivalent of a cold bucket of water spilled in your lap.” Yeah, whiskey geeks are a cynical bunch.
So, you can imagine my excitement when Old Forester announced its new rye whiskey for $23. You read that right, Old Forester Kentucky Straight Rye whiskey costs about as much as a tank of gas for a Honda Civic.
A mashbill of 65 percent rye, 20 percent malted barley and 15 percent corn, at four years old, Old Forester Rye is Brown-Forman’s latest gift to American whiskey lovers. Brown-Forman, which also owns Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel’s, has released some excellent whiskeys in the past couple years —most notably, Old Forester 1920 and Jack Daniel’s Heritage Barrel, which came in third for my American Whiskey of the Year tasting.
Prior to releasing this rye, Brown-Forman contract distilled rye for other distilleries. For example, after their fire in the 1990s, Heaven Hill worked with Brown-Forman to contract distill its Rittenhouse and Pikesville brands. And whenever Brown-Forman released rye, such as the Woodford Rye, its competitors mumbled, “sure tastes a lot like Rittenhouse,” despite a far different flavor profile. So, is this Old Forester rye the same as the company’s contract distilled ryes? Not according to the brand’s master taster Jackie Zykan.
“To the best of our knowledge, there is no other rye whisky available that shares our mash bill of 65-20-15,” Zykan says.
Anticipating high demand, Brown-Forman made plenty of it, with Zykan adding, “there is not a risk of an out-of-stock situation. This product is intended to be readily available for the foreseeable future. We are well prepared to not only supply a consistently available product, but also innovations utilizing the mature lots.”
That’s great and all, but whiskey always comes down to flavor. You can make something $23 all day long and if tastes like rubber, arm pits and spoiled bananas, then, congratulations you’ve just made $23 hot garbage.
With that said, I try to never let price influence my tasting opinion. After all, it’s not the liquid’s fault it costs so much.
But I won’t lie, as I looked at the price point of the Old Forester Rye and thought of the many great past Brown-Forman releases, I salivated with excitement
I first tasted the Old Forester Rye with Zykan on my YouTube series, The Curation Desk, and simply said, “this is dangerously good.”
I’ve since evaluated it against other similarly priced whiskeys and am certain Old Forester Rye is America’s best value whiskey at $23. Strong cases can still be made for Rittenhouse, Henry McKenna Bottled-in-Bond and Four Roses single barrel, but this rye edged them all for a blind tasting. In addition, my tasting notes and score reflect a far pricier whiskey.
92, Old Forester Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, 100 Proof
Think vanilla. It just enters the nose and tickles the olfactory, with caramel coming in just behind. Then, there’s a burst of a rye muffin baking in the oven. And lastly, hints of herbs are on the nose. For the palate, the buttery mouthfeel starts strong, but doesn’t entirely coat the palate, as flavors put on an exemplarily show of balance. The notes of the nose become one on the palate all at the same time with lovely additions of banana nut bread, baking spices, pepper, anise and a hint of a jolly rancher watermelon note. As it sits on the palate, the rye muffin note comes back, with a brown sugar butter appearing during a very long finish. This is fantastic whiskey. This whiskey is a composite of four year old, but with a couple more years in the barrel this should be even better.
Not only is this the best value in American whiskey right now, but Old Forester Rye becomes a contender for the best Everyday Sipper, which is my phrase for something really good and widely available. Go snag a bottle and tell us what you think. And let’s all hope this bang-for-your-buck trend keeps up. My bank account could sure use a break from expensive whiskey.
Article originally appears on Forbes
