K&L Wines July 2023 Bourbon Selection
Distillery: Four Roses.
Region: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.
ABV: 52.4%.
Age: 10 Years, 2 Months.
Cask type: New Charred Oak. Barrel #61-1I.
Price: $100.
Color: 1.7, Burnt Umber. Natural Color. No chill filtration.
Tasting Notes
Tasted neat in a Glencairn with 15+ minutes of rest. Dilution was added for the second half of the tasting with an additional rest of upwards of an hour. This review encompasses my initial impression to the final glass.
Nose: Warming Christmas spices, molasses, and a healthy dose of oak. Stewed cherry compote with clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Brown sugar bubbling under the lattice of a piping hot apple pie. Intense Oak notes with vanilla and tobacco. Adding a touch of water allows some citric acid to peek out from behind the oak. An herbal element also emerges with sage leaves, sumac, coriander seeds, and cumin. A savory side to the oak spices.
Palate: Four Roses certainly knows their yeast strain profiles as the palate is full of tannic oak notes and earthy spices. Without dilution, this is very plain. Burnt pie crust, bitter apple peels, and cinnamon spices. The cereals come through as starchy corn flour or masa. With dilution, there are brûléed sugar flavors, dried foliage, and charcoal. There’s this whole orchard vibe to it. Tree, blossom, fruit, and all.
Finish: Full range of flavors with this barrel as the finish turns medicinal. Cherry, or “berry”, flavored throat lozenges. Herbescent, building on this health-conscious herbal flavor profile. Dilution again was preferred as the citrus notes came out. Walnut bitters and earthy pecan pie. Heavily charred new oak notes overpower other flavors.
Overall
The most straightforward summary of this single barrel is simply, a barrel-aged Old Fashioned with a couple of extra dashes of bitters. For a rather interesting and complex nose, it lacks balance on both the palate and finish for me. There was promise after adding water, but ultimately, too much to make up for with this selection.
Final Score: 81
