American Whiskey Review #52: Four Roses Single Barrel OBSV 12 Year

Distillery: Four Roses

Region: Kentucky

Price: Part of a gift from a most secretive Santa from last Christmas

ABV: 52.5%

Age: 12 Year

Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat.

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Nose: (according to the wife) Smells heavily of a caramel and peanuts. There are some trace notes of raisins as well as a few baking spices.

Palate: Much as the nose hints, this is very much full of caramel. The baking spices also come out in full force. This has nutmeg galore along with cinnamon. Then, towards, the end, comes a very fragrant and cooling note of mint and menthol.

Finish: Medium in length. The mint and menthol continue on here and are joined by something a little bitter.

Conclusion: I’ve only had the regular Four Roses before so this single barrel from them was quite a treat. It’s starts nice and rich with tons of caramel and baking spice ending in a very refreshing manner. The mint and menthol notes towards the end reminded me a lot of Highland Park’s Ice Edition and I’m really curious what they do to get such a cooling effect. For being over 50% ABV, this doesn’t burn at all and is perfectly drinkable at full strength. I find that even though it is rich and fairly sweet, it probably could be even more so just given how it finishes with a refreshing and slightly bitter note. Overall, pretty good though!

Final Score: 80.

American Whiskey Review #52, Bourbon Review #39, Whisky Network Review #292

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.