ABV: 50 %
Origin: Kentucky, USA
Type: Straight Bourbon
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is liquid candy cane. At first there’s a minty cloud sitting on top of vanilla and liquorice. In the background there is a dusty oak note. There is a honey sweetness and a vague hint of cherries. After a few minutes a hint of cinnamon emerges and mixes with the mint. This is a very pleasant nose.

Mouth: It starts out with a bitterness and a honey sweetness. The candy cane is gone and it’s much more leaning towards anis, liquorice and kitchen spices. The vague cherry note moves forward after a few seconds, but never creates a fruity experience. There’s almost a medicinal side to it and it’s very different from the nose.

Finish: A cloud of peppermint goes by and when it settles a bitter oakiness immidiatly takes over. The peppermint stays in the back throughout the finish. It’s still got a herbal character with kitchen spices and anis. The thin fruity cherry note arrives in the late finish together with the oakiness. The finish is not sweet at all and it becomes slightly astringent in the end. This is a great bourbon with an interesting journey from nose to finish.

Additional information
This straight bourbon is aged for a minimum of 8 years. The bottle is filled from barrel 4-1H stored in warehouse LE. The mashbill consists of 60 % corn, 35 % rye and 5 % barley.

ABV: 45 %
Origin: Kentucky, USA
Type: Straight Bourbon
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is milk chocolate and dusty corn. At first, the dusty corn and vanilla powder take up the main part of the nose. When it settles a milk chocolate note starts to create an outer layer. Then cherries, together with a hint of nail polish remover, start to compete with the corn and vanilla in the center. There is a Brown sugar sweetness and the fresh oakiness is creating a nice foundation. After some time in the glass the rye notes come alive and anise and black liquorice comes through. This is a mild and pleasant nose.

Mouth: It starts out vanilla sweet and it takes a while before the dusty corn returns. It’s less fruity than on the nose and the chocolate and nail polish remover is gone. The oak is still fresh, but the whole thing becomes slightly astringent. The anise note slowly but steadily increase with time in the mouth. The sweetness is now leaning more towards honey.

Finish: It’s a very mild and sweet start. The flavours almost immidiatley move aside to give room for the oak. The dusty corn, vanilla and the cherries return and create an overlay to the oakiness. The oak is very fresh and it seems to pick up the rye notes somewhere along the way and in the late finish there’s anise and black liquorice tagging along. This is a very easy sipper. It’s a bit too sweet at times, and it could do with a bigger impact.

Additional information
This is a mix of 4 out of the 10 recipies used by Four Roses. There’s 2 yeast strains and 2 mashbills used to create the variety. 2 of the mashbills contain 75 % corn, 20 % rye and 5 % barley, and the other 2 contain 60 % corn, 35 % rye and 5 % barley. It’s aged for at least 5 years.