Musing On Small Batch Bourbons & Tasting A Trio: Michter's US1, Four Roses, & Larceny

Batch labelled Bourbon

Something about hardship sends me back to the warm comforts of America's native spirit. Hurricane Sandy's aftermath's weeks of powerless dark and cold required the careful administration of most of my remaining Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit. My father is ailing and, when I last saw him I ended up surveying the cabinet with the question from so many Bardstown t-shirts on my lips: "Got Bourbon?" Soon I found myself returning from Ledger's (the East Bay's best whisky shop, hands down) with several examples calling themselves "Small Batch".

Now, the term "Small Batch" is a made up marketing term in the bourbon world with no legal status in the US. The term attempts to designate a carefully curated selection of barrels. Batched, vatted, to achieve a consistent signature - but (it is hoped to convey) with a measure of that selective discrimination that single barrel products enjoy. In the realm of bourbon brokers, who get spirits from more than one distillery, small batch can be a way to make a distinctive, brand-able product. This is the case for popular small batch IB bourbons such as KBD's Noah's Mill and Rowan's Creek. They vat 12 casks together to make each small batch (the number of casks determined by the size of the marrying tun) - and no one knows the true provenance (at least not publicly). KDB and brands like Michter's sell brokered single barrel whisky - but also small batch versions that let them barrel average to get a consistent product that has the story of a carefully curated product. At Four Roses, the two mash bills and five strains of yeast give Rutledge & Co. a real reason for a small batch: to combine the various flavor signatures of their various recipes to craft a commoned-up flavor signature. Many small distilleries, such as craft & start ups, call their products "small batch" - but it's a bit of a joke because their entire run isn't anything but. Yet the term has an allure - so it is widely used.

I found a fascinating conversation about the origin of the term on Bourbonenthusiast.com, with participation by some very knowledgeable people including noted bourbon author Chuck Cowdery, author of Bourbon Straight, and either Linda or John from http://ellenjaye.com/

EllenJ: "It has always been my understanding that Freddy Noe has been credited with inventing the small batch marketing concept for Beam's small batch collection of; Booker's, Baker's, Knob Creek, & Basil Hayden's. The batch refers to the number of barrels selected that meet the flavor profile for bottling and not to the number of barrels distilled from any given amount of fermentation going into the stills."

Chuck Cowdery: "As for "Small Batch," no one had used the term before Beam introduced the "Small Batch Bourbons Collection" in 1988 or 89. I was doing work for them at the time, including on the SBBC itself, and asked what it meant. They said it referred to the selection of a small number of barrels for a bottling batch. There was never a specific number. ... The reality is that "small batch" means whatever the producer who puts those words on a label wants it to mean, or nothing at all. It means somebody thought the product would sell better if it had the words "small batch" on it."

Gillmang "I agree with everything people have said and would only add, that "batch distillation" has another, narrower meaning of pot still vs. continuous (column) still operation."

http://www.bourbonenthusiast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3901

I love the last bit about how small batch implies batched pot still distillation - in the face of the reality that most bourbon is run continuously on column stills. The term is vague, and perhaps a bit misleading - but we all understand the gist. Some barrel averaging is happening, but also some deliberate barrel selection.

I'm fascinated by the issue of barrel averaging versus single cask in a broader and almost philosophical sense. In astronomy and photography, image stacking is a powerful tool that reveals hidden details by taking many average images and assembling them together to get a whole greater than the sum of its parts as brief moments of clear seeing accumulate. Digitally averaged faces appear more attractive than the average individual's face in studies of what people find attractive in ways that are a bit mysterious but have to do with the allure of perfect medians and the averaging out of individual's flaws. In the whisky world barrel averaging and blending is done on a variety of levels for a variety of reasons. Averaging lends uniformity which yields consistency - a sterling goal for branding. No one wants a branded labelled product to vary; sometimes good, sometimes less so. Different colors, variations in flavor from batch to batch are reminders of hand craft - stigmatized as backward and amateurish in the rise of an industrial economy that promised products with consistency and interchangeability. In this context, big Canadian whisky distilleries, for example, will dump upwards of 50,000 liters in specially made giant marrying tuns to conquer batch variations and make a spot on consistent product.

But, while averaged faces trump the average individual' face in attractiveness studies, real humans are individuals with asymmetries and defects that mark actual phenotypes and the signs of a life lived. Truly attractive people mix classic beauty and these marks of individuality and this goes for casks of whisky too. The independent bottlers live for single cask offerings with something distinctive. An IB's reputation stands on it's ability to pick winning casks. In the bourbon world, since Blanton's, single cask offerings signify 'special hand picked casks'. Single barrel offerings have batch variation to be sure - but represent, generally speaking, the best the distillery has to offer. "Small Batch" is meant to indicate an intermediate level of quality between single barrel and cheap, younger, massed offerings. Indeed, that is how most of them are priced. The question for me in this head to head tasting (which took place on a plane coming back from my Dad's) is whether the beauty of averaging is shining here - or whether the step down in barrel quality is apparent.

Which leads us to tasting these three:

Four Roses Small Batch 45% abv

A vatting of four of the ten mash/yeast combination recipes: OBSO, OBSK, OESO, and OESK
I confess the desire was stimulated by glowing reviews for the 2012 Limited Edition version:
http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2012/10/four-roses-small-batch-limited-edition.html
http://www.scotchandicecream.com/2012/11/10/overhyped-underrated/
http://sourmashmanifesto.com/2013/01/20/review-four-roses-limited-edition-small-batch-bourbon-2012/
http://sipology.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/four-roses-limited-edition-small-batch-2012/


Well - this is the plain jane regular edition (for less than 1/3rd the price). This has been on my list for a long time ever since Paul Pacult gave it strong marks. I didn't need "the best bourbon you ever tasted" in my father's cabinet. Just a pretty good one:

Color: light golden amber

Nose: gentle acetone, floral notes of roses and daisies. Beneath this sweet and gentle corn ester quality lives the classic aromas of bourbon which mixes honeyed orange pith, stewed peach, apricot and musk. Deeper, there is gentle char. On the whole, pleasant but light.

Lightly honeyed apricot citrus caramel sweet on entry, with plenty of spirity bite. There some floral esters and solventy sweet as the midpalate expands with sandalwood and peppery herbal spice. There are plenty of herbal rye flavors from the high-rye mash bill components and a good measure of the fruity estery notes of the high corn mash bill component. The turn to the finish sees the effusive apricot-floral meets herbal spice turn to licorice bitters with a faint malty glow. There not a lot of oak in the back end and the finish is rather gentle and a tad brief.

It's all the flavors I love from the bigger Four Roses expressions, but with less density of flavor and more spirit heat. It comes off as a younger and less august version of Four Roses Single Barrel. Nice - and not a hardship to sip by any means, but not a grand slam when the Single Barrel is about $9 more. (The small batch is $26 at Shopper's Vineyard and Single Barrel is $37) Maybe the $9 will be worth it for you - but not for me. At the $26 price point I prefer Elijah Craig 12. But I grant this is quite competitive.

***

Michter's Small Batch Unblended American Whisky US1 41.7% Batch 4J3

I've had some lovely single cask Michter's - particularly the rye. But I had been meaning to try this less expensive bourbon (although it's the most expensive of this trio). Full disclosure, I've been a bit sore at Michter's for using the name of the venerable distillery without actually being a distillery at all - a topic treated at some length in Chuck Cowdery's excellent and highly recommended book The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste. But I'll try to keep these feelings on the shelf and just focus on the contents of the glass. There are, somewhat confusingly, two "US-1" whiskies at the same roughly $43 price point: a white labelled "Bourbon" and this blue labelled "American Whisky". The difference is that this isn't legally bourbon because it was aged in, at least partially, used barrels, rather than just new. Given Scotch's extensive use of ex-Bourbon barrels with excellent results I have no bone to pick with this - just curiousity.


Color: Medium reddish amber

Nose: Solventy pine scented vegetal oaky perfumed. An odd skunky note I have come to associate with small barrel matured craft whisky. Underneath a pointed sweetness melding into corm peach citrus bourbon goodness. Fruity, skunky, oaky. An interesting nose.

Sweet, with prickly heat and a paradoxical soft water feel on the tongue. Oaky with a sawn lumber aspect reinforces the craft small barrel feel. Minty at the turn with a nice floral solventy aspect carrying through. This is nice whisky but comes off as s little young, a bit dilute, and perhaps has something done to enhance wood influence. Yet, bottom line, an interesting sippable bourbon that holds my interest and is certainly enjoyable drinking neat.

***

$43 at Shopper's Vineyard. I've noticed this powerful kiln-dried wood flavor before in some craft spirits. I wonder if Michter's is re-barreling vattings of mixed barrels back into their empties and then aging for a bit to up the wood influence. I have no idea, but the flavor profile gave me that impression.

Larceny KSBW 46%

John E. Fitzgerald est.1870
Very Special Small Batch

Cowdery praises the John Fitzgerald story for actually being true (unlike a lot of bourbon marketing tales). My issue with it is that nothing about Fitzgerald being a good judge of cask quality has anything at all to do with this particular whiskey. But it does put out the impression that there is barrel selection of some time going on. And maybe that's so.

Color: Medium Amber

Nose: Brown sugar, honey toffee corn mash oak. Citrus ester floral and light solvent. Very nice nose. A few drops of water amp the fruity notes (apricot, peach) and hints of cinnamon and mineral dust. Juicy. Complex. Interesting.

Powdered sugar - cane & corn. Flowery. Then a vegetal aspect of spicy herbals that reads of rye - but clearly isn't. The herbals dominate in the finish, which has aspects of herbal bitters. Solid tasty bourbon.

A drop of water softens the attack but sweetens the whole presentation and adds a whiff of cinnamon red hots while keeping the herbal finish. Very nice. This was all perfume and candy and spice. I was instantly smitten. A find! $33 a bottle locally (NYC). Maybe it really is a "very special" small batch.

****

I'm not a "wheater" guy normally - particularly inexpensive wheaters. But in this tasting, the Larceny won hands down. On the whole, however, this group isn't overly impressive. Knob Creek remains my favorite small batch.

Four Roses Single Barrel 17 OBSV distillery-only issue: the brutal blind.

The intellectual, analytical, and brilliant computer geek, whisky geek, creative hooch scientist and blogger Tim Read, the creator of the blog Scotch & Ice Cream challenged me last month with a blind bourbon to taste and try to identify.  It was labeled, simply "Bourbon 55.3%"

Granted, that's a huge clue.  But searching 55.3% abv bourbons yields next to nothing.  There just aren't any regularly distributed bourbons at that strength at all - at least according to Google.  I decided to let my palate do the walking:

Tim's Blind Bourbon 55.3% abv

Color:  dark coppery amber bronze: a rich and lovely hue.  Look at the metal copper and pumpkin orange when the light of the sun shines through it:

Tim's blind bourbon is a glory of copper metal by the rails

Nose:  a soft rich bourbon nose redolent of citrus, cherry, peach, golden tobacco, and musky toffee with an august and regal acetone glow and a spicy edge to the fruit mustiness.

Entry: Sweet and fruity with black licorice then suddenly peppery.  The mid palate turns dry and bold with Virginia tobacco at the expansion & turn. There are more fruits: jujube on the finish. What a wonderful balance between fruit and heat.  Loads of black pepper.  The turn to the finish sees the black pepper maintain its burn and oak emerge, along with a measure of char and creosote.

Adding a drop of water puts orange & orange blossoms in the nose after a few minutes. Big soft august sweet entry with cherry citrus. Then a tobacco laden mid with black licorice.  Finally, gentle oak char and oak, but not a heavily wooded finish.  This is more cracked black pepper and more amazing blond Virginia tobacco than I have ever had in a spirit.  I've heard these words used to describe Bourbon, but I have never tasted them bold, detailed, and up front like this before and I LIKED IT!

I tweeted my tasting notes to Tim:

 Then, I made two guesses:

 

Four Roses 100th Anniversary & Wild Turkey Kentucky Legend - neither of which I had tried, but both had the high rye mash bill I was tasting and they both had the right proof.  However, I couldn't bear for it to end so I tweeted:

Tim replied "how could I know if it was Four Roses given that they have ten different mash bills with widely divergent flavor profiles.  I agreed. (I wrote about the ten mash bills in this post).

A day passed and I returned to the blind but found myself befuddled and confused.  I forgot about my high-rye conclusion and got stuck on the idea that maybe Tim was trying to psych me out with the new Pappy 15 - which supposedly tastes more spicy than usual wheaters.  Never mind it's the wrong proof... I tweeted:

Then I floundered, suggested the Pappy hypothesis without making a definite guess, then ended weak.:

Note - Tim corrected this to 17 years a little bit later.

First - a couple of lessons for me about blind tasting: 1) Trust your instincts and your first impressions.  2) Don't listen to the voice telling you it might be a trick. The one psyching out is yourself.  How close had I come in my first guesses?  Well Four Roses 100th Anniversary is a 17 year old single barrel bourbon with the mash bill OBSV.  And Tim's blind?  Same exact story: a 17 year old single barrel bourbon from Four Roses with the mash bill OBSV.  This particular one is a distillery-only offering.  Tim wrote up a post about it with tasting notes and the conclusion:


"Quality-wise, I have to say that this particular barrel (78-30, Warehouse QS), honestly stands shoulder to shoulder with other highly regarded bourbons like those found in the Buffalo Trace Anniversary Collection; Pappy Van Winkle, or the Parker’s Heritage collection. Honestly, I think if Four Roses could find the right push for this one, they could release these in limited quantities to a broader market and have a serious contender for the Van Winkles of the world, which are becoming a chore to find anymore."
http://www.scotchandicecream.com/2012/07/06/four-roses-obsv-part-two-extra-aged-bourbon/

I find myself substantially in agreement.  This is a superb bourbon, with a delicious, strong, and unusual flavor profile.  It drinks younger than its advanced age, but achieves something unique.  Could Four Roses make this a regular expression?  I have no idea - but it clearly would be a popular issue.  Thanks so much, Tim for giving me a taste of something unusual and for taking me on a wild ride!

Note:  This is the 3rd single barrel expression from Four Roses I've formally reviewed on this blog.  The other two are:
1) The standard 50 % abv OBSV:
http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/04/four-roses-single-barrel-100-proof.html
2) A Park Avenue Liquors exclusive 53.6% OBSQ:
http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/02/four-roses-single-barrel-is.html

Four Roses Single Barrel 100 proof "standard edition" lives up to its kin

Some of the finest bourbons I have ever had the pleasure to taste were examples of Four Roses Single Barrel.  Paul Pacult poured a Four Roses single barrel selection at an event called "The 10 Greatest Spirits in the World" back in 2008. It was, specifically Warehouse CS, barrel #48-SP.  To say it was a highlight experience would be putting it mildly.   Later I acquired a single barrel bottle from barrel 22-1B, warehouse BN, bottled at 53.6% using recipe OBSQ which was a single barrel limited edition selection for Park Avenue Liquors.  I gave it 5 stars in my review and called it "cognac-like".   A couple of weeks ago at Whiskey Live NY I had the opportunity to try the Limited Edition 2012 Single Cask, recipe OESK, 52.5% abv. (briefly mentioned in this post).  This one might be the best of all of them.  However, when you look in most liquor stores, the Four Roses Single Barrel offering you'll find is a much less expensive lower proof (50% abv) version with a bottle that has a less shiny label and a leather-looking strap at the neck.  This version costs a lot less; $31.99 at Shopper's Vineyard currently.  The others cost more - often multiples of that.  Is this "standard edition" of a piece with the amazing ones?  They all have the pyramidal trapezoid bottle; but do they share the ability to wow? 

To see I got one of those Shopper's Vineyard bottles, specifically Warehouse QN Barrel 60-1E 50% abv.  I e-mailed Four Roses and asked "what recipe mash bill and yeast this barrel used. OBSV?"
Brent Elliott of Four Roses replied: "By your mention of the product being 50% alc./vol., I was 99% sure it was our standard SB recipe (because that is always bottled at 100 proof), but to be sure I checked our records and indeed it is our SB recipe OBSV. That is the high rye mashbill with our “delicate fruit” yeast."  (I describe the Four Roses mash bill and yeast variety code in this post.)  Remember that this is a single barrel offering and there will be differences between barrels.  What we're looking for is a pattern of excellence.  Here are the tasting notes:

Color: light copper bronze reddish color

Nose: first and foremost sandalwood perfume, then bitter citrus, peach, caramel and some spicy green herbal notes like thyme flowers or oregano blooms. There is also some rich sweet bacon deep in the back. This is a big perfumed fragrant and appetizing nose. I could sniff this for hours... (in fact, that's exactly what I'm doing).

Entry is sweet like powdered demerara. The expansion is peppery, bold, herbal, juicy with orange marmalade and canned peaches and effusively wooded in the best and most fragrant way. The sandalwood essence carries directly from the nose, through the sweet entry into the powerfully wooded midpalate and out into the long glorious and drying finish with gentle tannins and echoes of charred oak. The signature of the high rye mash bill is all over, from the vibrancy and sweetness in the nose to the effervescent fizzy spice and big kick in the midpalate and the sweet herbal notes all over.

This is a triumphant American sipping bourbon.

*****

I know it seems like I've been giving every bourbon five stars lately.  Am I just easy on bourbon, or am I just very choosy in selecting which bourbons to review?  My last review was for Rock Hill Farms, another high rye mash bill bourbon.  Rock Hill is more dry and austere - a bit more refined and noble.  Four Roses 100 proof Single Barrel is more juicy, fruity and full - but no less satisfying.  So, given that the Four Roses is 1/3 less expensive is Rock Hill worth it?  Yes.  What about those more expensive limited edition Four Roses single barrel selections?  Are they worth the extra money?  Yes.  Each of these items has its own unique mix of attributes.  They all provide tremendous enjoyment all offer excellent value - especially compared to other spirits such as Scotch, Irish, Canadian, and Cognac.  Is the "standard edition" Four Roses Single Barrel 100 proof an awesome value - absolutely.  It is a landmark product in my opinion in the value for the money equation.  The other standout value in bourbons is Elijah Craig 12.  EC12 is almost 1/3rd again less expensive than Four Roses Single Barrel 100 proof.  It's a different animal, however, with it's high corn mash bill and longer barrel aging.  It's softer, fruitier, more dank and dark, and more densely wooded.  The Four Roses Single Barrel has more punch and zest and more herbal notes because of the rye.  They share the wonderful sandalwood perfume.  Do what I did and get both.  They are both permanent additions to my cabinet and a great gift to bring to others.

Whisky Live New York 4/11/12

My first Whisky Live. Sadly I had to work late and arrived, frazzled, after 8. I was immediately soothed. Even though I was barely able to cover 1/3 of the floor I had peak experiences, fascinating conversations and drank plenty of amazing and exciting whisky and cognac. Here are the highlights:

Killer Frapin Cognacs

Larry Neuringer of Palm Bay

Frapin Cognac. My first sight on walking into the room was Frapin Cognac. All my favorites were on display and then two high end offerings, the VIP XO, and the Extra Grand Champagne, that I had been dreaming of trying - but never would have dreamed would be there. The VIP XO amped up the strengths of the Chateau Fontpinot XO with an even more effusive floral nose, august noble midpalate bursting with crystalized bitter orange, jasmine blooms, leather and rancio, and a long killer finish with walnut skins, luxury oak and bliss. The Extra Grand Champagne (top of the line except for the crazy kilobuck crystal decanter job) has been a dream tasting of mine ever since Paul Pacult put it in the 2011 hall of fame - see #5 on the page: http://www.spiritjournal.com/tastenote.htm Well - blow me down, Larry Neuringer of Frapin's US distributer, Palm Bay International generously poured me one.  It was sublime - taking the VIP XO's flavor profile even further into the stratosphere.  I took a 3cl sample so I'll be doing a full review in the weeks to come.  5cl samples are going for $80 on Ebay, so this actually just about paid for the event cost right there in the first 10 minutes!  I was LOVING IT.

Bastille 1789 Cognac Malt Whisky

Palm Bay also distributes an exciting new barley malt and wheat whisky from Cognac called Bastille 1789.  Distilled in alembic stills in the Cognac fashion and then aged in casks made from French Limousine oak, cherry and acacia woods, the flavor profile is startling different.  The nose is spiced with South Asian notes of curry, paprika, maybe some ginger.  The entry is unexpectedly sweet, then followed by a lean and drying midpalate that is elegant and refined and an unexpected sweet and herbal effusion of woods on the finish.  I took a sample of this as well and am excited to write a full critical review of this as well in the weeks to come.

Al Young + Four Roses 2012 Single Cask

Four Roses' Al Young was there pouring the astonishing new Four Roses 2012 Single Cask.  This is the higher corn mashbill recipe OESK, 52.5% abv.  The nose was rich and huge and refined with a profusion of floral notes and big fruits.  The entry big and round and glorious.  The midpalate elegant, strong, refined and richly cognac-like with citrus and herbs.  Lovely drying tannins on the finish.  This is clearly one for the ages.  Jim Rutledge shows that Four Roses is still pushing the art form of Bourbon to new heights.  This is a bourbon that, tasted immediately after the Frapin Extra Grand Champagne shows that American Bourbon is a spirit that, at its highest levels, clearly rivals the very best of the world's spirits.  Hats off to Rutledge and the Four Roses crew.  I'm seriously buying this one.

Balcones' Chip Tate

Balcones - Having tasted and reviewed Balcones Brimstone I was intrigued by the clearly high level of crafting, but wasn't totally convinced.  Brimstone is bold and original - but it is out there as a flavor profile.  I wasted no time in parking myself in front of master distiller Chip Tate and tasting the whole line.  It was, literally, a conversion experience.  Chip poured and explained and guided me through the line.

Texas Whiskey - a malt whisky - had eucalyptus scents in the rich wooded nose; rich sweet malt honeyed entry and a lovely dusty oak finish with a feel of the Texas terroir.  I was, frankly wonderfully surprised and pleased by the refined and delicious presentation.  This is the best US craft malt whiskey I've yet tried.

Rumble  - a fascinating distilled product made from sugar and figs (so it's part rum and park eau de vie).  Blackberries, wine, and meade.  Lovely.

"Magical" Rumble Cask Reserve

Rumble cask reserve (cask strength).  OK - here is where the wheels of my resistance fell off.  This is an astounding product with the grace, refinement, and sheer deliciousness of the best rums I've tried - but it's not a rum.  This is one of those magical spirits that rival the top spirits in a range of categories - rum, cognac, eau de vie etc... I must get a sample for review.  (out of bottles)


Baby Blue and True Blue - blue corn 100% corn mashbill corn whiskeys.  Baby Blue is rich and sweet with a young vigor.  True Blue, the cask strength expression is another of those refined landmark products that rivals the great spirits of the world.  I took a sample of this for a full formal review in the next few weeks.  True Blue was astounding.  I begin to fall head over heels.  But Chip wasn't finished yet.  He poured me a parting shot of a rare limited edition of  Balcones Brimstone called Barrel 1200, or "the burned barrel".  It was huge.  The nose took Brimstone's sweet mequite brushfire notes to another level of high resolution fidelity and enormous terroir.  On the palate it was titanic, and yet elegant and refined.  Ultimately astounding.

There were other highlights too and many more drams: Old Pulteney, Glenfiddich.  I met David Allardice of William Grant & Sons.  We had a dram of Glenfiddich 15 Solera.  I took a sample for future review.  The healing continues and I'm beginning to understand and come to grips with the Glenfiddich floral honeysuckle honeydew melon Speyside flavor profile.  I had a wonderful interlude with Amrut, including tasting most of the line including Intermediate Sherry and the new release, Kadhambam - aged sequentially in bourbon, sherry, brandy, and rum casks.  Gal wrote a detailed review of it in Whisky Israel.

An important mention.  George Manska was evangelizing and selling The NEAT glass.  The Scotch Noob reviewed the NEAT glass last week.  I picked one up and plan to corroborate his work (and add the Reidel scotch glass into the mix) in a review in the near future.

My biggest regrets were that I missed the following tables because of short time:
Glenmorangie / Ardbeg
Breckinridge
Corsair
Smooth Ambler

All in all, a night to remember and treasure.  I can't wait for the next one.  I learned a lot.  Come early, stay light, carry lots of empties!  A magical room where everyone is happy and everyone you see is pouring for you!

Four Roses Single Barrel is an extraordinary voyage. Among the very finest bourbons

Four Roses distillery is currently producing some of the best and most exciting bourbons in America, which may be news to you because that's a relatively recent development. Four Roses was a venerable 19th century brand and a top seller in the US until mid-century when then current owner Seagrams decided to export the good stuff to Europe and Asia and debase the brand by only selling low end blends in the US. That's how it was for almost 50 years. It wasn't until 1995 when master distiller Jim Rutledge came (and ownership changed a couple of times) that the brand became something good again. And not just good; extraordinary.

Four Roses makes a range of special limited releases as well as their standing specialties. Like a lot of high end bourbon distillers, they also make a single barrel version that varies from cask to cask. But Four Roses takes it a monumental level further by actually varying the recipe used to produce the bourbon - with startling different results. The ten different recipes Four Roses uses are described as followed on their web site:
From the Four Roses web site: "Four Roses is the only Bourbon distillery that combines five proprietary yeast strains with two separate mashbills to produce 10 distinct and handcrafted Bourbon recipes, each with its own unique character, spiciness and rich fruity flavors."
...
"What the letter designations mean for the 10 recipes:

O = Designates produced at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY.
E = The mashbill that is 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley.
B = The mashbill that is 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley.
S = Designates straight whiskey distillation.
V/K/O/Q/F = Yeast strain used to create flavor characteristics.

And here are the 10 recipes - along with the descriptions of flavor (and some have listings of the releases that featured that recipe:

OBSV - Delicate Fruit, Spicy, Creamy - Four Roses Single Barrel - 100, The Mariage Collection 2008 Release, Limited Edition 2010 Barrel Strength Bourbon
OBSK - Rich in Spiciness, Full Body - Small Batch, 120th Anniversary
OBSO - Slightly Fruity, Spicy, Medium Body - Four Roses Small Batch
OBSQ - Floral (Rose Petal), Spicy, Medium Body - Limited Edition 2011 Barrel Strength
OBSF - Mint, Fruity, Spicy, Full Body
OESV - Delicate Fruit, Fresh, Creamy
OESK - Spicy, Full Body - Four Roses Small Batch, The Mariage Collection 2008 Release
OESO - Fruity (Red Berries), Medium Body - 40th Anniversary Barrel Strength Bourbon, Four Roses Small Batch
OESQ - Floral, Banana, Fresh, Medium Body - 2009 Limited Edition Barrel Strength Bourbon
OESF - Mint, Fruity, Full Body
....

In this review I'm tasting a single barrel bottle from barrel 22-1B, warehouse BN, bottled at 53.6% using recipe OBSQ.  It's a "Private Selection" bottle - not the regular lower cost expression.  The regular expression is also excellent, but was somewhat different in flavor profile.  The private selection has a label that says "Private Selection" on the neck.  The regular version has a leather looking tag around the neck.

In the glass it's orangy copper new penny amber colored. The nose is sweet with honey, clover flower and the tang of grape noble rot (rancio in the cognac world). With more time more classicly bourbon notes of toffee and leather creep in

First entry is sugar beets with a rush of vinous rancio, white raisins, sherry notes. Mouth feel is silky with good but not thick syrup factor. Spicy around edge of tongue - 107.2 proof showing up. Herbal notes proliferate in the transition to the finish: cilantro and parsley... Maybe some ivy. As the glow fades the oak tannins join the medicinal herbal edge of bitterness and the honey and the sherry-cognac rancio ends up feeling almost dry. This is a sophisticated and elegant flavor profile that feels almost more like a wood aged European eau de vie than a Kentucky bourbon but inhaling as the long finish fades brings up echoes of burnt sugar, leather and tobacco conjured out the fading viney and herbal flavors so I know this is Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey. Just bourbon of a higher and more refined sort.

This bourbon is so good, so different, so unique, I can't wait to try other single barrel expressions. I'll be looking out for them.


*****

http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Bourbon-Single-Barrel-750ML/dp/B001TT1UIW/ref=cm_pdp_rev_itm_title_1