Jump to content

Which Four Roses expression should I buy?


enn
This topic has been inactive for at least 365 days, and is now closed. Please feel free to start a new thread on the subject! 

Recommended Posts

A good (and probably a bit older) selection of OBSF can be very dark and heavy, and some of the most complex and densely packed whiskey I've ever tasted. It's no slouch and to me not an "easy drinker", but it's definitely one to sit with and explore for a while. It loses the mint that plagues the younger selections and it's really become one of my favorites... and I agree, a poor selection of F yeast is not very good drinking whiskey and probably more suited for vatting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, why would anyone select a funky barrel? I guess I'm really wondering how those 'bad' barrels got into the selection program in the first place, since I understand how not-so-tasty bourbon can taste like ambrosia when imbibed after a previous palate-skewing tipple. For instance, I love tasting a pour of OO or OGD86 after a pour of fruity FRSB. The fruit just glides on into the next 2 or 3 pours and dances with the new rye partners.

Edited by MauiSon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Instead of starting a new thread for this, should I go out of my way to try to procure the 2013 limited edition?

I haven't seen a general consensus forming on it, but from the stats, age, and recipe, it looks like something I'd be way into.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Instead of starting a new thread for this, should I go out of my way to try to procure the 2013 limited edition?

I haven't seen a general consensus forming on it, but from the stats, age, and recipe, it looks like something I'd be way into.

I dont know if i would over pay for this years. I have not had any of the limiteds that were bad bourbons.

If you have a local store with a private barrel selection, start there for about $50 instead of $80 for the limited. I have purchased 5 different private barrel offerings from other retailers and are were good to very good bourbons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. I'd have to drive quite a ways to get this, and my folks will be heading to KY soon, so I'll probably just have them pick up something at one of the finer package stores in the area.

But know I'll be thinking/lusting over it while I nurse my bottle of Yellow Label.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They'll be driving from NE Indiana and hitting some if not all of the trail, so I suspect somewhere reasonably convenient. I'd definitely pass recommendations along.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Instead of starting a new thread for this, should I go out of my way to try to procure the 2013 limited edition?

I haven't seen a general consensus forming on it.

Always, Always, Always remember. .YMMV...only you will know what you like, and you won't know until you try it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They'll be driving from NE Indiana and hitting some if not all of the trail, so I suspect somewhere reasonably convenient. I'd definitely pass recommendations along.

***cheap plug to follow***

Our barrel selections from 4R will be in stock soon (possibly next week). OESF (10 yrs 11months old) 122.4 proof and OBSF (10yr 11mo) 117.1 proof. Just received this info on them today! We are in Elizabethtown, about 11 miles from beam and 20 miles from bardstown. Just off I65!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

***cheap plug to follow***

Our barrel selections from 4R will be in stock soon (possibly next week). OESF (10 yrs 11months old) 122.4 proof and OBSF (10yr 11mo) 117.1 proof. Just received this info on them today! We are in Elizabethtown, about 11 miles from beam and 20 miles from bardstown. Just off I65!

I may have missed earlier dialog, but what is the retail price expected to be?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree, a poor selection of F yeast is not very good drinking whiskey and probably more suited for vatting.

I had a disappointing bottle of OBSF from Binny's a few years ago. Wasn't very pleasant neat, but it really dressed up the standard SmB into something very, very tasty. I haven't revisited the SmB since that bottle, as I found it thin and astringent, and without the silky sweet caramel notes to balance it out without the OBSF added, but I have tasted some OBSF since that is super dark, brooding and rich with depth of flavor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Instead of starting a new thread for this, should I go out of my way to try to procure the 2013 limited edition?

I haven't seen a general consensus forming on it, but from the stats, age, and recipe, it looks like something I'd be way into.

I've only tasted from one bottle, but the bottle I have is fantastic - extreme in all directions and every flavor thread ends pleasingly. A superb, well-aged OBSK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I may have missed earlier dialog, but what is the retail price expected to be?

49.99 plus tax title and license.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone have much experience w the "O" s? A local store here has Private Selection OESO and OBSO. They don't seem to have appeared in many of the LE's except as vatting adds to the SmB.

Are you talking about TPS selections? I've been eyeing those as well and would be interested in any feedback from the community ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any tasting notes or impressions on these, Eric?

I have never been good at taking notes.

I did write some words down but they were not all that different from the words four roses uses to describe each. Will see if I can dig them up in the am.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you talking about TPS selections? I've been eyeing those as well and would be interested in any feedback from the community ...

TPS has them, but I was referring to a place in Indianapolis. I actually skipped the O's and went with a Private Selection OBSK instead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

OBSK. Just under 11 yrs. 122.8 proof. Mint and cocoa and spice. Kind of like an alcoholic Mexican hot chocolate. Very good stuff.

-Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my first 4R was at a bar in Cincy. it was a barrel proofer, dont know what specifics, as at the time i didnt know all the varieties available of 4R. It was very interesting and i liked it....it was upper 50's on ABV (115-120 proof).

a few weeks ago, i picked up a 100 proof single barrel hoping for something similar. ive tried it 4 times now, and it got moved to the back of the booze cart, as i really just dont like it. i'll give or trade it to a friend who loves the stuff. i dont know what variety this is either, it just says single barrel on it, not limited edition, or anything.

not sure ill ever buy another, as theyre not cheap to buy it and decide you dont like it. too many options too. i mean, 10 different bourbons to choose from, really? most of them over $40 too, thats a pricey experiment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my first 4R was at a bar in Cincy. it was a barrel proofer, dont know what specifics, as at the time i didnt know all the varieties available of 4R. It was very interesting and i liked it....it was upper 50's on ABV (115-120 proof).

a few weeks ago, i picked up a 100 proof single barrel hoping for something similar. ive tried it 4 times now, and it got moved to the back of the booze cart, as i really just dont like it. i'll give or trade it to a friend who loves the stuff. i dont know what variety this is either, it just says single barrel on it, not limited edition, or anything.

not sure ill ever buy another, as theyre not cheap to buy it and decide you dont like it. too many options too. i mean, 10 different bourbons to choose from, really? most of them over $40 too, thats a pricey experiment.

The standard single barrel is the OBSV recipe and you should be able to find it in the $32 area versus $40. Also the 10 different recipes are easier to conceptualize broken down as 2 mash bills X 5 yeasts. And forget about the O and the S ;).

Interesting that you raise or even demonstrate a marketing phenomena, labelled by one psychologist as "The Paradox of Choice" and it creating anxiety and unhappiness in consumers. It doesn't present a problem, hell it's cherished, by most of us fanatics here but I have wondered if it ultimately hurts 4R some in the vast marketplace.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah. Truly it's the greatest problem to have. I'll have all the 4R 1B (PS or GS) please.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting that you raise or even demonstrate a marketing phenomena, labelled by one psychologist as "The Paradox of Choice" and it creating anxiety and unhappiness in consumers. It doesn't present a problem, hell it's cherished, by most of us fanatics here but I have wondered if it ultimately hurts 4R some in the vast marketplace.

it would be a nice problem to have, if they were priced better. yellow label is ~$15 and ive not heard a lot of good talk about it, and its proof is too low to consider to me (i stay at 100 and above). the small batch and single barrels can be in the $30 range. everything else (what i may be interested in) is $40+. when i DO see a barrel proof 4R around here, its labeled 55%. how a barrel proof can always be a flat 55%, I dont know....but they are $55+ here.

too many options, too pricey to experiment. thats my take. i really appreciate the detail and passion their distiller has, thats why i bought/tried the Single Barrel. but, it just didnt do it for me. with the 10+ choices and higher prices, i dont see me taking another shot at it. if someone hands me a shot of one of them, and i like it, then i would go out and buy that one. but im not going to blindly buy each one and hope to like it. if you know what you like, 10 choices is a great thing; pick what works best to you and enjoy it. to someone relatively new to bourbon like me, ill stick to offerings that offer fewer options.....like a 90, 100, and barrel proof offering of the same label.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

, but I have tasted some OBSF since that is super dark, brooding and rich with depth of flavor.

I believe I'm familiar with the OBSF you are talking about :) I couldn't think of 3 better descriptors for it than "dark, brooding and rich"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

and its the OBSV i have and dont care for. its just too mellow and boring to me. but, im in the minority on this, big time. to each his own, right? i am not badmouthing 4R at all, i am just saying i dont like THIS one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.