A word of warning: this is a big boys' bourbon - running the risk of ruining olfactory receptors and desensitising taste buds for the rest of the tasting session, water was added immediately after the first tentative nosing and sip. Effectively bringing the ABV down from 50% to around 43%, the pour opened up nicely. On the nose, dark chocolate and honey, ripe black cherries and plums, and that rare of occasions when you can smell both the clear and the dark vanilla. All this packaged and served up by big oak and nutmeg. The mouthfeel is viscous, velvety and dry. Immediately on the palate, a 1-2 punch straight from Lindt's Excellence series of dark chocolate: Caramel with a Touch of Sea Salt followed by Chilli Dark Chocolate. Midway through and the rye serves up a big spice bomb, finely tuned to counterbalance the cloying corn sweetness which threatens to inundate any and all taste buds. Mission accomplished, balance is restored. At the back of the tongue, sweet toffee is served with thin slices of lemon and lime, the tartness expertly spiced down with cinnamon and nutmeg; spices give way to a long, luxuriant, kaleidoscopic finish of all the prior flavours, blanketed by the thinnest mist of smokiness. In summary, this is not just a big boys' bourbon, Four Roses Single Barrel is a big bourbon, period. It is rich, oily, full, spicy, dry and aggressive. Give it some water and sense it mellow down and open up. It will take time and patience to deconstruct, analyse, eliminate and identify the different layers of smells and flavours at play here, and you will love and appreciate every moment doing that.