Old Forester Statesman 95 Proof

Made from Old Forester’s longstanding rye-forward mash bill and a mingling of 4- to 6-year-old barrels plucked from warmer sections of the distillery’s heat-cycled rickhouses. The Statesman is a 95-proof addition to Old Forester’s Whiskey Row Series, a four-bottle roster of wide-ranging proof line extensions two its longstanding 86- and 100-proof offerings.

Stone fruit, cooked cherries, light oak and toasted marshmallow move quickly to the midpalate; all pleasant. But the finish is dry as tannins quickly takeover, and closed-mouth exhale through the nose makes the final flavor a touch ashen.