Review #1380 – Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2019

This years Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition is a blend of 11,15, and 21 year old bourbons from the OBSV, OESK and OESV recipes. This is bottled at cask strength, with NAS, despite the TTB violations on the label. This release is pretty hyped, year to year, so I’m looking forward to trying another entry in the FR SmBLE lineage. Let’s dive in.

Review #1380 | Bourbon Review #607

Distiller: Four Roses

Bottler: Four Roses

Brand: Four Roses

Selection: N/A

ABV: 56.3% ABV

Age: NAS

Nose: Pungent, sweet and musty. Loaded with oak, toffee, pipe tobacco, amaretto nuttiness and sweet honey. Rich and indulgent.

Taste: Medium mouth feel, although the heat is present and restrained. Lots of toffee, some oak. Good deal of cocoa here and nutty peanut brittle. Amaretto notes. Big bold clove and allspice. Not overoaked, but very evidently tannic. Some heat grows with time.

Finish: Long but a bit hot. Bright and fruity – orange marmalade and berry before the oak, toffee and tobacco return.

Overall: Really interesting bottle, one thats a bit unique compared to past releases in a way that I’m hella into. The releases of the last couple years haven’t super scratched many itches for me, but this is my jam. Strong work, Roses. This is easily my favorite SmBLE since 2015.

Thanks for reading!

Rank: 8

WEBSITE | SEARCHABLE ARCHIVE | SUBREDDIT

Decoded:

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.

2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.

3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.

4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I’d rather have.

5 | Good | Good, just fine.

6 | Very Good | A cut above.

7 | Great | Well above average

8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.

9 | Incredible | An all time favorite

10 | Perfect | Perfect