I’d like to thank Four Gate Whiskey Company for providing a review sample with no strings attached.
Book review time. And no, it has nothing to do with whiskey.
I just got done reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. I loved it. On the surface, it is a book about a girl who finds a mystery statue on a New York street corner and shoots a quick and silly YouTube video about it. Obviously it is more than it seems and she gets quite famous because of that video.
Now as interesting as the surface story is, that story is not what the book is about.
Let me step back. When I was a kid, I hated trying to find the deeper meaning in a book. I'm of the opinion that even though many authors really do write with an allegorical bent, sometimes a rousing adventure story is just a rousing adventure story. Even today, I doubt that most of what speaks to me in any particular book was put there as some sort of deeper meaning by the author. Mostly because the parts that speak to me, that really make me enjoy a book and not be able to put it down, are usually the side characters or the set dressing. Ther things that help with mood and pace. And sure, the author probably put those things there intentionally but they usually aren't the reason for the book.
That said, I'm pretty sure that An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, is not about giant robots but is actually about fame, specifically internet fame. It is a plea from the author to remember that everyone on the other side of the screen is human. They aren't a talking point or a doll or an alien. They are human with all the problems and complications that come with that. The book is a plea to treat each other better especially online, where it is all too easy to misconstrue the intent behind the words that are typed.
I really needed to be reminded of that right now and as things get more and more contentious, especially here in the US with another election coming up, I think a lot of other people do too. So if you haven't read it, I highly encourage you to do so. It is interesting and exciting enough that I didn’t want to put it down.
But you didn’t come here to read an extended non-whiskey book report or a plea to treat each other nicely (though seriously, we all need to remember that). You came here to find out about that tiny bottle popping up out of the snow in the photo above.
Four Gate Whiskey is a company that is doing very interesting things with barrel finishing. I know that some of you aren’t fans of barrel-finished bourbons, but I find them to be, if not always good, at least always interesting. I found Batch 2 to be in that interesting, but “not for me” category. It wasn’t bad, it was just really weird. But, like I said it was super interesting and so when I saw a sample of Batch 4 arrive, I was pretty stoked to see what they had come up with this time around.
Batch 4, “Split Stave by Kelvin,” is much more in line with a traditional bourbon. Here is what the company has to say about it:
After crafting a series of medium toast casks, then a series of #2 char casks, and finally a third series of #4 char casks, William Hornaday and his team at Kelvin broke all the barrels apart and rebuilt them, alternating between toasted staves and #2 char staves on some barrels, and toasted and #4 char staves on others, they have created the first ever “Split Stave™” barrels. To fill them, we blended a 5.5 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon and a 12 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon and let them rest in our Split Stave barrels for five months. We produced 2,700 bottles from this inaugural release of Split Stave™ by Kelvin. It is uncut and unfiltered at 115.6 proof.
Four Gate Whiskey Company, Batch 4, "split stave by Kelvin"
Purchase info: This sample was graciously provided for review purposes by the distillery. It was available for purchase in Kentucky and Tennessee starting in December for a suggested retail price of $174.99 for a 750 mL bottle.
Price per Drink (50 mL): $11.67
Details: 57.8% ABU. Finished in new, white oak barrels where the staves alternate between a medium toast and a number 2 char or a medium toast and a number 4 char level.
Nose: Initially reminds me of boozy French toast with maple and cinnamon. After a bit, mint, oak, and black tea come to the forefront.
Mouth: Hot and spicy with cinnamon red hots, caramel, mint and oak
Finish: Warm and long with lingering cinnamon, black tea, dark chocolate, and mint.
Thoughts: This is delicious. It's spicy and hot upfront with a sweet and minty undercurrent. I'm enjoying it a lot. I’d love to get my hands on a bottle, but it’s a little out of my price range. But hey, at least I got a chance to sample it. I really, really like this.
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