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Old Forester

A bottle of amber liquid beside a lit candle and parchment.
A bottle of amber liquid beside a lit candle and parchment.

Type: Distillery and brand

Old Forester is a Kentucky straight bourbon and Brown-Forman's founding brand, with a history built around sealed bottles, medicinal sales during Prohibition and Louisville's Whiskey Row. Its story begins with George Garvin Brown's work as a blender rather than a distiller, while today's Whiskey Row visitor distillery is only part of the brand's production story.[1][2][3][4]

Fact box

Field Verified record
Country and locality United States; Louisville, Kentucky.[3][4]
Owner Brown-Forman, checked November 2026.[12]
Category Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey.[4][6]
Founder George Garvin Brown.[1]
Origin Created in 1870, according to the producer; the documentary dating is discussed below.[1][8]
Documented sites Whiskey Row in Louisville; the 2026 Birthday Bourbon came from barrels at Brown-Forman's Shively distillery.[4][10]
Whiskey Row public opening 14 June 2018, at 119 W. Main Street.[4]
Whiskey Row capacity About 100,000 US proof gallons a year, not actual output.[4]
Named ranges Whiskey Row Series, Birthday Bourbon, President's Choice and the 117 Series.[1][2]

What Old Forester is known for

Old Forester's distinctive historical thread is the bottle itself. Brown-Forman says George Garvin Brown sealed his whiskey in glass and signed each bottle as a guarantee, making the package part of the producer's assurance about its contents.[3] That is a more useful starting point than an unqualified claim that he invented bottled bourbon.

The original whiskey was a blend drawn from the Mattingly, Mellwood and Atherton distilleries, initially bottled at 45% ABV (90 US proof). Brown did not become a distillery owner until he bought Mattingly in 1901, so the brand's beginnings and its history of distilling are separate milestones.[1][2]

Another defining feature is continuity through Prohibition. In 1920, Brown-Forman received Kentucky's No. 3 of six federal licences to sell Old Forester for medicinal use, according to its history.[2] This documented survival underpins the producer's claim that Old Forester was sold by the same company before, during and after Prohibition.[3]

The founding story and the bottled bourbon claim

George Garvin Brown was born in Munfordville, Kentucky, on 2 September 1846. He moved to Louisville in 1863 for high school and later worked as a pharmaceutical salesman, before the venture that the producer dates to 1870.[1]

Story box

Story title: George Garvin Brown and the sealed bottle

Founding story: In the producer's account, Brown and his half-brother started J.T.S. Brown and Bro. in 1870, and Old Forester was created at 322 W. Main Street. Brown sealed the whiskey in glass bottles and signed them as a guarantee. Sources: producer history and Brown-Forman brand account.

Turning point: Brown bought the Mattingly Distillery in 1901, moving from blending whiskey to owning a distillery. Source: producer timeline.

Documented record: The sealed bottle account does not establish that Old Forester was the first bourbon ever bottled. A trade investigation identifies bottled bourbon advertisements from 1860, 1863 and 1865. Source: Whiskey Lore investigation.

Last checked: 7 November 2026

Verdict badge: first bottled bourbon

Claim: Old Forester was the first bourbon sold in bottles.

Verdict: Disputed

What the record shows: The producer and Kentucky historical marker repeat a first bottled claim. Historian Michael Veach narrows the distinction to the first bourbon sold exclusively in bottles.[3][7][9]

Evidence against or gap: Earlier bottled bourbon advertisements challenge the broader claim.[8] The earliest source of the priority claim is not established from the sources checked.

Verdict badge: founding date

Claim: Old Forester was created in 1870.

Verdict: Disputed

What the record shows: The producer dates the brand's creation to 1870.[1]

Evidence against or gap: Whiskey Lore identifies an 1881 advertisement and an 1896 court claim of use “for over twenty years”.[8] The earliest source is not established from the sources checked.

Verdict badge: the Old Forester name

Claim: Old Forester was named for Dr. William Forrester.

Verdict: Disputed

What the record shows: The producer gives the physician as the namesake and says early bottles used two “r”s.[1][2]

Evidence against or gap: The Kentucky Historical Society describes the origin as obscure and conflicting, including a claim involving Nathan Bedford Forrest.[7]

A production timeline

The chronology distinguishes creating a brand, acquiring distilling capacity and opening the present visitor site. These are different events, rather than successive versions of one founding date.

Date Event
1870 Brand creation and the Brown brothers' partnership, according to the producer.[2][3]
1897 The producer records a change from 45% ABV (90 US proof) to 50% ABV (100 US proof) after the Bottled in Bond Act.[1][2]
1901 Brown bought the Mattingly Distillery.[1][2]
2 October 1910 A bottling line fire led to whiskey awaiting bottling being transferred into a second barrel, according to the producer.[1][2]
1920 Brown-Forman obtained its medicinal sales licence.[2]
1940 Owsley Brown acquired the Old Kentucky Distillery.[1]
1941 The producer records the start of industrial alcohol production for the war effort.[2]
1959 Old Forester 43% ABV (86 US proof) was introduced, with the 50% ABV (100 US proof) version retained.[1][2]
14 June 2018 The Whiskey Row distillery opened to the public.[4]

The 1910 fire supplies the historical reference for 1910 Old Fine Whisky. The producer's account says the reracked whiskey was sold as Very Old Fine Whisky; its additional claim to the first double-barrelled bourbon remains a producer claim, rather than an independently established priority.[1][2]

Whiskey Row and Shively are not interchangeable

Brown-Forman announced the Whiskey Row distillery project on 25 September 2014, identifying two historic buildings at 117 and 119 West Main Street, built around 1857.[5] A fire on 7 July 2015 delayed the opening by about a year; the producer records that 119 W. Main survived and helped support the block.[2]

This was a return to a former business address, not the restoration of a historic Whiskey Row distillery. Brown-Forman's offices and bottling lines occupied 125 W. Main Street, now numbered 119, from 1882 to 1919. Whiskey Row housed offices, warehouses and related businesses rather than distilleries.[2][9]

The visitor distillery's published equipment includes a copper column still about 13.4 metres (44 feet) tall, built by Vendome Copper & Brass Works. Its account also describes an on-site cooperage and a three-storey warehouse holding about 900 barrels. These are site specifications, not a measure of the whole brand's production.[4]

The 2026 Birthday Bourbon makes the distinction concrete. Its 212 barrels came from Warehouse B at Brown-Forman's Shively distillery, rather than the Whiskey Row warehouse.[10] A visit to Main Street therefore introduces one documented production site, not every place behind Old Forester.

Reading the ranges

The Whiskey Row Series uses four historical references: 1870 Original Batch, 1897 Bottled in Bond, 1910 Old Fine Whisky and 1920 Prohibition Style.[1] Read those names alongside the brand's chronology, rather than treating every date as the founding of a separate distillery.

Birthday Bourbon has marked Brown's birthday each 2 September since 2002. The first release came from a single day's production aged for 12 years; the 2026 release was 11 years old and bottled at 48.5% ABV (97 US proof), selected by Chris Morris and Caleb Trigo.[2][10] Those details belong to their respective releases, not to every Birthday Bourbon.

President's Choice is a single-barrel product introduced by George Garvin Brown II.[2]

Verdict badge: President's Choice introduction

Claim: President's Choice was introduced in a specific year.

Verdict: Disputed

What the record shows: The producer's timeline gives 1962; its history fact sheet gives 1964.[1][2]

Evidence against or gap: The introduction year is not reliably established from these conflicting accounts.

The 117 Series began in 2021, when Jackie Zykan was master taster. The producer describes it as released two or three times a year and sold only at the distillery.[1][2]

Old Forester also extends beyond bourbon. Its 2019 rye recipe used 65% rye, 20% malted barley and 15% corn, returning after more than 40 years.[1] That published rye recipe should not be mistaken for the bourbon's grain recipe.

People, ownership and visiting

Chris Morris joined Brown-Forman in 1976 and became the fifth master distiller in Old Forester's history; he is now described as master distiller emeritus.[11] On 1 February 2024, the producer named Caleb Trigo assistant master distiller and identified Melissa Rift as master taster.[6]

Brown-Forman remains the recorded owner as checked in November 2026. Its board's statement of 26 July 2026 called an unsolicited Sazerac acquisition proposal not actionable; the proposal was not a completed ownership transfer.[12]

For a visit, check booking, accessibility and tour age conditions before travelling. The published tour covers fermentation, distillation, cooperage, maturation and bottling, making the Whiskey Row site useful for understanding how those activities connect.[4]

Sources

  1. Old Forester. Legacy Timeline. Producer's account, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.oldforester.com/our-legacy/
  2. Old Forester. Old Forester Bourbon History fact sheet. Producer's account, edition hosted June 2022, checked November 2026. https://www.oldforester.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/FactSheet_OFD_History.docx-2.pdf
  3. Brown-Forman. Old Forester. Producer's account, undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.brown-forman.com/brand/old-forester
  4. Old Forester. Old Forester Returns to Whiskey Row. Producer's account, web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.oldforester.com/old-forester-birthday-bourbon-returns-for-18th-release/
  5. Brown-Forman. Brown-Forman to Build Old Forester Distillery on Whiskey Row. Company announcement, 25 September 2014. https://investors.brown-forman.com/investors/news-releases/press-release/2014/Brown-Forman-to-Build-Old-Forester-Distillery-on-Whiskey-Row/default.aspx
  6. Old Forester. Old Forester Names Caleb Trigo as Assistant Master Distiller. Producer announcement, 1 February 2024. https://www.oldforester.com/old-forester-names-caleb-trigo-as-assistant-master-distiller/
  7. Kentucky Historical Society, ExploreKYHistory. Bottled Bourbon (Historical Marker #2103). Undated web edition, checked November 2026. https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/416
  8. Whiskey Lore. Truth or Lore: Is Old Forester the First Bottled Bourbon? Season seven, web edition, checked November 2026. https://www.whiskeylore.org/episodes/season-seven/truth-or-lore-is-old-forester-the-first-bottled-bourbon
  9. LEO Weekly. Bourbon tales debunked: The truth behind seven bourbon myths. Web edition, checked November 2026. https://leoweekly.com/news/bourbon-tales-debunked-the-truth-behind-seven-bourbon-myths-15763948/
  10. The Spirits Business. Old Forester teams up with Alpha Industries on workwear jacket. September 2026. https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2026/09/old-forester-teams-up-with-alpha-industries-on-workwear-jacket
  11. WKYT. Brown-Forman revives historic 'Kentucky Boy' bourbon to honor master distiller. 9 September 2026. https://www.wkyt.com/2026/09/09/brown-forman-revives-historic-kentucky-boy-bourbon-honor-master-distiller/
  12. Brown-Forman. Brown-Forman Board Issues Statement. Company statement, 26 July 2026. https://investors.brown-forman.com/investors/news-releases/press-release/2026/Brown-Forman-Board-Issues-Statement/default.aspx

This article is desk research based on the site's verified fact sheet, distinguishing producer histories from independent historical interpretation and dated company statements.

Last checked: November 2026