Review: Four Roses Single Barrel Private Selection from Nasa Liquor
Four Roses private barrel offerings are invariably fun to find and taste, and this selection from Nasa Liquor, a shop in Houston, Texas, is no exception.
This is an OESF Four Roses (20% rye, made with Four Roses’ “herbal” yeast), aged 10 years, 2 months. This is a slightly younger expression of the 2014 Single Barrel, which was an amazing release.
Nasa’s private selection is an amazingly sweet and surprisingly fruity expression of Four Roses. It starts on the nose: Butterscotch candies, candied apples, and vanilla caramels abound. More raw wood character emerges on the nose in time, and left in the glass for a while it will overpower the more dessert-like elements of the whiskey.
On the palate, the vanilla is astonishing at first, intense with notes of fresh creme brulee. Again, sip and reflect and you’ll find juicy raisin notes and some mint chocolate, particularly on the finish. It doesn’t drink especially hot, despite the barrel strength, but a touch of water does help to bring out more of the chocolate elements along with some cracked pepper notes.
There are more than a few similarities between this whiskey and the 2014 Single Barrel linked above, but that general bottling is a bit hotter and coaxes out a bit more wood on the back end. Kissing cousins, for sure, but both are great exemplars of Four Roses single barrel bottlings.
111 proof.
A / $59 / facebook.com/nasaliquor1
Four Roses Single Barrel Private Selection from Nasa Liquor
$59
