Captains log, Whiskeydate Sept 3, 2020. Having docked at a friends house I get to enjoy a time honored whiskey tradition - drinking someone else’s bourbon. This bottle was a store pick purchased by my friends wife alongside a bathtub’s worth of Flatboat (distilled, aged somewhere... bottled in Louisville, KY). The Flatboat, despite its abundance, was a pass. This bottle we drank from was filled with the goodness of OBSV - OS signifying the Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY, B signifying the high (35%) rye mash bill and V signifying the yeast strain. The yeast used for the initial beer is said to impart a “delicate fruit” aroma and taste to the final product. It was distilled circa 2012 and was bottled June 2020. Light golden color and oh so sweet. On the nose I get vanilla, butterscotch, cherries, Milky Way bar and rye bread (not toasted but just warm enough to be aromatic). It’s surprisingly soft and “woody” on the palate - something the nose didn’t elude to but a welcome surprise. Again, soft with no bite and only a very mild warmth there unfolds more rich vanilla brown sugar and floral notes. The latter I suspect is due to the V strain of yeast used for fermentation. The finish is short with sweet caramel, a puff of smoke, caraway and spearmint. A distant single-barrel cousin of this bottle was yet another reason I came to love bourbon. That I didn’t pay for this bottle makes tonight maybe just a bit better. Widely available, downright delicious and affordable - let this calm your soul when you can’t find [that par bottle of Buffalo Trace allocated product]. ———— Subnote: I hate on Flatboat without ever having tried it. Keep in mind that non-distilled producers bring some fantastic stuff to market. For example, just across the river from Four Roses in Lawrenceburg, IN is a Willy-Wonka like entity known currently as MGP (Midwestern Grain Products). The two distilleries were essentially once one. They still share the same coveted yeast strains and several of the same mash bills. If you like Barrell Craft, Joseph Magnus, Smooth Ambler or Whistlepig’s Boss Hog series them you like MGPI (aka the Four Roses on the other side of the river?).