One unfortunate side effect of the cocktail movement - more worrisome than ironic fedoras or beet-juice infusions - is whiskey inflation.
Distillers are chasing the dollars. Even the homeliest ryes push the $20 mark. Every month finds more American whiskeys commanding single-malt prices. The true legacy label Old Forester - started in 1870, it continued operating through Prohibition - is in the hunt with the prestige Whiskey Road Series, the latest expression of which is the 1897 Bottled in Bond. (When a whiskey gets tagged as an "expression," expect to pay out the nose.)
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The 1897 Bottled in Bond is brand-new to Dallas and available in only 20 markets. It took an early bow on June 29 at Atwater Alley, the speakeasy lounge on the side of Henry's Majestic. Old Forester's new president, Campbell Brown, was on hand to guide bartenders, liquor reps and media types through the Whiskey Road Series. He's a legacy himself, a fifth-generation descendant of the Brown who founded the company.
Alex Fletcher, beverage director for Henry's Majestic and Atwater Alley, whipped up an Old Forester cocktail, a huckleberry Manhattan, that complemented the evening's nibbling.
Drinkers accustomed to the smooth flavor profiles typical of contemporary bourbons may be jolted by the bite and sweet corn finish of Old Forester in even its high-end expressions. Fletcher says fear not. "I want to be able to add flavors to the existing structure that the spirit provides, but don't want the spirit to lose its integrity," he says.
Bottled in Bond retails for $50. Atwater Alley is open Thursday through Saturday nights.
