Reviews #175-177: Four Roses Private Selects OBSV v OESV

This is the third yeast strain tasting in my Four Roses series with a blind tasting of the V yeast strain. I have 3 picks ranging from 9 to 10 years and from 103 to 117 proof. Only 1 bottle is from Texas again with the other coming from Kentucky and the sample from Chicago. V is the most common yeast strain and is the yeast they use for their Single Barrel. I had a bottle of the single barrel and pick of the single barrel(not a Private Select) but I will be saving those alongside with the Moonshine pick for a larger OBSV tasting later in the series.

For this tasting I did another blind tasting video to pick a favorite and then sat down to write some more detailed notes.

Four Roses OESV Twin’s Pick

Age: 9 years 8 months

Abv: 111.4

Neat

Nose: Sweet vanilla, rye spice and cherry notes.

Taste: A weird but still ok artificial sweetener tasting note, cherry cough syrup or sugar free fruit gum maybe? Some rye spice as well. Great mouthfeel

Finish: Long finish that has a nice cherry and rye spice note combination.

Ranking: #3

2 Stars - Very good whiskey: I would want to have a bottle

Four Roses OESV Binny’s Pick

Age: 10 years 7 days

Abv: 103.4

Neat

Nose: Dark fruit, caramel and warm spice notes with hints of oak.

Taste: More dark fruit and caramel notes backed by a warm baking spice and an excellent mouthfeel.

Finish: Long spicy finish balanced by a little bit of caramel and vanilla.

Ranking: #1

3 Stars - Excellent whiskey: I would be willing to hunt down a bottle

Four Roses OBSV Liquor Barn

Age: 9 years 7 months

Abv: 117.6

Neat

Nose: Very basic high rye bourbon nose with caramel, vanilla, rye spice and a little oak.

Taste: Rich and spicy with rye and baking spice notes backed by a good amount of sweet caramel and vanilla. The mouthfeel was good but not as nice as I was expecting with the proof.

Finish: Long with a good amount of rye spice and caramel along with the bit of oak from the nose

Ranking: #2

3 Stars - Excellent whiskey: I would be willing to hunt down a bottle

Conclusion

Picking the order on this was pretty easy with Binny’s pick dominating and the Twin’s pick falling behind. The Liquor Barn pick was also great and just nailed the classic high rye bourbon profile with a “Price is Right” amount of spice. I didn’t hate that artificial sweetener note in the Twin’s pick(I drink a lot of Coke Zero) and it reminded me of a note I sometimes get in Tumblin Dice and the note I got in EHT Amaranth.

Despite the age and proof differences these all had great mouthfeels and finishes. The sit down and write tasting notes took longer than usual as I just sat enjoying the finish on all of them for some time.

I set out not wanting V to win as it’s the most common strain but right now it is in the lead.

Next up is the F yeast strain next week! It’s supposed to be minty or herbal so that should be fun.

TL;DR: V is the most popular yeast strain for good reason, 10+ years is again, still the sweet spot.