A bit of Four Roses

[opelfruit]

Today, a little bit about Four Roses - pay attention Scotch drinkerrs.


Four Roses, ah. This is not the first bourbon I went to from Scotch (that was Eagle Rare 10 and I'll post some tastings on that in another thread), it was one I found later on....which as a mistake really. Four Roses is probably the best bourbon for a Scotch drinker to try first if they are interested in exploring good bourbon and don't know where to start and the reason for this is simple;

Most scotch drinkers are taken aback by the sweetness and sticky nature of bourbon (hell it's made from corn and corn is just a massive amount of sugar). It's usually very oaky and laden with caramel and heavey flavours, so it's not what our palates are used to and it's quite an extreme change.

Four Roses is not like this. It is not over oaked. It is not overly sweet. It contains light fruits. It's more more approachable for a scotch drinker and their Single Barrel's would be my recommendation for scotch drinkers wanting to try bourbon for the first time.

A bit about Four Roses.
If you read my thread on American Whisky I stated that the big players in distilling produce many brands (more often than not) and they usually have different mashbills or their own warehouses so they taste different. Four Roses is not like this, they are a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey brand of Kirin (who do loads of stuff in Japan).

All Four Roses make is Four Roses, nothing else. They produce 3 basic bourbons and various annual specical releases of them, so their product navigation for your beginner is pretty good.

What makes Four Roses unique is the way they produce their whisky;

They have 2 main mashbills - high rye and lower rye (still high compared to most).

E - The mashbill that is 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley.
B - The mashbill that is 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley.

Why it's E and B I have no idea.


They then have 5 strains of yeast they can use for each distillation:

V - light fruit
Q - floral essences
K - spicy, nutmeg and cinnamon
O - fruity with hints of milk/cream
F - herbal

So what you have is the ability to distill either mashbill using any of the 5 yeast, this gives 10 recipies for them to use. Now, if you stick the exact same whiskey in the exact same barrels and put them next to each other on the rack in the same warehouse, after 7 or 8 years the whisky will taste different. No 2 barrels are the same, so imagine the possibilities of 10 different recipes.


Products

Four Roses Yellow label. This is their basic and most widely produced whiskey. It's their standard offereing and the bottlings are made up of all 10 flavour profiles.

Small Batch. 45% abv. This is made up of 4 recipes only (BO, BK, EO and EK) and produced in batches to give a better display of barrel character
.
Single Barrel. 50% abv. This is made from 1 recipe only, always BV - highest rye and fruitiest yeast. From a single barrel

.


They do a yearly release of the small batch and single barrel that go for big money, both at full cask strength and unfiltered.


How does it go down I hear you ask?
So, I've found some tasting notes from last year (I think!) from a single barrel I had. They were bullet points so I have to guess a bit and I didn't write down the bottle details, not that is matters too much.


Nose: high rye, not overly sweet. Citrus, very fruity and lively. Lightish vanilla and buterscotch, not too much oak. Approachable and makes me want to drink it.

Delivery: Nice buttery delivery, mouth coating but not cloying like some bourbon more velvet than cream. Some alcohol - it's certainly alive but it's not light a stick of dynamite which is good. I like 50% abv bourbon, think most work well at this strength.

Palate: Cherry, citrus custard(?) whatever that is. Yes there is caramel and cinnamon but not too much or too sweet, there is some oak tannin that cuts the sweetness too. Plenty of rye spice, yeah lots of rye, and herbal, thyme or rosemary(?) and some mintiness. Some licorise as well but the red stuff not the black stuff, it's fruity. Something winey too, not sure what that is. It's clearly more fruity and a lot of bourbons.

Finish: Very bright, peppery (rye), black and white pepper, and lively like the nose. Spice fades away to a long finish on caramel/corn and some oak tannin again, but again not overly oaky.

It feels quite freshing on the mouth once it's gone, not sticky. A scotch drinkers bourbon.


...........I can't find my notes from the small batch and I've not had any of the special releases, always missed them.

Next bottle of Single Barrel or Small Batch I get I'll post so newer and probably more accurate (!) notes on.
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"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[glenugie22]

Thank you Opelfruit ... I think I might just be tempted !
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Slainte

The last time I turned down a whisky, I didn't understand the question!

[CGRenn]

They do Four Roses Small Batch in Tescos for £29,99

Nice old dram that

[Darwin]

I opened a new bottle of the FR single barrel last night, one of the few bourbon that I enjoy. It was much like what the OP stated in the review. My local spirits shop has it for $34 right now.