Four Roses Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon (2014)

"Thanks to Ryan as part of our distillery trading team, I got to sample this piece of sheer art. I really haven't had many bourbons, I'm more of a red wine or Scotch guy...but if I were to convert, these are the ones that would make me do it. This is just a pleasure to drink. Indulgently rich, like the best vanilla infused dark chocolate you can find from the top tier Belgian or French houses. I found religion tonight, and it came in the form of a reddish mahogany bourbon. Thanks Ryan for the treat."

I was lucky enough to get a sample of this limited release bourbon as a bonus item in our little trade group. This single barrel from Four Roses is made with the OESF recipe. It is roughly 11 years old, barrel proof 55.9% ABV, natural color of a dark amber/bronze and is most likely non chill filtered. I believe I saw that less than 5000 bottles were produced during this run. The nose is powerful. A huge punch of alcohol right away. Let it sit and it becomes spicy and sweet. Lots of oak present. A corn sweetness is there, but I get a strong hit of rye, even though it's only 20% of the mash bill. It is fruity as well. Baked apples with cinnamon and clove. Lots of caramel and toffee with some vanilla. Very herbal and floral as well. Much more so than I was expecting. It reminds me of a camomile, honey and vanilla herbal tea I used to drink. The more I nosed it the more of that tea I could pick up on. Very unique. More sweetness comes in, like cotton candy stuck to a charred oak stave with pink bubblegum. Earthy/herbal notes again, this time sandalwood and sawdust. Familiar, and yet at the same time completely different than any other bourbon I've had. The palate is hot (not surprising at this strength) with the rye spice up front. Oak and more of that camomile and honey tea. Vanilla, cinnamon and cloves. Chocolate covered cherries and caramel apples. After that it was too hard for me to get anything else due to the high ABV. Intense flavors. A full bodied mouthfeel, hot and mouthwatering. The finish is long. Sweet and sour with oak and tea. I was quite surprised by the camomile tea notes. Can't say I've had anything like it before. Cask strength/barrel proof whiskey can be a bit taxing when trying to pull out all these flavors, and this one was up there so I can't say that I would seek this out as a sipping whiskey, but it is very good. It's also very expensive. I believe this one was around $250. Not worth it in my opinion, but I'd never turn down a dram. Thanks to Ryan for the sample. A solid 4. Cheers

per se

I can't decide whether the flavor profile fits better with cherry or vanilla coke. Refreshing and balanced taste.