Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon

Oak, yes, woody

Beautiful and smooth, reminds me of Evan Williams single barrel.

I had been thinking that each group of single barrel bottles could have a different mash bill (one barrel from one, one barrel from another), but it turns out that all Four Roses Single Barrel is the OBSV mash bill, which gives 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% barley - a high rye mash bill. I'll leave for those who are interested in such things enough to do the digging, to see what that means about the yeast strain and whatnot. For what it's worth, this bottle is from warehouse MW, barrel 60-2E. A fifth cost me $41.99 at the Uptown store of Total Wine here in Albuquerque. There's no age statement, though the Four Roses Web site indicates that single barrel bottles are all 7-9 years old. In the glass this whisky is dark amber. NOSE: This is highly complex. I get a floral note, and honey, and had to work to get more - it's indeed complex, but I also find it an elusive nose. Finally I was able to start untangling it, and got honey butter, cool spring water, baked apples, waffles, apples and pears, caramel, wild strawberries, and fresh baked bread. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth and creamy. TASTE: With that nose I expected the whisky to be equally complex on my tongue, but it's nowhere close. I got spiced honey, cinnamon, black pepper, red pepper, a thin bitter chocolate note, and brown sugar. FINISH: The finish is long, beginning with alcohol, then giving a little bit of chocolate, and finally a little bit of black pepper. SUMMARY: The nose on this whisky is extraordinary. I don't know when I've gotten anything so complex from a bottle. But after the promise of the nose, the taste is disappointing. It's not that it tastes bad - on the contrary, this is good tasting bourbon. It's just that the taste doesn't measure up to the complexity of the nose. And because it's a high rye mash bill, it's spicier than I really prefer. At the price, I won't buy another bottle, but if it were five or 10 dollars cheaper, I would. RATING: Fine, which is only two steps below the highest level of my hick system, but still not at all what I expected and hoped for.

Decent but nothing special