Reviews

Four Roses Single Barrel Review

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Four Roses Single Barrel is a complex bourbon with some unexpected surprises.

I carried out my review over the course of three days and each tasting was very unique. While the standard sweetness common to most bourbons was present with vanilla, caramel, toffee, etc., there were some surprises I didn’t quite expect. As always, I try to avoid reading previous reviews, tasting notes, or descriptions before trying the actual whiskey to prevent my review from being affected by outside influence.

Day 1:

Nose: Intense & overpowering aromas of vanilla and caramel.

Palate: Brown sugar and vanilla. The taste is powerful and sweet which drowns out any other flavors.

Finish: There’s a medium yet strong finish of something familiar. I can’t put my finger on it exactly.

Day 2

Nose: Citrus. I’m not sure what happened with my senses since yesterday but the aroma is very assertive like a fresh peeled orange with mild aromas of vanilla and caramel.

Palate: Citrus on the palate as well with slight vanilla, caramel and toffee flavors.

Finish: Again, a medium yet powerful finish with something I can’t quite put my finger on. Definitely some mild oak showing through this time around.

Day 3:

Nose: I smell roses…lot’s of floral notes with honey and vanilla, followed by soft aromas of caramel.

Palate: The citrus has disappeared and the honey is dominating the palate. Quickly followed by short bursts of vanilla, oak, and almost a buttery saltiness.

Finish: Honey, vanilla, toffee and MARZIPAN (The flavor I couldn’t quite put my finger on.)

[rs_progress_bar_rating summary_text=”The big surprise here was citrus. I definitely had citrus from the nose all the way through to the finish on the second day. With most spirits, I find my tasting notes to be somewhat consistent throughout the life of the bottle. However, this rye-forward single barrel using recipe #1 OBSV had a wide array of ever-changing flavors and aromas. Overall, despite the intense sweetness which I’m not always a fan of, this is a definite win for it’s overall complexity and ability to change day by day.”][rs_progress_bar_rating_item rating_label=”Nose” rating_number=”8″][rs_progress_bar_rating_item rating_label=”Palate” rating_number=”9″][rs_progress_bar_rating_item rating_label=”Finish” rating_number=”7″][/rs_progress_bar_rating]