Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon

Absolutely, my favorite mid shelf burbourn . Extremely smooth. Can’t beat.

Rating: 11/23 I had a glass of this several months ago, but I apparently didn't rate or review it at the time. I enjoyed it fairly well on that warm summer evening and I recall it being somewhat light and having a nice balance, with some especially enjoyable cherry flavors. Hopefully it holds up. N: Quite light. Very faint floral cherry. But, oh no, there's also some young alcohol meatiness. Fortunately, some modestly tannic wood starts coming out. Given plenty of time in the glass, the meat fades and I get more musty, dusty wood. Not a very complex nose, but it's fine at this point. P: This is disappointingly a lot lighter than I recalled, with ethanol definitely making itself known, though not overwhelming. It's light and sweet with lots of minerals and a cherry flavor that veers toward floral. Little bits of spices in the clove and pepper range. A fair amount of vanilla. Not much burn, but enough to make it seem at least a bit alive. Not a whole lot of barrel - but I suppose there isn't a whole lot of anything in this. Still, a mellow woodiness underlies it all. This isn't all that complex or rich or full, but it's at least balanced and easy to sip. F: Floral cherry with some used tea leaves, hints of ginger, and maybe some vanilla. - Conclusion - Four Roses Single Barrel is a lot better than this is. It has more complexity and is surprisingly fuller. Sure, it leans a bit more into the spice than I'd like, but it's clearly the better dram. The main failing of this is that it's far too weakly flavored. It's otherwise fine enough with its complexity and balance. The dearth of flavor though is a real problem. This lacks the fullness and richness of even something like I.W. Harper 15 (14/23). I would take the I.W. Harper over this any day. A 13 would be a stretch for this. Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star (12/23) is richer than this as well. It's not as complex, but I'd hazard to say that it's the better dram. The two are close though, so this could be either an 11 or 12. I think until the alcohol flavor hit me here on my most recent sip, I was going to give this a 12. Now, I'm leaning toward an 11. I almost went with a 12, but the degree to which this burned pushed me into 11 territory for sure.