Review: Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon Collection 2024/2025 – OBSV, OBSF, OESK, and OESO
Review: Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon Collection 2024/2025 – OBSV, OBSF, OESK, and OESO
Four Roses famously (and tragically) ended its annual Single Barrel Limited Edition program in 2015, leaving only its rack single barrel offering — always made from its OBSV recipe — as the only single barrel bourbon bottled by the company. (You can still get one-off barrel pick bottlings from bars and merchants, but not from Four Roses directly.)
That’s changing, well, now, with the launch of the new Single Barrel Collection, which will see Four Roses putting out a rotating collection of all 10 of its recipes, doled out a few at a time as the years progress. The first three to hit will be barrels from recipes OBSF, OESK, and OESO – plus a fresh drop of the OBSV Single Barrel. All of the whiskeys will be aged 7 to 9 years and bottled at 100 proof, each sold for just $50 each.
Ready to catch ’em all? We got a taste of the first four whiskeys in the lineup, which makes for a fun head-to-head-to-head-to-head. Note that while the OBSV is out now, the other three are due sometime in “early 2025.”
Each 100 proof.
Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon OBSV 2024 Review
The classic you know and love, the 2024 iteration of Four Roses Single Barrel provides a subtle and creamy experience that is laden with vanilla, milk chocolate, and almonds up front, then moves into a blend of rye-driven spices complemented by dried fruits — think apricots and peaches. Appropriately oaky as things linger on the palate, a gentle tannic quality gives the whiskey some oomph. Still one of the best values going in the whiskey world. A- [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT] [BUY IT NOW FROM TOTAL WINE]
Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon OBSF 2025 Review
Immediately bold with cloves and mixed baking spices, making for a much different experience from the top vs. the OBSV. Sharp on the palate with punchy notes of black and red pepper, there’s an intense, herbal greenery character here that evokes the rye in the recipe — though it is eventually subdued by a light slick of sesame oil and creamy marzipan. Plenty of oak to punch up the finish. Ultimately this is a relatively straightforward whiskey for lovers of more frontier-style spirits. B [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon OESK 2025 Review
A nuttier sibling to the OBSV, with a richer, more immersive texture. Darker chocolate notes and a well-toasted coconut quality, almost burnt at times, punctuate a body that plays with notes of anise, creosote, and dried tea leaves. There’s plenty of oak here though the experience never quite comes across as woody. Well-toasted marshmallow lingers on the finish. B+ [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon OESO 2025 Review
The most fruit-forward of the lineup, with a big bite of red apple followed by ample vanilla and caramel. Things are a bit peppery as the palate builds, with well-integrated notes of seasoned wood providing a base level of tannin. Again there’s a chocolate note as the finish builds, approximating chocolate malt balls this time around, then a delicate floral character on the finish, touched with red pepper. Arguably the most feminine whiskey in this lineup, but one of the most compelling. A- [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
each $50
Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon OBSV 2024
USD50
