One of the many highlights of the Bourbon And Time weekend this past July was spending time with bourbon legend Al Young while sipping the very Four Roses Limited Edition he helped craft in celebration of his 50th anniversary with the distillery. That evening was a very informal social tasting setting so I wasn’t really able to write detailed notes about the pours we had.
Luckily, that wasn’t the first time I tried it. Four Roses limited edition releases are hit or miss for me depending on the year. With blends of so many different recipes, there’s a ton of variability from year to year. This release, however, is on another level. The recipe for this release is 20% 12-year old OBSF (Mint, Fruity, Spicy, Full Body), 50% 13-year old OESV (Delicate Fruity, Fresh, Creamy), 25% 15-year old OBSK (Rich in Spiciness, Full Body), and just 5% 23-year old OBSV (Delicate Fruity, Spicy, Creamy). There were 10,000 bottles for this release.
Maybe it’s that little bit of 23 year old OBSV in there. Maybe it’s just the right ratios of the four whiskies that went into this bottling. No matter the reason, this Four Roses is right on the money.
| Category | Notes |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Copper |
| Nose | Incredibly sweet, toffee, cinnamon, sugarcane, caramel apples, toasted oak, leather, floral hints. |
| Taste | Cinnamon up front, vanilla, fresh mint, pancakes with maple syrup, citrus pokes through in waves, there's a real depth to the wood here. |
| Finish | Minty, tannic oak, Christmas spice, Applejacks cereal, dried figs. Medium-long length, oak and some spice remain for several seconds. |
| Overall Thoughts | This is a Four Roses release to remember. There's well-blended Four Roses, and then there's this. Congrats to Al Young on a legendary career that is still going. This release certainly honors him properly |
| Total Score | 94/100 |
