Four Roses. Single Barrel. Limited Edition 2014

Four Roses. Single Barrel. Limited Edition 2014
Producer: Four Roses
Distillery: Four Roses Distillery
Classification: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Age: 11 years
ABV: 53.80%
Mash Bill: 75% corn, 20% rye and 5% barley malt
The 2014 version of Four Roses Single Barrel Limited Edition is 11 years old and is selected from the Four Roses OESF mash bill, where they have used their yeast cell F, which is said to give the Whiskey a herbal profile, as well as their "low rye" mash Bill B, which includes 75% corn, 20% rye and 5% barley. As this is a single barrel Bourbon that is bottled at cask strength, the alcohol percentage on the different bottles varies from approx. 53% up to approx. 64%. The bottle I have is bottled at 53.8% and comes from warehouse HW. A total of 5000 bottles were released in the USA, as well as - as something completely unique due to Four Roses' close association with Europe and especially Japan - 7122 bottles for the export market.

Nose: Sweet and creamy fruit, almost bold in its expression. Slightly tart mandarins, vanilla, caramel, nutmeg, cappuccino, a touch of black pepper and a completely unmatched cigar box scent. It is honestly rare for a whiskey to offer such a solid nose in perfect balance.

Taste: Fantastic viscosity and mouthfeel with a taste of dark plums, oranges, dark caramel, oak and a hint of lime.

Aftertaste: Really becomes more herbaceous and spicy in the really long aftertaste, which adds a good deal of heat to the experience, where black pepper and cinnamon seem to linger in the back of the mouth for ages.

Conclusion: At the same time extremely easily accessible and at the same time extremely complex. It is rare that a Whiskey offers such a fully-cast "nose" in almost perfect balance. The taste itself offers, as I said, a fantastic viscosity and mouth-filling, and the increasing warmth in the long aftertaste is a pleasant companion to close and extinguish a long evening like this.

Score: 90/100
Category: Fantastic