Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel Review [In Depth]

Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel Bourbon

by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer

Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel Details

Distillery: Four Roses

Type & Region: Bourbon, Kentucky, USA

Alcohol: 50%

Composition: 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% barley

Aged: 7-9 years

Color: 1.2/2.0 on the color scale (chestnut, oloroso sherry)

Price: $50

From the company website:

One of three new single barrels, OBSF has lush notes of apple, vanilla, and cocoa greeting the palate with a luxurious richness, while a bright touch of rye and a hint of brown sugar balance things out. The result is a bourbon with a lasting, full-bodied flavor that seamlessly marries sweetness with mellow spice to elevate all favorite bourbon-forward cocktails; this recipe is also enjoyed neat or on the rocks.

Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel overview

Hopefully you’ve already read one / some of my reviews of the other Four Roses Single Barrel bourbons that were released alongside this OBSF, intended to expand the lineup of single barrel bourbons outside of just the OBSV that they did for years. Whether or not you have, I’ll keep this intro fairly short so you can get to the bulk of the review.

For years, Four Roses only released the OBSV mashbill and yeast mix for everyday consumption, leaving everything else, like this OBSF mashbill, to the very limited and expensive Private Selection single barrel program. It’s not easy to find.

Now, they’ve graciously expanded to include OBSF (herbal yeast), OESK (slight spice), and OESO (rich fruit). As a reminder, B means 35% rye in the mashbill and E means 20% rye in the mashbill. But unlike the Private Selects, which are cask strength and 9-12 years old, these more affordable versions are all 100 proof and 7-9 years old, so younger and lower ABV.

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As a reminder, this review covers a single barrel of OBSF, which is supposed to have a delicate rye and mint personality.

An important disclaimer, your mileage with this review may vary because this review covers a particular single barrel. The bottle that you see / buy will most likely come from a different barrel, so I cannot guarantee that your experience will be the same as mine. That is the double edged blessing and curse of single barrel whiskey. It is what it is.

Let’s find out what this mashbill is like in this Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel bourbon review.

This sample was provided at no cost to me. All opinions are still my own.

As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel smell

Oh, this has a really nice dark sweet caramel and woodiness, butterscotch, vanilla, coconut, dried red apple, cinnamon, dried orange, fresh cherry. There’s an amburana cask finish-like vibe, but without the overpowering cinnamon toast crunch lotion thing that can be really unpleasant. This is very pleasant.

Learn more about Four Roses OBSV Single Barrel Bourbon

Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel smells amazingly decadent. It has this amazing maturity, floralness, range, and depth that makes it smell older than 7-9 years. It’s like a less oaky but still developed 12 year old bourbon with great sweet and fruit forward scents with a lot of pleasantly mature and refined oak surrounding it all.

After swirling, it takes a while for the scents to calm down and settle into a good place. Even after 15 minutes it smells a lot brighter than it initially did. To be honest, it smelled so amazing the first time I’m around so I’m just going to leave it at that and not take notes the second time around.

Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel taste and aftertaste

I initially taste caramel, dried cherry, vanilla, licorice, roasted oak, orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg, caraway seed, and toasted coconut. Like the other single barrel releases, this is a bit more oak and spice forward, although there’s still enough sweetness and fruitiness for balance.

So far though, the flavors aren’t quite as captivating as the scents. They’re not quite as bold, vibrant, mature, and complex, instead a little bit softer and flabbier. It still tastes very nice, but it’s a big drop off from the amazing scents.

With “chewing” I taste caramel, coconut, vanilla, roasted oak, dried cherry and baked red apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, tobacco, and more sweet oak and lightly smoky mesquite. Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel Bourbon tastes better with “chewing”, with more sweet and oaky flavors cutting through (in a good way) and with a bit better body and expressiveness.

Learn more about Four Roses OESO Single Barrel Bourbon

The finish leaves caramel, toasted oak, nutmeg, vanilla, coconut, and baked red apple with lingering oak, oak spices, and a little bit of butterscotch.

It’s still surprisingly flabbier and less expressive than I expected, making it less interesting than the other single barrels that I’ve had from this set. The flabbiness / softness is by far the biggest drawback here.

Nonetheless, this is still a flavorful bourbon with good range and maturity that offers a sweet, oaky, and spicy experience with some fruitiness that isn’t quite as excellent and well selected as some of the other single barrels that I’ve had.

I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too. Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.

Consider supporting The Whiskey Shelf and Warehouse H by buying the book via this affiliate link.

Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel Bourbon Rating

Four Roses OBSF Single Barrel Bourbon is a very good bourbon in its own right that doesn’t quite do as well as some of the other single barrels in the Four Roses family. But that’s the thing, these are single barrels. Some are better than others, and I guess I was eventually bound to find one that wasn’t quite as excellent as the others.

And if you didn’t get that sense already, I didn’t get much in the way of “delicate rye and mint”. It never came off more herbal and minty, like some very high rye bourbons can be. It is what it is, and I’m sure barrel selection has a part in this personality.

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For $50, it’s still a compelling option…just not as compelling as some of the other Four Roses Single Barrels I’ve had, which have been ridiculously good for just $50. But therein lies the problem – the barrel you get is likely going to be different than the one that I reviewed, so who the heck knows what you’re going to get. Yes, I did repeat more or less the same sentiment 2 paragraphs back.

All I can hope for you is that it was carefully selected and provides an equally as good, if not better experience than I had.

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Meet the Author: Alex

I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.

There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.

Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)