Four Roses Single Barrel

Maker: Four Roses, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, USA (Kirin)

Style: High-rye bourbon

Age: NAS (about 8-9 y/o)

Warehouse/Barrel: DS/43-IV

Proof: 100 (50% ABV)

Appearance: Bright Copper

Nose: Boiled peanuts, rye, oak, jalapeno. With a splash of water, I get heirloom roses, leather, and hard candy. A fun night for somebody!

On the palate: Full-bodied. Cassia, cotton candy. A little water loosens it up a bit. A perfumed sweetness, rosewater, sweet cinnamon, a bit of caramel & jalapeno jelly.

Finish: Hot, but complex. Spicy cassia, rye, cotton candy then a light sweetness lingers like a stolen kiss from an old lover. Not that I’ve been kissing any old lovers recently (have I used that line before?).

Parting words: I reviewed this early on in the blog when I was still doing “Now drinking” posts. This is a very different barrel from that one. To use a baffling booze reviewer term, this is a very tight whiskey. At 100 proof it is very assertive and has loads of rye character. It even reminded me of Templeton Rye, which is produced at LDI, Four Roses’ former sister distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Cut down from 100 proof to somewhere in the 90s, it becomes a relaxed, genteel bourbon suitable for sipping on finer front porches. Aside from special releases, Four Roses Single Barrel is the best bourbon on the market, or at least my favorite. Highly recommended.