Review #143 - Four Roses Small Batch
One of the more affordable Four Roses bourbons - this sits between their entry level 'yellow label' bourbon and their slightly pricier Single Barrel and Small Batch Select offerings. This is a mix of four of the Four Roses recipes: OBSK, OBSO, OESK, and OESO. Based on the tasting notes from their website, we'll be looking at a combination of tasting notes including: rye spice, rich fruit, baking spices, and some vanilla.
This is presented at 45% ABV, and it's chill-filtered, but we're hoping there's still some mouthfeel left in the whisky. No statement about an age on the bottle, either, but their website gives an estimate of 6 to 7 years of maturation - that's at least a decent amount of time for this to develop some more complex flavors.
Four Roses Small Batch
USA - Bourbon
Price Paid: USD 30 (2020)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 28 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 45% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 2 years; bottles at 20% and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Slightly closed up, but eventually toasted walnuts and some spiced oak come forward. There's sweetness from caramel, before we transition to apples: red apple skins, some caramel-dipped apples. Around the glass, cinnamon can be found.
Palate: A medium-thin mouthfeel, with a mix a fruit and spice: it's slightly sharp at the front, almost 'shiny,' with citrus and wood tannins cutting through; then, stewed fruit and savory apple come in, along with warming baking spices of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Finish: Medium-short in length, with more citrus - orange this time. There's cinnamon and vanilla, balanced by more oak tannins, before an oatmeal aftertaste lingers.
Final Note: This is a bit on the reserved and mild side - the nose took a while to show much flavor, and the palate didn't deliver too much of a mouthfeel. It did have some nice apple and cinnamon spice flavors, but for us, it stopped there; not a ton of flavor development later on. Still, this is a $28 bottle of bourbon - it's pleasant enough and an easy sipper, making this a decent value pick.
Our Average Rating: 5.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 7.20
