Four Roses Mizunara Cask Bourbon Succeeds as 1st 'Experimental' Release

Bottle Details

• DISTILLER: Four Roses Distillery
• TYPE: Bourbon Finished in Mizunara Oak Casks
• MASH BILL: OBSK, 65% Corn | 35% Rye | 5% Malted Barely
• AGE: 6 years
• YEAR: 2026
• PROOF: 104 (52% ABV)
• AVAILABILITY: Four Roses Distillery Visitor Center in Lawrenceburg, Ky.
• MSRP: $55 for a 375ml
• BUY ONLINE: Not available online

TASTING NOTES

NOSE: Aromatics come loaded with chocolate and nuts–think Baby Ruth candy bar–followed by a wave of freshly ground baking spices, hard cherry and orange candies and toasted oak. This is a nostril tingler, and had I tasted it blind, I'd have never thought it only 104 proof.

PALATE: Just like on the nose, this is busy on the palate. As if the 35% rye content in the mash bill needed help invigorating this spirit, I wondered what else was affecting it. Is the mizunara playing a role in amplifying it so significantly or is it something else?

Interestingly, Four Roses "Experimental Series" webpage says this: "(T)he K yeast strain was chosen for its complementary spice—allowing Mizunara's sweeter, more nuanced notes to shine through." So, who knows? It's powerfully spicy, I like those B mash bills, and I like this also.

Mizunara does what it does best here: sweetens and polishes whiskies while boosting caramel and vanilla powerfully. Move it around your mouth to pick up some dark toffee, pipe tobacco and a little dried beef umami.

FINISH: Silken, light, barely warming and short.

Reviewer's Verdict

RATING: Bottle. Why? It's the first of its kind from Four Roses, and like all FRs, it's damn good whiskey.

WORTH THE PRICE: Yes. Convert it to $110 for a full bottle, and it's still a yes.

WHO IT'S FOR: Hardcore Four Roses fans first since they're going to love anything coming out of that distillery. Then fans of bolder, higher proof whiskies and who'd enjoy a bourbon that punches way above its weight.

REVIEWER'S VERDICT: In early March, I was part of a media group invited to taste the future of Four Roses' Experimental Series, as well as its Anthology 21 year old. All of them were terrific. (That info about those two and other upcoming releases is only trickling out is due to the distillery's embargoes on such info.)

Of particular interest was master distiller Brent Elliott's retelling of how three Experimental innovations were green lighted by Four Roses' Tokyo, Japan-based owner, Kirin, long before the crew in Lawrenceburg knew Gallo was buying it.

According to Elliott, when Gallo's team showed up for a look under the hood, it was excited to discover those experiments and see Four Roses already thinking outside the box.

"They thought that was great," Elliott said. "They loved what we were doing." He also praised Kirin for allowing his team opportunities to create variety.

What they also were doing was executing a precision effort to ensure barrels chosen for those experiments didn't take charge of the liquid. A news release said, "Throughout the finishing process (for the mizunara barrel), the Four Roses team monitored the barrels closely, pulling samples almost weekly to track maturation ... before blending the final liquid."

That's a lot of attention, but mizunara oak is notoriously leaky, so some babysitting is common. Like Four Roses' expertly blended annual Limited Edition Single Barrel releases, you all but taste the precision in this Experimental Series 001. It is a terrific pour in every way.