George Garvin Brown, a former pharmaceutical salesman with an obsession for consistency, created something revolutionary in 1870: the first bourbon whiskey bottled exclusively in sealed glass bottles with his personal signature on each one. This wasn't just marketing genius—it was a guarantee. At a time when bourbon was poured from bulk barrels into whatever vessel a buyer provided, Brown's innovation promised quality and consistency. He named it Old Forester after a Union Army doctor named William Forrester who'd saved Brown's life during the Civil War. Old Forester has the distinction of being America's oldest continuously marketed bourbon—150 years of unbroken production. The Brown-Forman Corporation, which Brown founded, is still controlled primarily by his descendants. In 2018, Brown-Forman opened a spectacular new distillery right back where it all started—on historic Whiskey Row in downtown Louisville at 119 W Main Street, inside a beautifully restored historic building. The facility combines distillation, barrel-making, and bottling under one roof visible to visitors. It's the only major bourbon distillery located in a downtown urban center, giving it a radically different vibe from rural destinations like Bardstown.
- George Garvin Brown was literally trying to save his own business—he wanted to guarantee his bourbon's quality so customers would trust it and keep buying it, inventing the sealed-bottle concept to make that promise
- The brand is named after Dr. William Forrester, a Union surgeon Brown credited with saving his life during the Civil War
- Brown-Forman, founded in 1870, is still majority-owned by the Brown family—over 70% of voting shares remain in family hands after more than 150 years
- Old Forester is specifically made from whiskey sourced from three nearby distilleries (historically Mattingly, Mellwood, and Atherton) that Brown batched together for consistency—batch blending was revolutionary at the time
- The modern Whiskey Row location opened in 2018 inside a historic building that has been meticulously restored
- The Whiskey Row Series (1870, 1897, 1910, 1920, 1924) represents different eras of bourbon production and the evolution of Old Forester's recipe and proof statements
- Brown's descendants still work in leadership at Brown-Forman, making it one of bourbon's rare family-controlled mega-corporations