Four Roses Single Barrel Collection - OBSF Recipe

The nose is bold and somewhat scattered, featuring rock candy, cinnamon sugar, basil, various wood tannins, clove, pepper, and mint. While none of these elements are unpleasant on their own, the combination doesn't quite work. However, the low ethanol content is a plus. The palate offers cinnamon bear gummy candy, generic apple, black tea, the clove from the nose, a significant amount of pepper, rye spice, hay, and slightly bitter oak. It drinks hotter than its proof suggests. The bone-dry finish ventures into herbal territory with tea leaf, barrel char, bitter oak, spruce, and a floral note that's difficult to pinpoint but I'd guess is rose petal if pressed. It has a lingering minty toothpaste-like quality that seems to go on forever, and you wish it wouldn't. As you might have gathered, this wasn't to my taste. It has abundant herbal, floral, and bitter notes without the sweetness I'd prefer for balance. It's easily the worst of the series. I've seen reviews calling this "traditional," but I disagree; where are the vanilla, caramel, or cherry? It's the worst Four Roses product I've had, and a significant letdown.

An elegant Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey created by Master Distiller Brent Elliott in Kentucky. It's made with a mash bill of 60% corn, 35% rye & 5% malted barley using yeast F. It has an aromatic beginning with notes of grains, wood, fruits, nuts, flowers, herbs & spices; a rich & spicy middle adds notes of molasses, butterscotch, mint, cinnamon, maple syrup, cherry blossom, cherry & orange Jolly Ranchers; leading to a balanced, medium-length finish with notes of orange marmalade, pepper, oak, clove, cocoa powder, toasted marshmallow, rye, pipe tobacco, crushed walnuts & pine sap. March 2024

The aroma brings to mind apple, smoke, citrus peel, spice, chocolate, and sweet cream. The spirit's heat is balanced on the tongue, delivering a pleasant warmth. The lengthy aftertaste presents wood, sweetness, a distinct coffee flavor, and toasted sugar.

It's fantastic that Four Roses is extending their single barrel offerings to additional mash bills. This expression starts with floral notes, mint, chocolate, and red berries. It's definitively a bourbon for rye enthusiasts. I detect a considerable amount of rye spice and clove intertwined with vanilla throughout the experience. I've seen more mentions of apple than red fruit, so I'm uncertain if my fruit perception is accurate, but this bottle has been open for approximately 8 months and has significantly improved over time.

Nose: Sweet, vanilla, bright, powdery. A hint of sweet mint develops with time. Palate: Sweet and soft initially, then it becomes slightly prickly on the sides of the tongue before exploding with rye spice and sharp black pepper. Finish: The black pepper fades, giving way to a thick, bitter rye spice that settles into flat, heavy tannins and a touch of rye sweetness.

Warehouse NS, barrel 13-1 V Nose: sweet mint, caramel Palate: spearmint at the forefront, with many menthol notes, but it lacks refinement. It almost tastes stronger than its 100 proof. While the cask strength single barrels offer more complexity with less sharpness, this one seems to prioritize the mash bill over the yeast's contribution. I expected more.