Review #534 - Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Strength Bourbon - Kroger Pick

Warehouse K seems to be a popular pick for 'favorite warehouse' by those who are well-versed in single barrel bourbons from Old Forester; we've been lucky to try a couple of them, and they've been very good. This is another example from that location - the third floor, specifically - and it clocks in at a strength of 64.1% ABV (128.2 proof).

This rickhouse was built back in 1953 and it uses heat cycling in order to speed up the rate of wood interaction in the whisky. Because of Old Forester's use of heat cycling in many of its warehouses, their products often do not carry an age statement, as they're younger than other competitors; still, with that intense oak interaction, there should be plenty of flavor.

This selection was done by Kroger, a chain of grocery stores which has a surprisingly wide variety of single barrel whisky picks.

Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Strength Bourbon - Kroger Pick

USA - Bourbon

Price: USD 100 (2025)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 64.1% ABV

Details: Not chill filtered; warehouse K, floor 3

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 8 months; bottles at 100%, 90% (blind tasting), 80% (blind tasting), and 70% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Rich sweet dessert smells - really nice. Boozy mushy banana bread, tiramisu, chocolate, some brown sugar; soft black pepper and clove add some baking spice. Oak starts mellow, but grows stronger with time - leather, a hint of perfume, even a hint of sweet tobacco smoke. Later, we get hints of maple and caramel sauce.

Palate: A medium-thick mouthfeel, very oily and rich. Lots of oak now - dark sweet oak, some tannins, a bit of wood smoke. Lots of coffee notes and banana flavor, especially oversweet mushy banana. There are also soft chocolate undertones and a bit of molasses.

Finish: Coffee cake and strong dark oak linger, adding a dry side; there's still plenty of sweet banana, though, as well as more brown sugar, vanilla, nutmeg. In the aftertaste, we get bitter chocolate; it's a medium-long finish.

Final Note: The longer this bottle is open, the better it becomes - some air time allows the more volatile compounds to from the liquid to burn off first, leaving a better concentration of the sweeter flavors. The oak becomes more concentrated - this almost drinks like a double-oaked bourbon at times. It has that classic Brown-Forman banana fruit note, as well as plenty of other sweet dessert flavors - this is a very good single barrel selection.

Value is decent; these bottles aren't cheap with a cost around $100, but the great punchy flavors make it worth the price.

Our Average Rating: 7.9 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.79

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.