Bourbon Review: Four Roses Single Barrel Private Selection
Four Roses is probably my favorite American distillery. They make consistently fantastic bourbon that is readily available (and reasonably priced). Their regular bourbon lineup (in the US) consists of three products: their standard bourbon (referred to as “Yellow Label”), Small Batch, and Single Barrel. The Single Barrel is my favorite of the three, but where Four Roses really shines is with their Private Selection range, which are cask strength single barrels picked for/by a specific store.
Let’s take a step back. Four Roses is unique amongst bourbon makers in that they have 10 different bourbon recipes that they routinely make. The 10 recipes are based on different yeast strains and mash bills. Specifically Four Roses uses five different yeast strains (which are identified by letter—F, K, O, Q, and V) and two different mash bills (also identified by letter—B is the “high rye” mash bill of 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malted barley, and E is the “low rye” mash bill of 75% corn, 20% rye, and 5% malted barley). All 10 recipes have a four digit identification code, where the first letter is a constant O, the second letter is the mash bill (B or E), the third letter is a constant S, and the fourth letter is the yeast strain (F, K, O, Q, or V). So a recipe labeled OBSV would be a “high rye” mash bill using the V yeast strain. All of this information is readily available on the Four Roses website (in much more detail than I have provided). It’s worth a visit.
When you buy a bottle of Four Roses Private Selection, the bourbon recipe is clearly labeled on the bottle, so you know which of the 10 recipes you are getting. Fans of Four Roses often try to find a bottle of each of the 10 recipes. Over the past several years, I have obtained 7 of the 10 recipes, although at this point most of those bottles are nearly empty. I’m hoping I will eventually have all 10 so that I can throw a Four Roses 10 recipes tasting party (sounds like fun, right?).
This review is specifically of one of the most recent bottles of Four Roses Private Selection I’ve purchased—an OBSV recipe barrel, aged 8 years and 4 months, and bottled for Red Dog Wine and Spirits in Franklin, TN. Red Dog is one of my favorite bottle shops in Middle Tennessee, and they often have excellent store select single barrel offerings from numerous distilleries. If you live in the Nashville area and are a fan of bourbon, scotch, and/or beer, pay them a visit sometime. My understanding from the staff at Red Dog is that this barrel was actually picked by Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott himself and then offered to the store. They wisely purchased it.
Even though you may not be able to find this particular Private Selection bottling (unless you’re in Middle Tennessee), if you live in the US, you can probably find a Private Selection bottling at a good liquor store near you. They are almost always good and often great (I did have one Private Selection a few years ago that was a dud, but that is the exception). I personally tend to prefer the K yeast strain recipes, but I’ve had excellent bottles of several other recipes as well. And if you ever have the opportunity to visit the distillery itself, I highly recommend doing so. I’ve visited quite a few distilleries in Kentucky and Tennessee, and Four Roses was easily my favorite tour. The Four Roses gift shop usually has a few bottles of Private Selection specifically selected for the gift store. These are often highly sought after bottles, and I can say that the bottle I bought when I visited was indeed the best bottle of Four Roses I’ve had (and one of the best bottles of bourbon I’ve had).
Alright, let’s get to some tasting notes. According to Four Roses, the OBSV recipe tends to be “Delicate Fruity (Pear, Apricot), Spicy, Creamy.” Let’s see if that’s true.
Four Roses Single Barrel Private Selection (OBSV)
Type: Bourbon
Region: Kentucky, USA
ABV: 60.6%
Nose: Big, oaky, and herbal. Dark and rich caramel. Vanilla. Chocolate covered cherries. Dark fruits. Cloves. Sweet mint. Sugar and spice. Freshly baked donuts.
Palate: Fruity with a surprising amount of lighter stone fruits, such as apricot. Floral. A fairly strong herbal essence (which can be toned down with a little water). Oak with a spicy tang. Mint. Sweet rye bread. Cloves. Cinnamon. Full and powerful.
Finish: Fruity oak lingers for quite a while. Rye spice. Mint. Unsweet cinnamon. The beginning of the finish is sweet, but it turns dry quite quickly.
Overall: Another very good bottle of Four Roses Private Selection. The herbal essence on the palate is a little stronger than I prefer, but otherwise this is excellent. Even though Four Roses says that the OBSV recipe tends to include lighter fruits like apricot, I was a little surprised to actually find it on the palate. I often find apricot notes in single malt scotch, but rarely in bourbon. And in case you think that I might be succumbing to the power of suggestion, please believe me when I say that I wrote down these tasting notes before I noticed that OBSV is said to include apricot (I swear).
I often drink cask strength bourbon neat, but this particular bottle does do well with a few drops of water added. Without water, the spicy herbal notes tend to drown out the sweeter and more interesting flavors found on the palate.
Even if you can’t get this specific bottle, I highly recommend keeping an eye out for a bottle of Four Roses Private Selection near you. It’s one of the best readily available bourbons out there.
Score: 90/100
Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.
