The Bourbon Review: Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Review

Until today I only had one review of Four Roses here on Causeway Whiskey and it was their entry level bourbon (you can also watch that review here on my YouTube channel) which I'd first tried in Spain in around 2010 and then revisited as I worked my way through some entry level bourbon's here in Florida.

I remember at the time in Spain that I was quite impressed with the standard Four Roses, which on a subsequent visit to Spain led me to get a bottle of the Small Batch as the house whiskey for the week.

As I dug a little deeper into the brand I was intrigued by how many variations of whiskey they can come up with through their use of two mash bills and five different yeast strains.

They use a 4 letter code to track these styles

O stands for Old Prentice,  S for Straight Whiskey,  V,K,O,Q,F for the yeast and B or E for the mashbill. According to their website the V strain of yeast will help provide delicate fruit flavours to the whiskey.

I bought this in Fairley's Wines in Coleraine for £50 but it is found here in Florida for around $40-45.

Let's Taste!

Four Roses Single Barrel 50% abv OBSV

Warehouse NO-NN, Barrel no. 4-5B

Mash Bill: 60% Corn, 35% rye, 5% barley

Nose: Lovely woody spice notes – cinnamon, pine needles, nutmeg and toasted oak. Licorice, vanilla, apples, peach and eucalyptus. Oak shavings, orange peel and rye spice.

Palate:  Pretty oily – lots of brown sugar sweetness, vanilla cream, cocoa, clove and cinnamon. Toasted oak, apple, orange zest and garden mint. Some fennel too.

Finish: Medium with spicy oak, citrus oil and caramel.

Score: 7 out of 10

Overall: A really nicely balanced bourbon that offers great aromas and flavours at an excellent price. Well worth seeking out.

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