Sandalwood | Vanilla | Ground nutmeg | Cinnamon stick | Gentle oak | Tree bark

Vanilla | Green peppercorn | Cinnamon syrup | Rye spice | Sandalwood | Baking spices

Cinnamon spice | Light caramel | Rye spice | Cinnamon swirl cake | Faint vanilla frosting | Hint of rubber | Gentle lingering sandalwood & spice

Four Roses is entering a new period of innovation thanks to their newly launched Experimental Series. For their inaugural release in the series, Four Roses took a 6 year old OBSK recipe bourbon and finished it in Japanese Mizunara oak barrels for an undisclosed amount of time. Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott states that "It allows us to take the craftsmanship that's been at the heart of Four Roses and apply it in entirely new ways, experimenting with finishes and techniques that reveal dimensions of flavor our fans haven't experienced before. For me, it's about pushing boundaries while staying true to the character of Four Roses Bourbon, and giving our fans the chance to join us on that journey of discovery." While no bottle count was provided, this 375mL bottle release is only being sold at the Four Roses Distillery Visitor Center in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

The Mizunara finish makes its presence known early and often. It starts with a well-constructed aroma focused on various wood scents, with sandalwood leading the way. Vanilla adds a touch of sweetness while ground nutmeg and cinnamon stick scents add more structure. The midpoint, similar to the nose, is well structured, pulling out various spices along with a pleasing, sweeter layer from vanilla and cinnamon syrup. Sandalwood reappears only to temporarily disappear as you move into the finish. Rye and cinnamon spice give a gentle blast of heat while cinnamon swirl cake is joined by less intense notes of caramel and vanilla frosting. An out-of-place hint of rubber appears before sandalwood returns and unites with gentle lingering spice to close things out.

Four Roses is a brand well known for playing it straight and narrow, rarely deviating from their standard core releases. They’ve opened this up slightly over the past few years with single barrel releases featuring each of their 10 individual recipes as standard limited releases, which were previously only available as private barrel selections. When the company announced they’d be releasing an experimental line of bourbons, there was a collective cry of “finally.” However, just as immediate were thoughts of whether they could pull something like this off, as anyone can finish bourbon, but how would their various recipes take to finishes, and how well could the company handle the task at hand? Turns out, the answer to both of those questions is really great.

Experimental Series 001 is not the most intriguing Mizunara finished bourbon released to the market, but it also doesn’t need to be to accomplish what it set out to do. It demonstrates Four Roses and Elliott’s ability to utilize their various recipes to hone in on a well balanced, barrel finished bourbon that tastes great - traits that Four Roses is typically known for. While a data point of one can’t be definitively declared statistically significant, it does give bourbon fans, and specifically Four Roses fans, hope that future releases will be the same. More so, it opens up an opportunity for consumers who may have never truly connected with Four Roses base bourbon to explore how they like it with a little pizzazz added thanks to the experimentation the company has committed to. The only downside is that this is limited to being sold onsite at the distillery; hopefully future releases change that, and we start to see these experiments being sold on a more national level.