Or this thread could also be entitled, . . .
A Sated Old Bourbon Drinker Strives To Maintain Objectivity
My "Whiskey Sensei," whom I've spoken of at times, has always been helpful in that respect. I have to admit that at 51, I'm still the man in certain regions of my mind that I have always self-described as, "Forever 17."
Well, as Bill Parcells says in that series of dopey but occasionally hilarious Coors Light commercials, "But that's a good thing. Not a bad thing."
Hmmmmmmm, . . .
well maybe. All things considered, it's best for the 17 year old in me not to be too dominant at any given time. One of those times is when I'm trying to do a serious review on a bourbon that fits almost none of the characteristics of anything I usually like, and whose re-release in the United States, within the past year and a half or two, has only made me want to die laughing.
But the 17 year old in me, besides jumping on certain constants that run through my top list, such as "it's gotta have lots of age," or "I love that deep wood flavor in my bourbons," also likes bright colors, fancy labels, beautiful sights, and whimsical names.
So how do you keep the enthusiasm and highly impressionable nature tamped down enough so that it's active, but gives way to the wisdom of the man who's really three times the age of the kid?
Well, it took four tastings for me to get it through my head that what I tasted on the very first sip was real. But what was wrong to begin with, Bloof?
Well, for one thing, Four Roses is a name and a logo I haven't seen in literally decades, and had forgotten about. The Four Roses label is a famous one, and very, very beautiful but, . . .
Four Roses? Isn't that something I saw in old peoples’ kitchen cabinets and magazine ads back in the 60's when I was a little kid? I didn't know it was bourbon!!! How come it disappeared? I guess because it sucked, right?
So, all of a sudden there's a story, and I find out that the real story is the Japanese bought the distillery a long time ago, decided they really liked the stuff, gave America the finger and decided to keep it all for Japan. Okay, I dig, no problem really, but now it's riding the crest of a wave of heavy advertising and hype, and as I'm finding all this out a year and a half to two years ago, you know what I'm saying.
I AIN'T BUYIN' THAT OLD MAN CRAP WHISKEY!!! This ain't nothin' but somebody tryin' to make money on a beautiful, old and honorable label, and dumping some inferior whiskey. Who knew Four Roses was bourbon anyway?
Then, last year or maybe Oh Five, both the Small Batch version and Single Barrel versions win some Olympic Gold Medal or something like that, of the whiskey world. And I'm rolling my eyes all over the place, keeping up with what's going on, not really hearing much about what people are saying. And now that I'm typing this, I realize I should have gone over to Sensei's hangout web site to see what the true Ruths', Gehrigs', Aarons', Mays', Koufax', Gibsons', Marichals' of whiskey knowledge might have had to say.
If you think I know something about bourbon, I'm an infant, and a silly ass dope too, but we all know that last part. These guys and gals over at . . .
http://www.straightbourbon.com . . .
are the real deal.
Okay, so Four Roses bourbon. I decided one day recently, downtown at Warehouse Wines on 753 Broadway, just outside the "R" train subway line's 8th Street stop, to get a bottle of the Single Barrel version. I was there buying a single malt scotch present for a friend's birthday, and my choice came out to less than I thought I'd be spending on him.
I spotted Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon on a lower shelf, noted that it was 100 proof, and there is the highly touted claim that it is the best under ten year old whiskey in the world, or something like that. Sorry, but I lent the bottle to a friend for tasting, so I can't do it verbatim. Okay, 100 proof is nice, under ten years old, that's when the 17 year old goes, nahhhhh, put that crap back mannn, look at how much it costs, how good could it be anyway, nothing but hype, but it IS a beautiful label.
Yup, there's that 17 year old again, suspicious as ever, knee jerk because it's not 143 years old, doesn't really like most "single barrel" bourbons, another big strike on this one, but it DOES have a beautiful label. Ha, ha, haaaaaaa!!! Whoa horsey, let's get the 51 year old out of the back room and ask him what to do.
So, knowing in advance that Warehouse Wines' price on this is the second best I can get, and the best is from a web site that I'd have to figure out a total of at least a three bottle order from, to spread out those shipping costs, I bought it.
Right from the start, my very first of the four two shot tastings I've had from this bottle, it came on strong, as a very full bodied, complex and flavorful bourbon. During my first two tastings, this made me even more suspicious, although this bourbon was growing on me. I cannot say that the flavor profile is well defined, although I do detect certain specifics such as beautiful, rich, plum and raisin flavors, along with hints of cherry at times.
The youth of this bourbon also leaves it with very spicy notes, which at times during the middle and finish can block out the sweetness that I love in a bourbon, occasionally giving room for a bit of dissatisfaction. But whenever that happens, the unusually long finish of this bourbon, which keeps changing for the two or so minutes that the finish can last, overwhelms me with its complexity. Rarely does the finish on bourbon last for two or three minutes, and keep changing back and forth from spicy, with a hint of oak, to the delicious earthy and fruity flavors that burst forth with Four Roses Single Barrel.
If this bourbon is truly being made in the traditional manner, without any secret additives or flavor enhancers, it is certainly one of the more unusual bourbons I’ve ever had, on the order of a young Stagg. Ahhhh, to be a young stag again, hee, hee, heee!!!
My hat is off to Four Roses for two things, which are bringing back a beautiful label to the shelves of American liquor stores, and bringing back a fine set of bourbons. Although I’ve only had the Single Barrel version, and will probably bypass the Small Batch, I’m impressed to the hilt. This was a hard decision, as so many of these are, but there’s a new No. 13 bourbon on The Bloofy Top 25. After careful thought, I just couldn’t place this ahead of the Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 year old, Lot “B,” although it was close, but it did beat out the vaunted Fall 2005 George T. Stagg.
The Top 25 list will be updated, and The Classic Cask 17 year old drops out of the Top 25. It was weak and overpriced anyway. Four Roses is a wee bit steeply priced for its age, but at 100 proof and with a full bodied, never ending flavor profile, buy one, and don’t bother to thank me, just enjoy it. If you have a special person in your life, instead of a dozen, get them Four Roses, . . .
Single Barrel. But of courrrrrrse.
A Sated Old Bourbon Drinker Strives To Maintain Objectivity
My "Whiskey Sensei," whom I've spoken of at times, has always been helpful in that respect. I have to admit that at 51, I'm still the man in certain regions of my mind that I have always self-described as, "Forever 17."
Well, as Bill Parcells says in that series of dopey but occasionally hilarious Coors Light commercials, "But that's a good thing. Not a bad thing."
Hmmmmmmm, . . .
well maybe. All things considered, it's best for the 17 year old in me not to be too dominant at any given time. One of those times is when I'm trying to do a serious review on a bourbon that fits almost none of the characteristics of anything I usually like, and whose re-release in the United States, within the past year and a half or two, has only made me want to die laughing.
But the 17 year old in me, besides jumping on certain constants that run through my top list, such as "it's gotta have lots of age," or "I love that deep wood flavor in my bourbons," also likes bright colors, fancy labels, beautiful sights, and whimsical names.
So how do you keep the enthusiasm and highly impressionable nature tamped down enough so that it's active, but gives way to the wisdom of the man who's really three times the age of the kid?
Well, it took four tastings for me to get it through my head that what I tasted on the very first sip was real. But what was wrong to begin with, Bloof?
Well, for one thing, Four Roses is a name and a logo I haven't seen in literally decades, and had forgotten about. The Four Roses label is a famous one, and very, very beautiful but, . . .
Four Roses? Isn't that something I saw in old peoples’ kitchen cabinets and magazine ads back in the 60's when I was a little kid? I didn't know it was bourbon!!! How come it disappeared? I guess because it sucked, right?
So, all of a sudden there's a story, and I find out that the real story is the Japanese bought the distillery a long time ago, decided they really liked the stuff, gave America the finger and decided to keep it all for Japan. Okay, I dig, no problem really, but now it's riding the crest of a wave of heavy advertising and hype, and as I'm finding all this out a year and a half to two years ago, you know what I'm saying.
I AIN'T BUYIN' THAT OLD MAN CRAP WHISKEY!!! This ain't nothin' but somebody tryin' to make money on a beautiful, old and honorable label, and dumping some inferior whiskey. Who knew Four Roses was bourbon anyway?
Then, last year or maybe Oh Five, both the Small Batch version and Single Barrel versions win some Olympic Gold Medal or something like that, of the whiskey world. And I'm rolling my eyes all over the place, keeping up with what's going on, not really hearing much about what people are saying. And now that I'm typing this, I realize I should have gone over to Sensei's hangout web site to see what the true Ruths', Gehrigs', Aarons', Mays', Koufax', Gibsons', Marichals' of whiskey knowledge might have had to say.
If you think I know something about bourbon, I'm an infant, and a silly ass dope too, but we all know that last part. These guys and gals over at . . .
http://www.straightbourbon.com . . .
are the real deal.
Okay, so Four Roses bourbon. I decided one day recently, downtown at Warehouse Wines on 753 Broadway, just outside the "R" train subway line's 8th Street stop, to get a bottle of the Single Barrel version. I was there buying a single malt scotch present for a friend's birthday, and my choice came out to less than I thought I'd be spending on him.
I spotted Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon on a lower shelf, noted that it was 100 proof, and there is the highly touted claim that it is the best under ten year old whiskey in the world, or something like that. Sorry, but I lent the bottle to a friend for tasting, so I can't do it verbatim. Okay, 100 proof is nice, under ten years old, that's when the 17 year old goes, nahhhhh, put that crap back mannn, look at how much it costs, how good could it be anyway, nothing but hype, but it IS a beautiful label.
Yup, there's that 17 year old again, suspicious as ever, knee jerk because it's not 143 years old, doesn't really like most "single barrel" bourbons, another big strike on this one, but it DOES have a beautiful label. Ha, ha, haaaaaaa!!! Whoa horsey, let's get the 51 year old out of the back room and ask him what to do.
So, knowing in advance that Warehouse Wines' price on this is the second best I can get, and the best is from a web site that I'd have to figure out a total of at least a three bottle order from, to spread out those shipping costs, I bought it.
Right from the start, my very first of the four two shot tastings I've had from this bottle, it came on strong, as a very full bodied, complex and flavorful bourbon. During my first two tastings, this made me even more suspicious, although this bourbon was growing on me. I cannot say that the flavor profile is well defined, although I do detect certain specifics such as beautiful, rich, plum and raisin flavors, along with hints of cherry at times.
The youth of this bourbon also leaves it with very spicy notes, which at times during the middle and finish can block out the sweetness that I love in a bourbon, occasionally giving room for a bit of dissatisfaction. But whenever that happens, the unusually long finish of this bourbon, which keeps changing for the two or so minutes that the finish can last, overwhelms me with its complexity. Rarely does the finish on bourbon last for two or three minutes, and keep changing back and forth from spicy, with a hint of oak, to the delicious earthy and fruity flavors that burst forth with Four Roses Single Barrel.
If this bourbon is truly being made in the traditional manner, without any secret additives or flavor enhancers, it is certainly one of the more unusual bourbons I’ve ever had, on the order of a young Stagg. Ahhhh, to be a young stag again, hee, hee, heee!!!
My hat is off to Four Roses for two things, which are bringing back a beautiful label to the shelves of American liquor stores, and bringing back a fine set of bourbons. Although I’ve only had the Single Barrel version, and will probably bypass the Small Batch, I’m impressed to the hilt. This was a hard decision, as so many of these are, but there’s a new No. 13 bourbon on The Bloofy Top 25. After careful thought, I just couldn’t place this ahead of the Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 year old, Lot “B,” although it was close, but it did beat out the vaunted Fall 2005 George T. Stagg.
The Top 25 list will be updated, and The Classic Cask 17 year old drops out of the Top 25. It was weak and overpriced anyway. Four Roses is a wee bit steeply priced for its age, but at 100 proof and with a full bodied, never ending flavor profile, buy one, and don’t bother to thank me, just enjoy it. If you have a special person in your life, instead of a dozen, get them Four Roses, . . .
Single Barrel. But of courrrrrrse.
