This Bourbon Was the Talk of the Whiskey World in 2024. Now It’s Back

One of the most intriguing limited bourbon releases of 2024 is now officially back for 2025 nationally while supplies last. The bottle in question is Old Forester 1924, which generated plenty of buzz – not to mention fascinating speculation – last year from the whiskey community. 

Mike at TheBourbonCulture.com described it as “the talk of the town” while adding that it “automatically earned a spot” in his “Most Memorable Whiskies of the Year” given that it was “one of the better values in bourbon.” 

Eric Burke at Bourbonguy.com didn’t beat around the bush, stating, “Wow! This is delicious!” Steve Coomes of BourbonBanter.com called it “delicious in every respect, and I’m grateful that the brand team had the foresight to create this 10 years ago.” Ed Escott of Bourbonobsessed.com called 1924 his “perfect Old Forester Bourbon.”

The Bourbon Podcast even named it the 2024 Bourbon of the Year.

What makes the release so special, and why was it the source of so much intrigue in the whiskey community? 

Here’s everything you need to know about Old Forester 1924.

It’s an Old Forester Branded Bourbon Made from a Different Mash Bill

Old Forester

Old Forester 1924 debuted last year as the fifth installment in Old Forester’s esteemed Whiskey Row series launched in 2015. It celebrates Old Forester’s “significant milestones and production innovations on Louisville’s Historic Whiskey Row” and previously included just four bottlings commemorating 1870, 1897, 1910, and 1920 as special years. 

Old Forester 1924 was added to the line last year to honor the vague milestone of the “100 anniversary of whiskey innovation as Old Forester is the only bourbon brand produced before, during, and after Prohibition.”

One reason the release stood out was its distinctive mashbill. While traditional Old Forester is made using a recipe of 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% barley, the new 1924 expression’s mash bill leaned more heavily on corn in its mash bill (79%) at the expense of rye (just 11%). 

The unique mash bill brought new flavors to Old Forester that longtime fans appreciated, including almond and light leather notes.

It’s Also a Rare Old Forester Bottle That Boasts a 10-Year Age Statement

Old Forester

10-year-old bourbons aren’t exactly rare in the market at large, but it’s rare for Old Forester. Old Forester 1924 is the first in the Whiskey Row series to feature any age statement.

The bourbon is also certified as bottled-in-bond, meaning it was produced at the same distillery by the same distiller within the same distilling season, aged for at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse under federal government supervision and then cut and bottled at precisely 100 proof.

Before Old Forester 1924, it was mainly only Old Forester’s coveted series of Birthday Bourbon – released once each year in celebration of the founder George Garvin Brown’s birthday – that featured bourbon aged for 10+ years or more before.

Some Whiskey Sleuths Have Also Devised Interesting Theories About This Bourbon’s True Origins

Sazerac

A few astute whiskey media outlets, including TheBourbonCulture and YouTube channels like Bourbon Kingdom, have pointed out that the new mash bill used for Old Forester 1924 happens to be the same one used by a few other bourbons traditionally made by Old Forester’s parent company, Brown-Forman. 

Based on this fact, some knowledgeable industry insiders have strung a few intriguing dots together. The speculation goes something like this. 

Early Times was a longstanding bourbon brand owned by Brown-Forman dating back to 1923. For a while, through the 30s, 40s, and 50s, it was the best-selling whiskey in the country. It also happens to be made from the same 79% corn, 11% rye and 10% malted barley recipe found in Old Forester 1924. 

In 2018, Brown-Forman also revived the King of Kentucky brand, which it had owned since 1940 as a unique vehicle for ultra-premium bourbon releases defined by the “barrel-strength, minimally-filtered proof presentation” shipped in bottles defined by “personal craftsmanship” that were “wax-dipped, and numbered by hand with details including proof, age, warehouse location, lot number, serial number, and barrel number, all selected by Master Distiller Chris Morris.” King of Kentucky uses the same mash bill, too. 

Brown-Foreman

Reading between the lines, one could view the King of Kentucky project as a vehicle for Brown-Forman’s distilling team to highlight and showcase exceptional barrels buried among the company’s more extensive Early Times bourbon stock. 

But what does this have to do with Old Forester 1924 again? 

Brown-Forman sold the Early Times brand to Sazerac, another major whiskey maker, in July 2020. However, the company has continued to distill the same Early Times mash bill for its King of Kentucky label. 

Given the ridiculously high-quality standard demanded by the King of Kentucky label, the BourbonCulture.com team noted that Old Forester 1924 could’ve been conceived as a vehicle for bottling outstanding lingering Early Times stock still in Brown-Forman’s possession, as well as fantastic but not exceptional bourbon from the brand’s ongoing King of Kentucky barrels.

We’ll likely never know if this theory is accurate, and frankly, what ultimately motivated Old Forester to release 1924 really doesn’t matter. 

By most accounts, Old Forester 1924 is a tasty and enjoyable bourbon. At a retail price of $119 (or a little more than $10 a year of age), it’s also a solid value in today’s bourbon market.

Still, similar to the “poor man’s pappy” speculations that have swirled in the past, it’s undoubtedly fun to think about Old Forester 1924 as a whisky that’s nearly on par with an uber-rare $300+ bourbon that often sells for thousands on the secondary market.

Old Forester

Old Forester 1924 Bourbon

• $119 at Old Forester

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