Review #845 - Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Strength Bourbon - Wiseguy Lounge Pick 'Crime Scene'

One of the more widely-available (yet still premium) single barrel bourbon products comes from Old Forester – these blue labeled barrel strength bourbons are picked by a huge number of stores and bars, and the price generally settles around $80 to $100 for a bottle. In our experience, they’ve been very good to great; in a tasting experience at the Old Forester distillery on Whiskey Row in Louisville a few years ago, the ‘Nothing Better in the Market’ single barrel that we tried was far superior to the Birthday Bourbon that we tried next to it.

Here’s an example of this single barrel bourbon which was picked by the Wiseguy Lounge, a chain of speakeasy-styled bars here in the Midwest US. This barrel was aged in Warehouse L, on the 4th floor; after an undisclosed amount of aging (there’s never an age statement, but these are supposedly between 4 and 7 years old for the most part), this was bottled at a volcanic barrel strength of 67.65% ABV (135.3 proof). In line with their gangster theme, the Wiseguy Lounge named this pick "Crime Scene."

Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Strength Bourbon - Wiseguy Lounge Pick 'Crime Scene'

USA - Bourbon

Price: USD 100 (2026)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 67.65% ABV

Details: Not chill filtered; warehouse L, floor 4

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 3 months; bottles at 20% and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Some alcohol heat up front, but that's followed by sweet notes: fresh bananas, bananas foster, cherry soda, orange soda. It's creamy at times with tiramisu notes and a bit of chocolate chip cookie; brown sugar and some tannic oak are accents.

Palate: A lighter complexion at first, with oranges, cherry, and tart grapefruit; then rich, sweet tobacco builds, and we get black pepper and some oak. Banana runts and orange seeds arrive, and we get lots of vanilla and cream soda. The mouthfeel is very thick and viscous.

Finish: Cherry wood and tannins are followed by mushy banana bread, hints of cola, a soft nutty character, and brown sugar. We get chocolate in the aftertaste; it's a long finish.

Final Note: This is a super punchy bourbon - it shows every bit of that 135 proof, especially on the nose, but it delivers great flavors on the palate and into the finish. Like a lot of Old Forester whiskies, we found that this bourbon had strong banana and cherry notes; the oak started out more reserved, but grew much stronger in the finish. A nice mixture of sweetness and spice/heat, this is a great bourbon.

Value is very good, too. This bottle ran around $100, but we regularly see these Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Strength picks for about $90, which is even better value. We suggest picking one of these up if you have the chance - we always keep a SBBS pick on our shelf.

Our 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.