Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 Review [In Depth]

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025

by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 Details

Distillery: Old Forester

Type & Region: Bourbon, Kentucky, USA

Alcohol: 46%

Composition: Unknown

Aged: 12 years

Color: 1.5/2.0 on the color scale (auburn, polished mahogany)

Price: $80-100

From the press release.

Aged 12 years and retailing at $199.99 a bottle, our 25th Birthday Bourbon release was drawn from 210 barrels aged in Warehouse K, Floors 1 and 5, originally filled on April 5, 2013.

What differentiates this year’s release from years past is its production process. In a rare departure from tradition, this batch was created without the use of “setback” during fermentation—a standard practice that ensures consistency. Instead, a “sweet mash” process was used, relying solely on freshly propagated yeast. This anomaly resulted in a silky and sweet flavor profile that shines at 92 proof.

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 overview

Alright, Old Forester is back with the 2025 release of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon. It’s a 12 year old and 92 proof. While the age is the same as the 2024 release, the ABV drops from 107 proof (53.5% ABV) to 92 proof (46% ABV), which is a huge drop. I wish Old Forester provided more information as to why they select a certain ABV, which varies every year, but I don’t think we’ll ever get that information.

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Let’s smell and taste if the 2025 release impresses in this Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 review.

This sample was provided to me at no cost. All opinions are still my own.

As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 smell

I smell dark and dense caramel, vanilla and toasted banana, dried cherry, mature toasted oak, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, baked red apple, creamy frosting, dried lemon peel, and a little dark chocolate and tobacco with very calm heat.

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 smells fantastic, with rich and expressive dark sweetness and oak with bits of effervescent spice, but it also feels so par for the course / expected for an Old Forester Bourbon. It’s also a little flabby, so the scents somewhat blob into one another and make it not feel that next level amazing or special.

Learn more about Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024

The refined oak is the standout scent here, and something difficult to get in most bourbons. It has a great roundness, fullness, and darkness that doesn’t feel overly grassy, dry, or burnt. It smells well aged.

After swirling and 15 minutes of rest, the scents are more bright and spicy. It’s nowhere near the same as it was the first time, so I’m going to leave it as-is and move on.

I don’t know why it happens with some bourbons, but it has happened to me with this and Jack Daniel’s 12 Year, so maybe it has something to do with how older whiskeys interact with my nose when they’re swirled a second time. It’s weird, but I’m not sure what to do about it at the moment.

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 taste and aftertaste

I taste dense, rich, and round caramel and vanilla, toasted banana, baked red apple, lemon peel, refined + creamy + round toasted oak, cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, mocha, and dried cherry in the back. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 has delicious, bold, and dark caramel + vanilla sweetness and oak with accents of vibrant oak spices and fruit.

As oaky and spicy as it is, it still feels well balanced and controlled. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is definitely delicious, but I keep feeling that it’s not that unique and standout anymore. It has a lot of the telltale Old Forester caramel, banana, and vanilla, but it’s not that well defined and is surprisingly light on the fruit so it doesn’t feel complete..

While I’m trying to be as objective as possible, I can’t help but have some hope going into this that I’m going to be amazed and wowed. I’m enjoying it so far, but I feel like it should offer a lot more than it currently is.

On my first impression, I’m a lot more impressed with Jack Daniel’s 12 Year

Learn more about Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2023

After “chewing”, I taste rich caramel, toasted banana chips, vanilla bean, coconut, mocha, roasted oak, baked red apple, cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, dark chocolate, dried cherry. “Chewing” brings out slightly fuller dark sweetness and vibrant spice, but the oak and fruit stay about the same. The oak is still in a great place with refined and mature toastiness, but this is missing so much fruit that it can only be rated so high

The finish leaves dark sweetness, toasted banana, vanilla, toasted oak, mocha, cinnamon, and anise with lingering effervescent oak and spice with a little sweetness. The age clearly comes through on the finish with the long lasting dark, effervescent, and tingly spice. It’s certainly very nice, but I rarely put much stock in the finish, good or bad, unless it’s atrocious (it’s not).

At this point, I think it’s fair to state that that is an oak-forward bourbon that is well done in that regard, but it comes at the expense of nuance and depth in other areas. It’s not quite a one trick pony, but it’s not well rounded and varied enough to provide a deep, defined, and evolving drinking experience.

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 is delicious, but it feels…obvious…been there done that a few times already. It is certainly not one of the best Brown Forman bourbons I’ve had this year.

I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too. Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.

Consider supporting The Whiskey Shelf and Warehouse H by buying the book via this affiliate link.

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 Rating

I’m going to build on one of my earlier points (or at least I think I made it earlier) – in isolation, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025 is an excellent bourbon that certainly would be compelling at $100-120. The problem is that when you factor in that this is a hyper allocated limited release that draws a lot of attention and is $200 MSRP if you’re lucky enough to get the chance, it becomes way less attractive and more of a disappointment than anything else.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still a “Top Shelf” bourbon that offers some uniqueness, but it’s just not enough as it should or compared to other bourbons I’ve had in the past few years. The oak is the standout thing here, as the 12 years in oak highlights the dark sweetness, refined oak, and vibrant and effervescent spice. You know, the things that make it smell and taste old and mature.

My issue is that oak is the foundation of an amazing bourbon, and Old Forester leaned into the oak and didn’t expand on anything else. This is not an unbalanced bourbon by any means, but it is clearly not well balanced. I was hoping to smell and taste more ripe and dried fruits of some kind, which would have rounded out and elevated the experience. There’s definitely some of it in here, but not nearly enough.

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In all seriousness, Still Austin Tanager is really not that far off in experience (point-wise I think I rated it a little higher higher). Jim Beam’s one-off line of 17 year old Bourbons (Clermont, Frankfort, and Boston) at around $150-170 in my opinion are superior bourbons and a better “values”…although “value” might still be a suspect thing to compare between $150-200 bottles of bourbon.

I wish I could have been in the room when they blended this, because someone at some point had to have said / thought / written that this was just too straightforward to be a Birthday Bourbon release.

This is my 3rd Birthday Bourbon review, and this is the least well rounded and least impressive one that I’ve had. That said, there isn’t enough of this to go around to deter many from buying it if they get the chance at MSRP. Let’s be honest, if you get the chance to pay $200 for it, you’ll probably do it. Secondary price, whatever it might be, is definitely not worth it….but is it ever?

I’m glad that I got to try this, I just wish that it was a lot better.

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Meet the Author: Alex

I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.

There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.

Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)