Hi everyone,
Something unusual from me today, American whiskey.
I haven’t reviewed any Bourbon for a while and since I’ve actually been in the US quite a bit recently, I’ve been able to try some stuff that doesn’t really make it over to the UK.
In particular, I’ve been very impressed with Four Roses and it might start becoming a new favourite of mine Bourbon-wise.
Four Roses 125th Anniversary 57.6%
Colour: Bronze
Body: Medium
Nose: Interesting, light and creamy, some cooling abv, clean vanilla, perfumed oak, Parma violets, chocolate covered nuts.
Taste: Dry arrival, then soft and oily, building back up again with the perfume, dry flowery oak, dried flower petals, super dry but super good.
Finish: Long length. Chewy, floral and perfumed. Great finish with a little spiciness coming through.
Marriage of 13yo and 18yo.
79/100
Four Roses OBSQ Single Barrel 59.8%
Colour: Dark Bronze
Body: Medium
Nose: Ethereal and delicate, corn and rye quite clear and clean, some v light chilli spice, butterscotch.
Water: The fruit comes out with a cool vanilla-y raspberry thing going on. Cherry too.
Taste: Soft and very oily, amazing mouthfeel, dry oak building up with spice, vanilla and clove, some white pepper then going oily again into the finish. Some chocolate and cashew nut in there too.
Water: Really soft now, but good, dry oak and more intense spice with black pepper and big tannins, black liquorice into the finish. Cherry pith.
Finish: Medium length. Again, great oiliness, delicate spice and dry oak.
OBSQ, 35% Rye. 9 years, 7 months. Selected by Fine Wine & Good Spirits, 26th Ed. All about the mouthfeel, bone dry whisky.
77/100
Four Roses OBSO Single barrel 56%
Colour: Bronze
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Stunning. The richness is awesome with lovely fragrant wood, complex chocolate that stays with you after you leave the glass, chocolate truffles, chocolate powder, complex spices with stem ginger, liquorice, white pepper, creamy vanilla, dry nose overall but a lot of complexity for a Bourbon, very impressive.
Taste: Great arrival, dry and fruity with red apple, brown sugar, molasses, quite rich but not heavy, quite drying but not too much, plenty of sawn wood, then the chocolate truffles come in and they are delicious.
Finish: Long length. More herbal here with rosemary and thyme, slightly over-oxidised red apple, the wood takes a back seat.
11 years, 8 months. Selected by Liquor Barn. Best Bourbon I've tried so far, which puts it above the Pappy’s and Blantons Gold. Many many thank yous go to u/Devoz for providing this sample for me to take home.
84/100
Thanks for reading!
American reviews #61-#63
Whisky Network Reviews #938-#940
Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
No comments:
Post a Comment