Distillery: Four Roses
Proof: 115.6
Age: 10 Years, 9 Months
Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 20% Rye, 5% Malted Barley
BACKGROUND: Four Roses is one of most prominent distilleries currently. They are located in Lawrenceburg, KY and are rumored to have begun producing and selling whiskey as early as the 1860s by Paul Jones Jr. Four Roses was purchased in 1943 by Seagrams where it competed with the whiskeys Benchmark and Eagle Rare. As a result, Four Roses Straight Bourbon was only available in Europe and Asia; only the blended whiskey was available in US and was viewed as sub-par. In 1994 Four Roses Straight Bourbon became available in the US again. In 2002 the brand was purchased by The Kirin Brewery who discontinued the blended whiskey and focused on Four Roses straight bourbon. Four Roses has 2 mash bills and 5 yeast strains whiskey combine to make up 10 different mash bill recipes. The regular single barrel is OBSV at 100 proof, but, Four Roses does private barrel selections of all of their recipes which are often bottled at barrel proof. This specific private selection is from ABC Liquor in Austin, TX and is the OESK recipe which is described as spicy and full bodied. It is 10 years and 9 months old. It was aged in warehouse KW. ABC Liquor will be releasing this barrel to the public on Saturday March 5th at their Parmer location. Their is a very limited amount of bottles so get their early to get your own!
NOSE: The nose is very delicate and balanced. It is very smooth and sweet with notes of vanilla extract, clove, toasted oak, baking spice, and caramel apple. The more you smell, the more the notes develop. It very much reminds us of fresh caramel-apple pie. (23/25)
PALATE: As soon as the whiskey touched my mouth I was greeted with a very bold feeling whiskey. The whiskey was chewy and coated my entire mouth. It is incredibly smooth and has a fantastic flavor profile. We pulled notes of rich, dried fruit, aged oak, smooth baking spice, deep caramel, and chewy leather. It has a very rich feel without going over the top as a cask strength whiskey. (38/40)
FINISH: The finish is very long and chewy with notes of well aged oak, tannins, leather, roasted nuts, and more rye spice. (24/25)
VALUE: Four Roses Private Selection Barrel Strengths usually sell for $89.99 which is really good value for these 10+ year old, uncommon, special recipes from Four Roses. We would pay up to $100. (8/10)
Overall: 93/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: This Four Roses Private Barrel Selection is absolutely delicious. It is well worth the price tag for this limited release recipe bourbon. It is very smooth, full bodied, rich, and has a flavor profile of an older whiskey along with a great full feeling from the proof. We strongly recommend getting yourself a bottle of this!
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Noah's Mill
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Smoke Wagon Uncut & Unfiltered
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Manifest Whiskey Project #3
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback!
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
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