Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon (2020)

Rating: 19/23 I've been wanting to try one of these releases for a long time, but have had no hope of actually purchasing one. Rarely, I've seen them in bars, but usually at exorbitant prices. Finally, the day is here. N: After a few minutes in the glass, I get a surprisingly bold minerality. Pushing past it, there's rich, polished wood with cherry, but the notes are restrained on the nose. Perhaps a hint of milk chocolate, possibly a bit more toward bittersweet. The absolute faintest meatiness. It's so faint, that I won't say it's bad. The dry barrel is starting to come out more. It has that musty dustiness of Four Roses Single Barrel, but it's a bit richer. Some of that characteristic sour mash tartness with a bit of yeast. Sourdough, one might say. Overall, this is an improvement over the other Four Roses noses because of its richness, but it's also not that amazing of a nose overall. P: There's lots of proof here and the profile immediately makes me think of Wild Turkey Rare Breed somehow. There's a lot of bold wood maturity, with rich minerality alongside it (to the extent that minerality is ever rich). The depth of the wood is very nice. I get surprisingly little ethanol flavor, though there is some. Perhaps a hint of chocolate. A hint of polished wood leaning a tad into leather as well. There's some of that sour mash flavor, but it's not so yeasty. Perhaps it's a hint fruity, I think I get hints of cherry and vanilla, with maybe some of that sourness being lemon. Definitely plenty of spice, with cinnamon at the front, but also some surprising white pepper. It can be a bit toasty as well. Oh, there's a (very) little smoke here too. F: Peppery spice lingers with a low burn. Some mature woodiness as well, with an occasional hint of chocolate. A bit of polished wood as well. Maybe a hint of mint? - Conclusion - Finally, a Four Roses release other than Four Roses Single Barrel that's actually quite enjoyable. Side by side, Wild Turkey Rare Breed (18-19/23) has more aggressive funkiness and shows its alcohol more. That said, it's richer and fruitier with less minerality. There's plenty going on in the Wild Turkey as well. Russell's Reserve Single Barrel (18?/23) is fruitier and more approachable than this is. I'd hazard that this is older (I honestly can't remember what all went into this), but it really tastes like this needed that extra age to compete with the Russell's. Between the two, I'm inclined to give the win to this because there really is a lot of nuance here, but that minerality - despite having a nice richness - really is working against this. This is a lot like an even more mature version of Russell's Reserve 10 (15-16/23) (or Four Roses Single Barrel (15/23), obviously), but it doesn't quite stick the landing. I'm getting flashbacks to some of my attempts to rapid-age bourbon that ended up with too much cinnamon and minerality, despite having plenty of mature nuance. This is without doubt the best Four Roses I've tried, but for a unicorn bottle, it isn't blowing my mind. I could give this an 18, but I'm thinking a 19 or maybe 20. A 21 seems like a stretch. For a sanity check, I put this against Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof (21/23) and I think I have to give the win to the Jack Daniel's for its pure decadence. That isn't all it has, but this - like many Four Roses - is sophisticated in a way that is also a bit of a challenge. I like it a lot, but I think being challenging has to drag it down a bit. I think that this is about in the range of Wild Turkey Rare Breed. I'd give this the nod, but not enough to boost it to a 20. A 19 this is then. This is a great bottle. At MSRP, it could be worth a go. At secondary prices, I'll take 10 bottled of Wild Turkey Rare Breed instead. A huge thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for allowing me to finally satisfy my curiosity about this dram!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +7! Dec. 31, 2020 It’s yearly release time! I made it through another December trying a brand new whiskey/whisky/rum each day. I really appreciate you Distiller friends for playing along, and pointing me in the direction of a lot of new things that I love. In particular, Spice Tree, Octomore, and Loch Lomond are 3 favorite new things on my shelf, and I’m almost certain I wouldn’t have found any of those on my own. Hell, the Octomore was a special order. So in addition to making this last month (of a very trying year) a lot of fun, you also changed my outlook on scotch and the look of my whiskey shelf. While about half of my bourbon supremacy schtick is for fun, I genuinely did believe that bourbon had a more diverse range of flavors and a greater flavor density. Leaving the Speyside region killed premise 1, and Octomore swallowed premise 2 whole without saying sorry. While I still prefer bourbon, I no longer view it as an argument to be won. Scotch has a lot to offer, so thank you for changing my mind. Nose is brinier than I’d expect. There’s pickles, lemon, apple, tea leaves, sugar, caramel, pancake batter, maple syrup. Fantastic nose. That body. The high rye influence is jarring at first, but it’s growing on me. With it comes heavy cane sugar, blood orange, green apple, and caramel. There’s a very grainy mouth feel, but it works. Finish is dark chocolate, cinnamon, pepper. Pepper over cinnamon. Nice buzz that trails off. I like this whiskey. Last time I tried one of these, my hair was 90% shorter, my family was 20% fewer in number, and my number of tastes was 95% fewer. A lot has changed, and I was afraid that I would be disappointed. It’s not quite what I expected or remembered, but I truly can’t find fault with it. It’s extremely well done. I added an ice cube on my second pour, and this is also phenomenal. Complexity goes way down, but the caramel and fruity notes emerge even more. On the rocks, this reminds me a lot of Rock Hill Farms or Hancock’s. And coming from me, that’s one of the biggest praises a bourbon can receive. Everybody have a safe and amazing New Years. Bugger off 2020, and cheers to 2021! ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

Four Roses limited releases have always been extremely hard to locate at retail and used to sell out while Blanton’s just sat there quietly gaining dust. Now that Blanton’s is nearly impossible to locate, the odds of getting a Four Roses at the liquor store without absurd secondary prices is increasingly impossible without a good amount of luck, unicorn hunting skills or a combination of both. Thankfully I’ve made some friends here on Distiller that are very generous with unicorn bottles. This sample comes from the extremely generous @PBMichiganWolverine , who clearly knows how to navigate the liquor store better than me in unicorn hunting. The nose is incredibly rich that starts with a welcoming blast of balanced oak and rye spice followed by butterscotch hard candy then dark chocolate covered caramel pecan clusters followed by apple pie filling, maraschino cherries, and candied orange peel that transitions to spearmint, dill, pipe tobacco, leather and polished mahogany with high ethanol burn. The taste is a rich decadent mouthfeel starting with a moderate rye spice that fades but stays in the background of butterscotch gelato topped on dark chocolate bourbon caramel pecan pie followed by freshly warmed McDonald’s apple pie, sour cherries, and mandarin orange that transitions to spearmint, dill, pipe tobacco, leather and polished mahogany with high ethanol burn. The finish is long with a moderate rye spice in the background of dark chocolate cherry cordial, slightly burnt pie crust, apple jolly rancher, candied pecans, freshly lit pipe tobacco, leather and antique polished mahogany furniture. This is incredibly rich and decadent bourbon that brings those traditional bourbon notes in a bold and powerful experience, but the high rye spices seem to detract from the experience causing a bit of dryness and spice that overpower those bold citrus, chocolate, nuts, butterscotch and polished oak for me. If you like a rich and spicy version of bourbon, this will be incredible for you, but for me the spice throws off the balance.

So I grabbed this yesterday for 170 + I had to spend 1k at the store for the right. Thankfully a store I spend money at so I just grabbed a four gate batch 1 and got this to go with it. Win win? Well lets see. Nose - rich sweetness and yet thin? Classic four roses well aged notes, well aged of course for 2020 where 10 years is well aged, not 2000 where 15-18 was normal. The more I dig in I get OLD whisky but burnt and over charred oak, but wonderful butter sweet and brown sugar and baking spices and all that wonderful four roses good notes. The nose is very nice and good but kinda to be honest the oak is old but the sweetness is young and that is fine on the nose. Actually, I get young and old here...it's weird, a part of me before I read the age statements thought this didn't have anything over 15 years, but there is that over oaked note. Taste - So the flavor is that of a nice four roses where I get spice and brown sugar BIG TIME! But the more I dig the more I get over oaked notes like an EC18 mixed in with rich rich four roses. There's a wonderful sweetness up front but it's not really topping a sam houston 14 year in terms of apples and cinnamon. So yeah I find this as a wonderful four roses pick or something, the problem is this is the 170 dollar LE where they blend it with 12+ year old bourbons. This is 12-19 year old boubon and my only "old" note is over oaked EC18....that sucks! I did a blind today with this in it with the 2019, a 10 year single cask, and an old carter batch 5 (I'm on record as not a fan). Anyway I had this 3rd behind the single barrel at 10 years and 3 months. This is really nice but it's not up to their standards. So I'm between a 2.75 and a 3.0. I gave the 2019 a 4.25, So maybe this is a 3.25. Yeah I'm upping my gut score because the complexity here is crazy but guys....this is over oaked on one of the barrels and it isn't helping. They missed the mark but didn't miss as this is still wonderful stuff that for 100 bucks I'd grab 2 of.

I got a 1oz sample of this for 1oz of my EHTBP Batch 10. I haven't opened my 4RSmBLE yet and wanted to see how much I would enjoy this before cracking mine open. Nose: Burnt caramel, candy cherries, ethanol burn, floral, slightly nutty, this is really sweet and at the same time like sticking your nose in a boquet of flowers . I'm just out in a field of flowers right now. argh this is so good. honey. red fruits, like strawberries and maybe something a little more tart Palate: oh my god. oh yeah. I'm definitely going to keep my bottle of this. sweet, oak, molasses. definitely some of the rye spice, classic bourbon notes, but there's more complexity that I'm not picking up just yet. It's so well done with the sweetness of caramel, then the rye spice, then the other flavors I can't put my finger on quite yet Finish: oaky, not overly impressive, nutty, a nice burn, there's some sweetness, but I think the oak is preventing me from truly experiencing it. definitely some leather 90/100 - Always on my shelf. idk if it was the complexity of the palate that kept driving me back to taste this, or the finish that I am disappointed in, but I drank this faster than I meant to. This is really easy to drink and so much fun try to identify everything that's going on here. I'll definitely try adding some water when I open my bottle, but I'm not doing it with this sample. Could be fun to play with down the road. I'm a four roses fan boy, so I figured I'd like this one, but you're always a little afraid of being disappointed. I think the complexity on this makes it a big time winner. I imagine sharing this with friends who are avid whiskey drinkers and even if they aren't a huge fan of the flavors/finish, they'll appreciate the complexity this dram has. Excited to share this and maybe even add a drop of water.

Nose - butterscotch, cherry, cola, vanilla, polished oak, leather, sweet tobacco, orange, baked apple, lemon, black pepper, dill, cinnamon, nutmeg, dark chocolate, coffee, musky deodorant, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - butterscotch, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, orange zest, clove, lemon, spearmint, leather, tobacco, green pepper, dark chocolate, sweet floral notes, rich oak, cherry, brown sugar, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with butterscotch, baking spice, peppery vegetal, and oak flavors. This is the third Four Roses Small Batch release I’ve tried. The standard offering was lackluster. The Select was pretty good. I’m expecting that this will be very good, or at least that’s what the $150 MSRP and $400+ secondary prices would indicate. The nose is rich, fruity, spicy, and complex. There’s a strong butterscotch aroma, backed by citrus, red fruit, and chocolate. It’s also rather herbal with some nice high rye pepper, dill, and a note that reminds me of my grandfather’s deodorant when I was a child. The palate brings the fruity sweetness, but there’s even more spicy, herbal, minty, vegetal qualities. The finish lingers nicely with spicy, oaky flavors fading slowly. This is great whiskey. It checks all the boxes for an old, high rye, Kentucky bourbon. Personally though, I have the same issues here that I did with the other Small Batch releases. The strong herbal, vegetal attributes detract from my enjoyment, although this is surely a subjective preference problem and not an issue with the quality. A huge thank you to @PBMichiganWolverine for providing the generous sample! This is a unicorn bottle that I appreciate being able to try.