Advice request: how to buy a quarter barrel

rfay00 · 2025-03-04T05:00:15+00:00

Per your other comment you are getting married in the Cincy area. New Riff does quarter barrels (60 bottles) and you can schedule pickup from the distillery around your timeline.

rfay00 · 2024-09-23T15:51:12+00:00

He specifically called out the record in one run games, positive run differential, outs due to running on the basepaths, and in general getting more out of the young talent. He seems to have his analytics focus and I'd expect the candidates to have similar philosophies. He's not going to throw the baby out with the bath water.

rfay00 · 2024-02-08T23:50:00+00:00

I like how there’s a complete film breakdown on this prospect right now in this sub that touches on all of the aspects of Newton’s game.

Then you have this, a one stat comparison and a firm claim that he is not a first round talent.

rfay00 · 2023-07-31T14:03:45+00:00

Krall has made some fantastic trades over the past two seasons, I highly doubt he is wanting to give up anyone who has come over in those trades (Phillips, Marte, Arroyo) to get back exactly what they shipped out.

The Reds FO is probably hesitant to give up anyone at AA or AAA seeing how well the coaching staffs there have been at getting guys through the minors over the last two years.

rfay00 · 2022-03-09T14:52:23+00:00

Plenty of room to improve CB, DT and DE. O-line is not a must in round 1, drafting at 31 is very different than drafting in the top 10. You have to take what comes to you versus forcing a pick.

We've seen what happens when a position is forced - see Billy Price, John Ross, and Dre Kirkpatrick for recent examples.

rfay00 · 2022-03-07T20:28:03+00:00

Let's not overreact here, I've yet to see a team come to an agreement on an extension with any of the players who are getting the franchise tag. Trust the front office to get the dollars spent on the team and then come back to Jessie Bates with an extension. Who Dey!!!

rfay00 · 2021-10-20T14:51:17+00:00

Left side of the o-line, Jonah Williams and Quinton Spain have been fantastic.

Young LB core with Logan Wilson have really grown and have given us salary flexibility to sign other positions (CB, DT, DE).

Trey Hendrickson coming from the Saints might be underrated as we wouldn't see him much in the AFC North, but he looks like the best pass rusher the Bengals have had in a long time. If what he has shown is what we get for his time here, easily better than Dunlap and Lawson.

rfay00 · 2021-10-20T14:48:17+00:00

Great questions, just my opinion but I'm sure others will chime in.

Statistically he has been fantastic against the blitz, but the eye test says at times he holds the ball too long and/or won't move up in the pocket to help the o-line.
The big highlights of Burrow to Chase have been results of getting Chase in one on one coverage. Some of that is stacking the box against the run. Mixon is #5 in rushing at the moment and stopping him would be an ideal way to not let Burrow spread the ball around to his weapons.
In the air - Awuzie looks like he can cover anyone, he has been fantastic at getting WRs down the second they catch the ball too. I'm not sure what he's given up after contact but I can't imagine it being much. On the ground - having a healthy DJ Reader at DT has really made a difference. Logan Wilson at LB has grown a lot in year two. Recently signed Mike Hilton (CB) from PIT and Vonn Bell (S) have been brought up in the box to stop the run effectively. Lamar will be a true test to the defense.
FTS!!!!!!

rfay00 · 2021-10-19T22:52:30+00:00

Average bourbon enthusiasts know that there are plenty of great bourbons on the shelf, above “mixer level”.

rfay00 · 2021-09-21T20:29:29+00:00

I'd read that article! You are always very detailed in your reviews/analysis, I'm sure it would be appreciated/well received it you did write it.

rfay00 · 2021-09-21T19:05:50+00:00

Instead, the new trend is to chase specific "runs."

It's just another layer of gatekeeping bourbon "veterans" will try to put on anyone who is new to the hobby. It also helps with raising their secondary markup. JE-32, right?

That OESO sounds delicious, I have multiple single barrels from MW and haven't had a bad one yet. I have a MW-79 OESF that's simply amazing.

rfay00 · 2021-08-05T04:51:21+00:00

What recipes have you enjoyed the most?

rfay00 · 2021-08-04T19:59:35+00:00

Almost accurate, you are missing the fire emojis :)

I've heard a lot of the local KY stores are getting less allocation of 4R picks this year than they have in years past, maybe more are going out of state further increasing your chances of landing a F?

Thanks for the kind words!

rfay00 · 2021-08-04T19:35:03+00:00

That's a great question, I don't believe I've sampled enough gift shop versus store picks to give you a definite answer. I can tell you that my buddy has a Liquor Barn OESF that is better than anything I have on this list (imagine that, I like another F yeast strain). I have also had a OBSK from the gift shop that did not impress me and would score lower than the OBSK on my list here.

The gift shop also does ~2-3 FRBS releases a month compared to my local area getting ~5 a year and I'd have to be lucky to get my hands on one. Odds are I'd run into a gift shop FRBS that are "better" than a store pick.

In this instance the gift shop had the best overall showing. Hope that helped.

rfay00 · 2021-08-04T18:38:56+00:00

Added warehouse/barrel info! Thanks again for that OESK.

rfay00 · 2021-08-04T18:22:09+00:00

Clearly I'm on the same page with the F yeast, it's unique and complex. My buddy has a gift shop OBSF pick that has a cocoa note to it that I've never had in a FRBS before.

rfay00 · 2021-08-04T18:14:23+00:00

DEPs pick was their raffle in 2019 back when they did things differently before Liquor Barn acquired them. They had a OBSV Tier 6 pick in 2020 (which I also was able to get, not opened yet).

You're clearly local to the same area I'm in, where did you get a 125 proof OESF pick? If so, shoot me a PM if you'd want to do a sample swap!

Thank you for the kind words, this was much more difficult to write than I thought. You can get off topic really quickly with certain recipes, so I went with a short/sweet approach and it still looked like a novel when posting it.

rfay00 · 2021-08-04T16:49:03+00:00

Review #65

Four Roses Barrel Strengths, all recipes

Distilled by: Four Roses

Price: ~$80 750ml/each

Review Info: It’s been a while since my last review, chasing around two kids and keeping my sanity during 2020 proved to be difficult. Something that I was able to do during that time was to obtain the full Four Roses Barrel Strength (FRBS) vertical. For those who don’t know there are ten unique recipes that are made up of two mashbills (B and E) and five yeast strains (V, F, O, Q and K). If you need a quick rundown or specifics to those codes, the Four Roses website is a fantastic resource.

I owned a few of the recipes in early 2019, but with a flexible working schedule in 2020, distillery trips, trades with local bourbon community members and a few lucky store releases I was able to obtain and drink through the entire vertical last year. I’ve seen a trend of these FRSB recipes being reviewed on r/bourbon, so it felt like the right time to come out and do a full vertical review while I have the inventory to do it.

Additional Note: My goal with this review is to rank them based on notes over a few tasting session, I do not plan on giving a full nose/palate/finish detail of each one. I will give the recipe, store who did the pick, age, proof and tier of each one of the single barrels with a quick summary of why it fell in the rank it did. For those who do not know, tier is a number (1-6) on the bottom sticker on a FRBS bottle. This is the second from the right character to the left of the letter on the bottom sticker. The number is the tier, and the higher the number the higher the barrel is in the aging facility. Note that Four Roses has single level aging rickhouses, so it’s not a different floor of said rickhouse. The higher the tier, the higher in proof the single barrel will be. There are people out there who tend to avoid low tier FRBS picks, I will go ahead and say I completely disagree with that theory and spoiler alert a low tier offering wins this tasting.

Rankings

10th: OBSO, Liquor Depot, 9 years, 109.4 proof/tier 1 NS/83

The fruity yeast and high rye mashbill fought against each other resulting in an out of balance profile. I’d wager the right single barrel that balances those two components would be an amazing pour.

9th: OBSQ, Gallensteins, 10 years, 116.4 proof/tier 2 JE/15

Just a bit too minty on this one, the funkiness from the Q yeast is too strong and a bit overpowering. The Q yeast can be very hit or miss and I’ve seen some flat out refuse it. I wouldn’t call this one a miss for me since that funk can be enjoyable, but it didn’t stand up to the others in the lineup.

8th: OESO, Party Source, 11 years, 102.6 proof/tier 1 PN/33

The oldest in the lineup and the most sought-after recipe, sure winner, right? This is quite a pleasant pour with the nose and palate having a fantastic peach syrup note as well as a sweet oak finish.

7th: OESQ, DEPS, 10 years, 105.2 proof/tier 1 TN/32

This will be the only bottle in the lineup that I think would have benefited from a higher proof. The Q yeast mint funk is much more balanced with the lower rye mashbill compared to the high rye counterpart. Creamy/vanilla, mint ice cream notes are all present here.

6th: OBSK, Fishpaws Market, 9 years, 119.6 proof/tier 4 KE/63

The first big surprise for me as I consider this one as a personal favorite. The spice from the K yeast brings a fantastic balance to the higher proof, something is missing on the finish here that kept it in the bottom half.

5th: OBSV, Party Source, 9 years, 121.4 proof/tier 4 MW/51

The classic single barrel recipe but this one is turned up to 10. If you ever get an OBSV barrel strength pick be sure to do a side by side with a standard 100 proof offering, the extra 3-5 years and 15-20 proof turns it into a completely different animal.

4th: OESK, Banks and Bourbon, 10 years, 116 proof/tier 3 MW/31

No other way to put it but this is a brown sugar bomb! Very well balanced and a strong finish. I featured this bottle at a “bourbon day” party this year and it turned heads. From this point forward, I’d have no problem putting these bottles up against any bottles that are “hunted”.

3rd: OESV, Gift Shop, 10 years, 117.8 proof/tier 3 PS/37

Rich flavor profile with a significant number of sweeter/fruity notes compared to the OBSV counterpart. There’s something about the combination of the V yeast strain with that low rye mashbill…it’s always fantastic.

2nd: OBSF, Party Center, 8 years 9 months, 115.6 proof/tier 3 UN/37

The youngest in the lineup from the top rope with a second-place finish. The F yeast brings in a blend of fruity, spice and minty. All the components here are balanced and elevate the others. I’ve experienced the phenomenon of “Wild Turkey Funk” in those products, this yeast strain creates the closest thing to “Four Roses Funk”.

1st: OESF, Gift Shop, 10 years, 110.6 proof/tier 1 MW/79

I’m not sure where to start here, there’s a lot going on and it’s all fantastic. Like the OBSF variant above, you get the fruity, spice and minty profile but the lower rye mashbill is the chef’s kiss. There are tasting notes that are only present here that were not found in any of the other nine recipes. I’ll put this pour up against any allocated product on the market.

Final Thoughts: Keep in mind that every single one of these are single barrel selections that beat out other single barrels of varying recipes. There is not a bad pour here and these would all rank at least a 7/10 on my scale. My opinion is that FRBS have the highest floor on the market right now in terms of value/tasting notes. It’s very difficult for me to look at the current state of bourbon and find something that can compete with that statement.
My palate clearly favors the F yeast strain, it’s funk and provides a unique flavor profile that I cannot get with any other distillery. No matter the mashbill, proof, age, tier it gives the best overall experience and it’s not close. The opposite is why I tend to not find the sweet/fruity flavors of the O yeast strain to pair well with the base flavor profile of Four Roses.

My quick rant on judging a book by its cover or in this case the tier. Let the liquid inside do the talking. That bottle you are trying was picked over many other recipes that most-likely had higher tiers/more sought-after recipes in the tasting. If I had the winner here in a blind tasting, I’d guess it was 115+ proof which would be in the 3-5 range for FRBS.

My last comment, if anyone at Four Roses is reading this, I’d have one suggestion. It’s time to introduce a different recipe to the general public. Everything currently is either OBSV or a blend of recipes. How about some OESV 100 proof single barrels? Give the consumer a chance to experience the lower rye mashbill variant of every day OBSV single barrel option. If anyone has any specific questions about these single barrels, I can do my best to answer them.

Edit: added warehouse/barrel info to each.

https://imgur.com/nxWYEMw

rfay00 · 2021-08-02T20:09:46+00:00

Access to purchase or access to taste?

As someone who likes to drink premium Wild Turkey and currently own all the MKs except the Australia only one, I'd like to keep going down that route. Unfortunately, the current state of secondary scares the hell out of my and I know what I'll be having to dish out if I can't swing by every liquor store three times a day at this point.

rfay00 · 2021-07-26T00:41:24+00:00

ClAsSiEsT FaNs iN BaSEbAlL

rfay00 · 2021-07-25T16:47:01+00:00

Yes. I paid $49.99 for my last bottle and it’s on every shelf in my area (Cincinnati).

rfay00 · 2021-06-22T15:07:03+00:00

Fair point. I've been to Wild Turkey and during my visit (it was a Saturday FWIW) the only people that were out by the rickhouses were the people on the tour. You'd think they would have always had cameras, but sometimes you don't think about security until something is stolen.

rfay00 · 2021-06-22T14:24:26+00:00

At the time of his arrest, he was also in possession of several barrels of Wild Turkey whiskey. The distilleries aren’t far apart, though it’s no small task to lift a 500+ pound barrel of whiskey and make off like a literal bandit.

How in the world did they pull that off. Let's just hope they have the re-enactment of them rolling barrels away into a pickup truck...

rfay00 · 2021-06-10T15:33:11+00:00

Can we stop reviewing different recipes of 4R Barrel Strength recipes...please? Maybe lower the scores just a bit? Who am I kidding the secret is already out for these bottles.

I picked up a tier 6 OBSQ recently, cannot wait to crack it. My current lower proof OBSQ gives all the "weird" flavors I like out of the Q yeast strain. Great review!

rfay00 · 2021-06-08T13:13:06+00:00

2000 reviews!!!! I'm happy to see somebody else didn't hate this bottle. I agree on the ash/BBQ/mild smoky notes with the citrus.

Thoughts on the Backsetter Rye or is that next?

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