What is a dram deferred? A lucky few may soon find out as Old Forester is releasing the rarest bottle it has ever produced – a decanter to honor the brand’s 150th anniversary filled with a 12 ½ -year-old bourbon.
On April 18, 2008, Master Distiller Chris Morris hand-selected six barrels for this special decanter. It was bottled in 2020. These barrels were matured in Warehouse J, top floor 8, Rick 44, tier 1.
The 500 bottles were originally crafted for members of the Brown family, who own Brown-Forman, and key partners of the company. 150 were set aside for tastings and events at the company, but the global pandemic in 2020 shuttered those plans and those bottles remained in storage.
Three years later, Old Forester is now offering them to the public. People who purchase the bottle can only pick them up on December 5, the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. The bottle purchase includes a private VIP tour of the Old Forester distillery, along with cocktails and appetizers with members of the Brown family.
“Old Forester is the only bourbon to exist before, during, and after Prohibition – and what better way to celebrate that legacy than offering to the public this rare decanter,” said Old Forester Master Taster Melissa Rift.
The decanter is presented in a custom wooden handmade box – the wood was recovered from the fire at Old Forester on Whiskey Row in 2015. The fire nearly destroyed the Whiskey Row block.
“Do we do a crystal decanter?” McCauley Adams, Associate Brand Manager for Brown-Forman, told The Whiskey Lifestyle exclusively. “That could be incredible, but does it have to be a crystal decanter? It was all these things that we were thinking about.”
The 150th decanter is a nod to the brand’s historic holiday decanters in the 1950s and 1960s designed by Raymond Loewy, the celebrated father of industrial design. A special year-long exhibit, which opens on Nov. 22 at the Frazier Museum, tells the story of those mid-century decanters.
The Old Forester 150th Decanter, priced at $2,500, is on sale now only at oldforester.com. No bottles will be sold at the distillery.
