Four Roses Single Barrel OESK (Brookline Liquor Mart Pick)

Four Roses Single Barrel OESK (Brookline Liquor Mart Pick)

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whisky • american whiskey • bourbon

This is a single barrel pick of Four Roses, bottled at cask strength. Since it’s single barrel Four Roses, it’s a single Four Roses recipe, and this time it’s OESK. That means this is a lower (but still high) rye content than their usual B mashbill (20% instead of 35%), and it uses their K yeast, which according to them shows itself as “delicate fruit” (whatever the hell that means). This barrel was selected by Brookline Liquor Mart in Boston and bottled at an age of 10 years 7 months.

This is a blind review that was done in a set of 21 blind bourbon reviews, tasted in sets of 3 (on different days). None of the bourbons were revealed until all 21 were drunk. More information about this setup in the first review of the series. --- **Distiller:** Four Roses (Kirin) **ABV:** 54.1% **Age:** 10 years 7 months **Setting:** Blind, in a trio with Old Forester 1920 and Four Roses SmBLE 2017

Nose: Nuttiness, rye spice, yellow apple. Good depth. A wet cardboard funk hanging over it (I didn’t perceive this to be negative).
Palate: Medium to low proof, some citric acidity balanced by a nice sweetness
Finish: Finishes with citrus, some hazelnut, vanilla icecream, and a little heat. A small amount of astringency, but from the age notes I was getting on the nose surprisingly little.
Overall: I really liked this one too. A good amount of age and funk, it seems like it should be something a little beyond the budget range. I would be happy to pay $60-80 for this.
Guess: A bourbon with a little more age on it, but I can’t pick the distillery. I’m going to say between 100 and 110 proof, and over 10 years. Four Roses? I would have thought I’d pick out the Four Roses profile a little easier, but perhaps not.
Rank: 6
Reveal: One of the nice things about blind tastings is that rare occasion when they actually reinforce your non-blind opinion. Four Roses barrel picks are brilliant value for money, and it’s hard to go wrong with an OESK. This was a really enjoyable bourbon, and great value for money.