4 Roses Single Barrel 2011 Limited Edition

[bad_scientist]

Oh, good call on the proof - mine's 56.5%.

I'm having trouble with mine. I liked it once, I mean really really liked it, but every other time I haven't been able to stomach it. I must not have the palate for it because it's just like bitter rubbing alcohol to me. Oh well.

[StraightNoChaser]

Lucky! Mine is only 54%

[Chimay]

http://www.fourroses.us/products/limited_edition

my bottle says 61.4% this disagrees with what the website says.

[bad_scientist]

http://www.fourroses.us/products/limited_edition

my bottle says 61.4% this disagrees with what the website says.

I'm guessing they just bottled it at whatever proof it came out of the barrel at. Funny that there's such a range of proofs for this bottling! The barrels must have been really different.

[callmeox]

I'm guessing they just bottled it at whatever proof it came out of the barrel at. Funny that there's such a range of proofs for this bottling! The barrels must have been really different.

The FRSBLE typically are a wide range of proofs. That's one of the beauties of single barrel bottlings.

[White Dog]

I'm guessing they just bottled it at whatever proof it came out of the barrel at. Funny that there's such a range of proofs for this bottling! The barrels must have been really different.

That's why it's called 'cask strength.'

[bad_scientist]

That's why it's called 'cask strength.'

Yes, well, that was a sort of obvious post I made. Still, the big difference in proofs makes me wonder how close in profile these various barrels are.

[SMOWK]

My two cents is that you just don't like Four Roses. I feel the same way.

[Tucker]

QN 17-2O.

This is easily my least favorite of the 4R singles. Lots of alcohol, little flavor.

[DreamTheater]

Sorry, took the weekend off from the internet.

First, to answer some of the questions, my bottle says "57.0% Alc/Warehouse QN/17-3J Barrel No."

So in other news - I went to the store and bought that bottle of Single Barrel from 4R and found it to be delicious. One of the better bourbons for under $35.

I also had a friend whose palate I trust, try the bottle in question. He was adamant that there was something awry with it as well.

We shall see. Brent will, likely yet this month, try this bottle of mine. We'll see what he says.

[nivto]

First, to answer some of the questions, my bottle says "57.0% Alc/Warehouse QN/17-3J Barrel No."

[OscarV]

I have been thru 2 bottles of the 4R1B 2011 LE.

Loved both of them, they are very unique.

[SMOWK]

So in other news - I went to the store and bought that bottle of Single Barrel from 4R and found it to be delicious. One of the better bourbons for under $35.

Damn, thought I had found a friend....:cool:

[DreamTheater]

^Ha. Sorry. I'm kind of a "easy please" when it comes to bourbon. Scotch I get pretty picky (things with a strong sherry finish taste like cherry cough syrup to me - which is to say 'shitty') but with Bourbon...it takes little.

Ergo why I am going to viciously stick to my guns that this bottle is messed up. If someone lives in Omaha and wants to call me out on it, send me a PM.

[sku]

Dream Theater, the sample of this I tried, I also found terrible with many of the attributes you describe. I'm a FR fan and have had many of their single barrels, but there was something wrong with this one. Cowdery predicted that it would be love it or hate it, and it may of course be that some barrels are more polarizing than others.

I thought something was off too so asked my friend who gave it to me for another sample (because he really liked it) and it tasted the same.

[DreamTheater]

Fascinating that you had the same experience. I am concerned then - that this is simply how the bourbon tastes.

I spoke to Brent again this morning and he was as friendly and helpful as always. He is arranging for me to get a different bottle - a bottle of the Small Batch Limited Edition - and I am going to send my bottle down to him.

As a quick aside - it is ridiculous all the hoops he is having to jump through because of the laws surrounding interstate sale/exchange/etc of alcohol. You would swear that we were dealing in radioactive items instead of liquor. Ahh...the legal system...I digress.

Brent will then try the bottle I have. Given that others here are so polarized - some seem fanatically in love with this thing whereas a number of us think it tastes of isopropyl makes me wonder what the true correct answer is. Were some barrels just crap for quality? If so - how in the hell did they leave the distillery?

All I can say is that even if an error was made, my faith in 4R has not been shaken but that something slipped through the cracks. If indeed my bottle is just bad then that is absolutely nobody's fault.

Either way, 4R asked no questions and is making everything right. I'll be continuing to buy from them.

[StraightNoChaser]

Glad they are taking care of you. Interested to hear what Brent has to say about the bottle you send him.

[jburlowski]

This is really good whiskey but clearly not for everybody. Based on your severe reaction, it sounds like you got a corked bottle.

For everyone else: if you are OK with your comfort zone being expanded (in a good way) grab this. If not, leave it for the rest of us.

[bad_scientist]

For everyone else: if you are OK with your comfort zone being expanded (in a good way) grab this. If not, leave it for the rest of us.

You've got to be kidding. First, it might well be that an entire barrel sucks. However, I doubt that, since at least in one case, two people had different reactions to the same bottle, and in my case, I really enjoyed it once or twice. It's more likely that it has NOTHING to do with how "expanded" our comfort zones are. What if our palates are more sensitive to alcohols other than ethanol? It's like Laphroaig scotch - for some, it's the best whisky in the world, while others can't handle it because of the iodine taste. They just don't much like iodine. Are their comfort zones too narrow for you, too? This is just ridiculous.

Edit: whiskey enjoyment is subjective! What do you do when someone likes a bourbon that you don't? Do you look deep inside yourself and conclude that your comfort zone is too narrow? Or do you just think it's not for you? Or do you put that person down?

[Josh]

Can we all just calm down and enjoy whiskey together? Please? Life has enough drama as it is.

[nivto]

You've got to be kidding. First, it might well be that an entire barrel sucks. However, I doubt that, since at least in one case, two people had different reactions to the same bottle, and in my case, I really enjoyed it once or twice. It's more likely that it has NOTHING to do with how "expanded" our comfort zones are. What if our palates are more sensitive to alcohols other than ethanol? It's like Laphroaig scotch - for some, it's the best whisky in the world, while others can't handle it because of the iodine taste. They just don't much like iodine. Are their comfort zones too narrow for you, too? This is just ridiculous.

Edit: whiskey enjoyment is subjective! What do you do when someone likes a bourbon that you don't? Do you look deep inside yourself and conclude that your comfort zone is too narrow? Or do you just think it's not for you? Or do you put that person down?

[bad_scientist]

Anyone can make a claim, when he/she likes a bourbon that someone else does not, that it's only a question of "expanding" that unfortunate person's palate. The choice of words, to me, had a negative connotation, but since the palate expansion "advice" was such a short comment, anything can be made of it. I'm sorry I responded so strongly.

Thanks, though - that was an excellent post. Personally, I'll not try OBSQ anymore. I've heard only good things about the OBSK, and I'm eager to try more Four Roses because the complexity of what I've had of theirs approaches the best scotches. Is OBSK more palatable for those with less expanded palates?

[nivto]

OBSK, imo, is an excellent recipe and very approachable. High rye and big spice. I've yet to taste an OBSK that I didn't enjoy, and have tasted several that I thought were exceptional. I've read/heard others comment that choosing a good OBSK is like shooting fish in a barrel, it's very consistent. Either way, I think it's definitely a stand out in the 4R lineup. I haven't had one open in awhile, but now that I'm talking about it I may need to change that! I'm also a huge fan of OBSV and OESO.

[birdman1099]

This thread reminded me of another "I must have gotten a bad bottle/ no your pallate sucks..." thread.....

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12877&highlight=2009+ofbb

[sku]

It's pretty futile to try to determine why one person liked something and another didn't. There are people whose palates I greatly respect who have very different opinions than I do about various whiskeys. All of us have taste biases and sensitivities (for instance, I'm hypersensitive to bitterness and sulphur; I dislike floral and overly perfumed whisky even when done well, but I have a high tolerance for peat and oak). And if you've ever done a PTC strip taste test, you know that genetics actually determines a certain amount of what we taste (and yes, those things taste bitter to me).

Even given that, though, the rather extreme reactions to this 4R is interesting. I have had at least one other OBSQ, and while I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either.

Given that some of my notes were the same as DreamTheaters but that a friend of mine, with a very good palate, liked the whiskey from the same bottle I had, I'm not willing to chalk this up to either cork rot or DreamTheater and I simply having lousy palates (not that anyone was suggesting that).

My guess is that there is something in this whiskey (or maybe just one barrel of it) that some people have a particular sensitivity to and is an immediate turn off for them.