Four Roses - Single Barrel - Barrel Strength - OESK (2021)
AVG: $100
Four Roses – Single Barrel – Barrel Strength – OESK (2021)
Collection: OESK – Store Pick – International Beverage – Warehouse: LE Barrel: 52-1F
Proof: 109.2
Age: 10 Years 6 Months
Distillery: Four Roses Distillery LLC
Type: Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey / Store Pick
Mash: 75% Corn / 20% Rye / 5% Barley
Website: Four Roses
*Disclaimer: A score of 5 is the midpoint for my reviews. Above 5 I like it. Below 5 I didn’t for some reason. Most of my reviews are between 4-7. It takes something really really special to go above 7 or below 4. See the methodologies for rating at the end of the article
Nose: Wet Oak & Medium Spice followed by sweeter notes of Crème Brule, Toffee, and Blackberry. With an aggressive swirl I get a little grassy/earthy notes, but that quickly fades away when it settles.
Taste/Palate: Low to almost no heat in the beginning. Full mouthfeel. It starts off sweet; Vanilla, White Chocolate, Milkshake Malt, and quickly moves into the maturity. In the midpalate I get hit with Oak, Leather & Barrel Char.
Finish: The Heat is the most prominent in the midpalate. In the finish you get tongue and cheek tingles (no pun intended). The remanence of heat sticks around for a bit and masks itself on the palate as Cinnamon. The finish is very long, and in comparison, much longer than the OBSF that I just reviewed. On the tail end of the finish you get Red Grapes, Cinnamon, and Vanilla.
Verdict: Once again… Highly Recommend. I had to have 3 different pours to unpack what was going on with this. It is night and day different between this and the OBSF I just reviewed. I love them both for different reasons. One is complex in a floral way and the other is complex in a traditional Bourbon sort of way. If I was in the movie “The Good Son” and I had to pick just one I think it would be the OBSF. Not because the its “better” than OBSK, but because it’s more unique. OESK is a very complex “traditional” Bourbon, but OBSF brings something different to the party. Based on trying these two, I now want to complete the whole set (don’t tell my wife and my wallet).
MSRP: BUY Price Ceiling: $100 (The most I’d pay for this bottle)
Head to Head:
OESK: This was more traditional with complex Bourbon Notes. If this was a choose one and only one for the end of time, I would choose this over the OBSF. Given that’s not the real life case I picked the OBSF over OESK which was a surprise to me given the Four Roses general tasting notes and Rye Mash Bills.
OBSF: To me the Rye seemed more tame in this dram vs the OESK that was reviewed even though it contained 15% more. It had a Floral complexity even though I was expecting herbal. The balance and uniqueness made this my choice of the 2 bottles, but both were fantastic and vaulted to the top 10% of ratings I’ve reviewed so far. Four Roses has 2 that caught my attention for 2 completely different reasons.
*Value: Given I have to determine the value of the of a product in the same line by KY price vs MI price I will not hold the MI price against the OESK vs the 2x lower OBSF that was found in KY. The value segment of my rating is based on standard deviation of spirits. I know what they cost in KY, FL, IL, WI, IN, etc. For these two it would be unfair and would impact the value rating if I based it off of $72 vs $140.
The Story: My local store was releasing their Four Roses Barrel Pick. People were lining up outside of the store at 5AM on release date. I like Four Roses, but not quite that much. I later found this bottle after my friend snagged my the Four Roses Gift Shop release selected by master distillery Brent Elliott. This particular bottle was 2x the price of what my friend found me in KY, but hey this is MI. They have state minimums and a 1.75 of Makers Mark is 50% more here than 1 mile over the border in IN. Thank you politicians for getting into the pricing game. Michigan is one of 18 states that monopolizes the sale of spirits.
The Distillery’s Story: Check out the link to Four Rose’s Site above for their story. My summary…. Four Roses is a very “simple” distillery. They do very little and they do it VERY well. They don’t have 100 variations. They have 5 staple selections. They also have 10 different Formulas. On the Barrel Selections they can pick from these 10 different recipes. There are 2 different Mash Bills; One that has 20% Rye and the other has 35% Rye. With these 2 mash bills they have 5 different yeast strains that they marry with these mashes. The combination of 2 mashes and 5 yeast strains gives them 10 total recipes. More info in the graphs below. The last thing that I’d like to mention is that Four Roses only uses 1 story Rickhouses. This is almost unheard of. It’s likely cheaper and requires less land to build up and not out. Four Roses’ theory is their barrels are more consistent from one to another based on the one story design. I’m sure this is true given most higher aged bourbons are usually lower on the Rickhouses and if you want faster aging put it higher up in the heat and elements.
Methodologies for Rating:
1. Dump it down the drain or regift it to someone you don’t care for.
2. This doesn’t even belong in a mixed drink. Use in case of an emergency.
3. It’s really not for me, but I heard some people like it.
4. Its only good when I’ve had too many and it’s decent in a mixer.
5. Solid. It hit all of what’s expected.
6. Above average. Good to bring to an event and you wouldn’t expect any guff from it.
7. Buy two if you see it to make sure you have one on reserve.
8. Very Very good. Constantly a GREAT POUR.
9. Superb. If I were to drink this and only this from now on I’d be a happy person.
10. Perfection is impossible. But this really comes as close as you can possibly get.
Nose, Palate, and Finish I rank regardless of cost. Value (recent addition) is ranked based on taste vs price.
Reviewer: David S
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