1897 is the second release in Old Forester’s Whiskey Row Series, and it honors the moment consumer protection came to American whiskey: the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, passed to combat the flood of colored, flavored, neutral-spirit “whiskey” being sold as the real thing. Old Forester had actually pioneered the underlying idea 27 years earlier by sealing its bourbon in signed glass bottles, so this is a tribute to a law the brand helped inspire. It meets every requirement of the Act: one distillery, one distilling season, aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at exactly 100 proof (50% ABV) with only water added. Built on the standard Old Forester mash bill (72% corn, 18% rye, 10% malted barley) with a 4 char and lightly filtered in an old-style, 19th-century manner. Reviewers describe honey, vanilla, and Brown-Forman’s signature banana on the nose, moving into dark cherry, fig, sticky toffee, burnt coconut, cinnamon, and oak spice, with a long, warm finish. Breaking Bourbon praised its balance of sweet and spice as “nearly perfect”; The Whiskey Wash scored it 89 for a well-balanced, approachable dram; and The Whiskey Reviewer called it “just plain delicious.” One caveat: bonded batches vary by season and aren’t labeled, so bottles can differ slightly. A genuine step up from the 100 Proof standard.
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