THEDAILYWHISKY

Old Forester’s urban distillery on Louisville’s Whiskey Row has been running since 2018. Today it finally gets a bottle that is entirely its own.

Old Forester Triple Char is the newest release in the 117 Series and the first Old Forester expression made exclusively from whiskey distilled at the Main Street distillery rather than the company’s much larger Shively plant. It arrives at 115 proof, 57.5% ABV, in the series’ usual 375ml format, priced at $64.99 and released on 24 July 2026 at the distillery and select Kentucky retailers.

The hook is in the name. The barrels were charred three times as long as Old Forester’s standard specification, which pushes the char layer deeper into the staves before a drop of new make ever goes in.

The key facts

Expression: Old Forester The 117 Series, Triple Char Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky 
ABV: 57.5% (115 proof) 
Size:375ml 
Batch: 001 D.S.P.: KY-354 
Price: $64.99 (roughly £48 or €56 at current rates) 
Release date: 24 July 2026
Availability: Old Forester Distillery, 119 W Main Street, Louisville, plus select Kentucky retailers and online shipping to participating US states

What “triple char” actually means

This is the part worth slowing down on, because the label is doing something more specific than it first appears.

Triple Char does not mean a higher char grade. It means a longer char. Old Forester’s barrels went through the flame for three times the usual duration, which deepens the carbon layer and the caramelised wood sugars sitting just behind it, rather than simply moving up a number on the char scale.

That distinction matters for flavour. A deeper char layer gives the spirit more filtration surface and more access to the toasted zone underneath, where vanillin and caramelised sugars live. In practice you would expect more oak grip, more baking spice and a darker, more roasted edge than standard Old Forester, without necessarily adding sweetness.

Brown-Forman is one of the very few large producers that owns and runs its own cooperage, which is why a spec change like this is even available to them as a lever. Most distilleries order barrels to a char number and take what arrives. Old Forester can change the burn time and then go and fill the result.

Why the Main Street liquid is the real news

Old Forester lived at 117 West Main Street from 1882 to 1919. It came back to Whiskey Row in 2018, opening a working distillery and visitor experience at 119 West Main, complete with its own on-site cooperage where guests can watch a barrel being charred.

For eight years that distillery has been a genuine production site rather than a showpiece, but its output has generally been blended into wider releases or held back. Triple Char is the first time Old Forester has bottled it on its own and put that fact on the front label.

There is an unstated age implication here that is worth spelling out for anyone doing the maths. If every drop came from Main Street, and Main Street started distilling in 2018, this bourbon cannot be older than about eight years. There is no age statement, and Old Forester has not published one, so treat anything more precise as speculation.

Assistant Master Distiller Caleb Trigo frames the release as both a milestone and an experiment, describing a bourbon with intense spice and a depth of oak that he links directly to the extended char.

Where this sits in the 117 Series

The 117 Series launched in spring 2021 as Old Forester’s small-format laboratory, named after that original 117 West Main address. The idea has always been the same: isolate one variable, bottle it at 375ml, and let people taste what that variable does.

Past entries have chased high evaporation barrels with High Angels’ Share, single warehouse character with Warehouse K and Warehouse H, and extended secondary maturation with 1910 Extra Old and Extra Extra Old, alongside Whiskey Row Fire. Triple Char fits the pattern neatly. One production choice, isolated and turned up.

What is new is that this time the variable is not where the barrel sat or how long the finish ran. It is who made the whiskey inside it.

Tasting notes

We have not tasted this release. The notes below are Old Forester’s own, published with the announcement.

Nose: Pecan praline, crisp juicy apple, stone fruit, cardamom, honeysuckle, sweet leather 
Palate: Buttery baked apple cobbler, cinnamon spice, black pepper, oak char building towards the finish 
Finish: Rich oak, soft leather, a subtle sweet liquorice note 
ABV: 57.5% | Cask type: New charred American oak, charred three times longer than Old Forester’s standard barrel | Price: $64.99 / 375ml

For context, Old Forester’s mash bill across the range is 72% corn, 18% rye and 10% malted barley, which is a relatively rye-forward recipe for a Kentucky major. The cinnamon and pepper in the distillery’s own notes are consistent with that, and the extra char is the obvious candidate for the oak weight sitting underneath.

One small labelling note for readers outside the US: Old Forester spells it “whisky” without the e, a nineteenth-century habit the brand has never dropped, even though almost every other Kentucky producer uses “whiskey.”

Price and availability

At $64.99 for 375ml, Triple Char works out at just under $130 for the equivalent of a full bottle. That is a real number to sit with, and it is the standing trade-off of the entire 117 Series: you are paying a premium per millilitre for access to an experiment you cannot get any other way.

Against the rest of the range, it lands above Old Forester 1920 and in the neighbourhood of Birthday Bourbon on a per-750ml basis, without the age statement or the annual scarcity that drives Birthday Bourbon’s secondary pricing.

Distribution is narrow. Bottles go to the distillery gift shop at 119 West Main Street and select Kentucky retailers, with online ordering available to participating US states through OldForester.com. Previous 117 Series releases have moved fast at the distillery, and the “first Main Street bottling” framing is exactly the kind of thing that shortens the queue further.

For readers in Europe, Asia or Australia, there is no international distribution to plan around. Your realistic options are a US-based forwarding service, a specialist retailer that buys allocations for export, or the secondary market later in the year. None of those will be at $64.99.

Is it worth it?

If you are in Kentucky, or you can be, this is an easy yes at the counter price. A first-of-its-kind bottling at 57.5% with a genuine production story behind it is precisely what the 117 Series exists to deliver, and $64.99 is in line with what previous releases in the series have cost.

If you are chasing it from outside the US, be honest about the arithmetic. You are looking at a young, unaged-stated bourbon in a half bottle, and by the time shipping and margin are added you will be well past $130 for 375ml. Buy it because you want to taste what a longer char does to Old Forester’s distillate, not because you expect it to appreciate.

It is not for anyone who wants a big, sweet, wheated pour. Everything in the specification points the other way: rye in the mash bill, extra char in the wood, 57.5% in the glass. This is built to be spicy and oak-driven, and a few drops of water will probably help it more than it helps most bourbons at this strength.

We will update this piece with our own notes if we get a sample.

Frequently asked questions

What is Old Forester Triple Char? Triple Char is a limited Kentucky straight bourbon released on 24 July 2026 as part of Old Forester’s 117 Series. It is the first Old Forester expression made entirely from whiskey distilled at the brand’s Main Street distillery in Louisville, bottled at 57.5% ABV in 375ml bottles for $64.99.

What does “triple char” mean on the label? It refers to char duration, not char level. The barrels were charred three times longer than Old Forester’s standard barrel specification, which deepens the carbon layer and the caramelised wood beneath it. Brown-Forman runs its own cooperage, which lets Old Forester alter burn times rather than ordering a standard char grade.

What does Old Forester Triple Char taste like? Old Forester’s own notes describe pecan praline, crisp apple and stone fruit on the nose, with cardamom, honeysuckle and sweet leather underneath. The palate is buttery baked apple cobbler with cinnamon and pepper, moving into oak char. The finish is oak-led with soft leather and sweet liquorice. We have not tasted it ourselves.

How much does Old Forester Triple Char cost? The suggested retail price is $64.99 for a 375ml bottle, roughly £48 or €56 at current exchange rates. That works out to just under $130 for the equivalent of a 750ml bottle, which is standard pricing across the 117 Series. Expect higher prices from resellers and export specialists.

Where can I buy Old Forester Triple Char? Bottles are sold at the Old Forester Distillery at 119 West Main Street, Louisville, and through select Kentucky retailers, with online orders shipping to participating US states via OldForester.com. There is no international distribution, so buyers in Europe or Asia will need a forwarding service or the secondary market.

What is the Old Forester 117 Series? The 117 Series is Old Forester’s limited experimental line, launched in spring 2021 and named after the brand’s original address at 117 West Main Street in Louisville. Each 375ml release isolates a single production variable, such as warehouse location, evaporation rate, secondary maturation or, in this case, barrel char duration.