Wow, sorry things have been so sporadic around here the last couple weeks. I had a COVID scare which turned out to be a bout of very severe allergies that just mimicked a severe illness. Rounds of steroids and medication later and I am finally on the mend. As such, today I will be stepping back in time to talk about a really enjoyable part of my visit to the 2021 Kentucky Bourbon Festival. I know that I gave the festival as a whole a very poor review, but this is one part that I really enjoyed. My wife and I will be talking about this event for a while.
It was a nice day for an outdoor class. The sun was out, it wasn’t too hot. It was early so the coffee hadn’t worn off yet. I was energetic and excited to get to learning. Honestly, I didn’t know anything about the class that I had signed up for. I knew that it was about blending. That was about it.
Sure, I could have looked at the schedule to see who was leading the class, but the schedule had already been wrong enough that I didn’t feel the need to bother. Whatever was going to happen would happen and I figured that when there was something to learn, I’d learn it.
When we sat down, I was happy to see the Four Roses logo on the small leather-bound notebook in front of my seat. I was even more excited to see four 100 mL bottles of Four Roses set at each place setting in the table. From left to right, they were labeled OBSO (7 year old), OBSV (7 year old), OESK (14 year old), and OESF (13 year old). All about 60% ABV. We learned later that these were the finalists for the Elliott’s Select release from a few years ago.
As the class began, Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott went over some of the background info on Four Roses itself including why they were teaching the blending class (even though they try not to use the word blending themselves). Then he explained each of the bourbons in front of us, gave us a few tips, answered a few questions and turned us loose to blend our own Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon.
Now, my wife and I each had different approaches to creating our blends. Having made plenty of fun blends at the house out of everything from Bourbon and Rye to Brandy and Tequilla, I attacked the problem the same way I always do. I tasted each of them, decided which flavor profile I wanted to feature and then started mixing. I always start with an even mix of each. Very small amounts at first, only a few milliliters of each. Then I taste that. Once I know how the even mix tastes, I’ll move on to the flavor I want to feature. I’ll add more of that one, then more of each until I get to something I like. I’ll admit, this is nothing like how the pros do it, but we only had an hour and I only had four bourbons to work with so I thought it would be efficient. Then of course you look at your notes, do your math and figure out the proportions to make the full 100 mL that we got to take home. My blend ended up sticking very close to the even mixture I started with at 21% OBSO, 21% OBSV, 21% OESK and 37% OESF. I tend to like the F and Q yeasts so it wasn’t much of a surprise to me that I included more of that one.
Of course, my wife has her own method. Like everyone else, she tasted each of them separately. And from there she decided on a couple that she really liked and wanted to work with. She started out working just with those two in order to dial in about where she wanted to go. Then once she had the framework of the flavor profile in place, she went back to the other two and little by little added more until she got the additional supporting notes where she wanted them. Her blend ended up being 37.5% OESK, 31.25% OESF, 25% OBSO and 6.25% OBSV.
This was such a fun event. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. But, these have been mingling for a month now, let’s see how they taste just for giggles.
Eric's Blend:
Details: Approximately 60% ABV. 21% each: OBSO (7-year-old), OBSV (7-year-old), and OESK (14-year-old) and 37% OESK (13-year-old).
Nose: JuicyFruit Gum, vanilla, brown sugar, and a hint of baking spice.
Mouth: Hot and spicy. Baking spice, JuicyFruit Gum, and caramel.
Finish: Long and warm with notes of caramel, red fruits, and almond.
Robin’s Blend:
Details: Approximately 60% ABV. 37.5% OESK (14-year-old), 31.25% OESK (13-year-old), 25% OBSO (7-year-old),and 6.25% OBSV (7-year-old).
Nose: Peach, cinnamon, and wintergreen.
Mouth: Stone fruits, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, caramel, and mint.
Finish: Medium to long. Notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and stone fruit.
Comparison Thoughts: Both of these are delicious! My blend is spicy and brings out the "Juicy Fruit Gum" notes that I love from Four Roses. My wife's blend is very strong on peach and other stone fruits. It is sweet and fruity. It really is amazing just how different these are considering that they were made with the exact same ingredients. It just goes to show the need for a good blender in whiskey creation. It's nice to see more of them getting recognition in American Whiskey.
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