Four Gate Split Stave (Batch 4)

So, I’m going in blind on this one and big thanks to @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington for taking the time to set this up and provide the sample. Let’s see how I do without knowing anything about this until after the taste. The nose starts with chocolate covered pecan caramel clusters then fruits of apple, fresh cut orange slices, and banana bread then spices of nutmeg, cloves, spearmint, leather and medium oak with a medium ethanol burn. The taste is a rich mouthfeel starting with chocolate covered pecan caramel clusters then fruits of apples, oranges, banana pudding followed by a medium spicy chipotle pepper that slowly fades away to reveal other spices of cloves, spearmint, leather and medium tannic oak with high ethanol burn. The finish is long with dark chocolate covered pecan clusters, apple, orange, banana runts, spearmint, leather and medium tannic oak. So this is definitely a bourbon with some age to it and high proof, that has all the traditional assortment of bourbon flavors with a creamy and rich mouthfeel but drifts to a spicy hot pepper note mid-palate that lingers for a little while before the other spices can come through that then finishes long with sweet notes and a medium oak spice. I have no idea what this is, it reminds me a lot of some of the Old Carter Single barrels or a Barton product with those banana notes, but those could just be in my head. Either way, it’s a very well done bourbon that I enjoyed each sip of and just need to prepare myself for that medium pepper note on the mid-palate to reap the reward of that long tasty finish. Perhaps if I put a little water in it, it would have toned down that spice kick, but I’m awful at that and usually end up ruining my drink. Anyways, time to open that piece of paper and find out what this bourbon treat is: Four Gate Split Stave. Wow, I’ve been curious about this one with the zebra casks they use to age these in and really grateful that @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington was generous enough to provide this sample as these appear really difficult to find.

Rating: 18/23 N: Initially a tad faint, but then some slightly tart corn with undercooked caramel scent comes out. It makes me think of Buffalo Trace. There's some nice musty wood with little bit of peanut shell in it too that carries a bit of spice (cinnamon, ginger, clove, black pepper). It's on the sweet side and smells decently old, but not packed with barrel richness. P: Drying with a tartness to it, but also sweet with the flavor of corn tied together with caramel that is a bit undercooked. The spices come out from the musty wood - clove, ginger, and black pepper mainly (not much cinnamon here. I definitely feel the heat from the alcohol, but I don't feel it stripping the surface of my tongue off, so that's good. There's a bit of sichuan peppercorn prickliness. It's sweet with a mellowness that occasionally suggests substantial age. F: The dry tartness and spices persist while the caramel and musty wood fade. A layer of sweetness with a bit of mineral remains as well. - Conclusion - This is a solid dram. It's not amazing, but it's very sippable. The subtle complexity and sweetness have been growing on me, so I'm appreciating it more than when I first tried it. I considered the 16 to 19 range and now I've narrowed it to 17 to 19. Side by side with Booker's Country Ham, which I consider to be a solid 17, I give the win to this. On the other hand, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, which I consider to be an 18 to 19 seems a bit better. It's actually quite close though. I've been borderline on giving this a 19 and I spent a while considering a 17, so I think I'm going to land on an 18. This is sample C in an unlabeled set of 4. There are about 15 different bourbons and ryes that this could be. My guess is that it's Pappy Van Winkle 15 or Weller CYPB based on its similarity to Buffalo Trace. This tastes more like a 10 year old bourbon to me because of its lightness, but I recall Weller 12 tasting younger than it actually is in a similar fashion. The proof seems on the higher side, so Pappy seems more likely. - The Reveal - I'm wrong.This isn't any Buffalo Trace product. It's remarkable how similar it tasted to one though. I'm not a huge Buffalo Trace fan, but I appreciate their sweet slightly light caramel character as an option on my shelf. This has the hallmarks of a nicely aged Buffalo Trace bottle, but it turns out that it isn't in any way Buffalo Trace. I'm not astonished that another bourbon managed to taste like Buffalo Trace, but I would never have been able to guess that this was Four Gate Split Stave with the constant distraction of the Buffalo Trace similarity. This has been an interesting - and enjoyable - experience for sure. Thanks to @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington for the sample!

Love this. Burnt chocolate on the nose. Comes in a little hot but immediately want more. Too many flavors to name, I literally think of something and I can taste it. Caramel, coffee, black tea, smoked chile. Every girl scout cookie. Cant have just one. Gets considerably better after giving it some air.