Review: Old Forester The 117 Series – Triple Char Bourbon

This newest expression in Old Forester’s 117 Series almost slipped by us. Crafted entirely at Old Forester’s Main Street Louisville location, it’s a boldly experimental offering called Triple Char. As the name suggests, it’s made using barrels charred for three times the usual length of time than Old Forester normally uses. OldFo typically uses a Level 4 char — about 55 seconds of char time, which means the barrels used here spend nearly 3 minutes exposed to open flame. This equates to roughly a char Level 7, something we’ve seen in a couple of other experimental offerings.

Let’s give it a spin.

Old Forester The 117 Series – Triple Char Bourbon Review

Surprisingly, the nose of this ambitious spirit evokes far more than charred wood. Notes of mint and cherry are quite prominent, backed with a heavy chocolate and ground coffee character. There’s plenty of that charry, almost smoky oak in attendance, but the surfeit of additional flavors in the mix helps the whiskey exude aromatic complexity.

The palate keeps all of this rolling right along. Big, burnt caramel flavors lead to layers of coconut and banana, then baked green apples. Quite nutty as it develops, the whiskey quickly navigates its way into a vein of baking spice, big with cloves and a punch of toasted, ground ginger. Above all this bourbon is intense. That may be the amplifying effect of the ultra-torched oak staves — or the oak in combination with the high abv — but the whole affair comes to a head on the in-your-face finish, which is tart and tannic in equal proportions. Time in glass turns things into a real vanilla bomb, though greener herbs, namely bay leaf, always linger in the background.

These ultra-charred releases are always worth investigating to help understand the power of heavily charred oak. If you find it at the distillery, it’s a sample worth picking up.

115 proof.

A- / $65 (375ml)

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