I like Four Roses Bourbon. It has been a few years since I visited the Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky and they have expanded since I last visited. Since my friend Al Young passed, I have not had the excuse to visit the distillery, but I will try to get there this summer to see the expansion. It is a lovely distillery that makes very good Bourbon. They have ten different Bourbons that they distill and marry together to make different expressions of the Four Roses label. The small batch select is a marriage of six of their recipes. It is OBSV- delicate fruit and rye, OBSK- rye and baking spice, OBSF delicate rye and mint, OESV- delicate fruit and caramel, OESK- baking spice, and OESF- light grain and mint recipes. I picked up a bottle of this fine Bourbon a few weeks ago and Matt and I sat down and tasted it. Here are our tasting notes.
Four Roses Small Batch Select 2023
Proof: 104
Age: No Age Statement but it is aged six to seven years.
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla, baking spices, light fruit and floral notes, oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, cloves, stone fruits and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, wild berries, clove, ginger, honeysuckle, and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and apples and cinnamon come out in the flavor. Tasted with a pecan and milk chocolate and white pepper come forward.
- Matt: Caramel, tobacco, a hint of cardamom spice and oak wood. The dried cranberry brings out some cherries and vanilla. The pecan brought out brown sugar and enhanced the tobacco note.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak, spice and lingering wild berry. The dried cranberry made the finish longer with oak and cinnamon. The pecan made the finish long and dry with oak, pepper and lingering chocolate.
- Matt: Medium long with oak and caramel. The dried cranberry made the finish longer with oak, cardamom and a hint of citrus. The pecan made the finish long and dry with oak and tobacco.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a Rocky Patel Decades cigar. I think the vanilla and rich tobacco in the smoke would pair well with the Bourbon, but I also think the Bourbon would bring out some fruit notes in the smoke.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller