I’d like to thank Four Gate Whiskey Company for providing a review sample with no strings attached.
Hey everyone! My tastebuds are back! And just as importantly, so are my wife’s. And since we put off tonight’s tasting until the very last minute in order to allow us both maximum time to recover, I decided to spring an interesting one on her to celebrate our newly recovered tastebuds.
That’s right, unlike normal, you are getting the raw unfiltered impressions of this one with no time to think about it in between tasting and writing. Of course, that also means that I didn’t really have a lot of time to come up with an intro so…cut me a little slack on that front. Ok?
Great.
So I first became aware of Four Gate Whiskey Company on social media. It turns out one of the folks involved and I followed each other. And so he reached out to me to see if I would like a sample of their batch 1. Unfortunately for him, he asked on twitter just after I essentially left the platform as an active user and I never saw the message he sent to me until about a month later. I apologized and told him to keep me in mind for the future.
Fast forward a few months and all of a sudden a sample that I wasn’t expecting showed up. And this one sounded super interesting, though maybe a little scary. It was a bourbon that was finished in a barrel that had originally held Orange Curaçao and then held gin. Here’s what the distillery has to say:
When we met at Kelvin Cooperage to discuss our second batch, William Hornaday told us about some very interesting barrels in his warehouse that he wanted us to check out. Originally Orange Curaçao barrels, a local distiller then used them to finish a batch of gin. That’s right, gin. We had no idea what to expect, but when we smelled these barrels, they blew us away. The sticky sweetness of Orange Curaçao was tamed somewhat by the sharpness of the botanical gin, creating an aroma that smelled straight out of the 80s and harkened to a rather popular powdered orange drink made famous on the 1962 Mercury Mission when astronaut John Glenn took it to outer space. The tangy-orange notes of the barrels were screaming out for bourbon, and we listened.
Four Gate Whiskey Company: Release 2, Outer Loop Orbit
Purchase Info: This sample was graciously provided for review purposes by the distillery. It was available for purchase in Kentucky and Tennessee starting in September for a suggested retail price of $199.99 for a 750 mL bottle.
Price Per Drink (50ml): $13.33
Details: Blend of 5-year bourbon (mash bill: 78% Corn, 10% Rye, 12% Malted Barley) and 12-year bourbon (mash bill: 74% Corn, 18% Rye, 8% Malted Barley). Non-chill filtered. Finished in a cask that previously held Orange Curaçao and then Gin. 60.15% ABV.
Nose: spearmint, orange, almond, pine, and caramel undertones.
Mouth: Pine, orange, almond, baking spice
Finish: warm and medium/long. Lingering notes of almond, cinnamon, and pine-
Thoughts: Goodness, this is weird! Initially, the orange and gin notes overwhelm the nose and palate. After subsequent sips, more bourbon notes appear providing a little more balance.
I’m of two minds about this one. (I told you that you were getting real-time thoughts on this one.) First I’ll say that this is a certainly a drink for the adventurous bourbon drinker. Traditionalists need not apply. And even so, maybe try this one in a bar if you see it before you commit to a bottle. When I first tasted this in a Glencairn, I really didn’t like it. It just didn’t seem to come together for me. But once I poured it into one of the small rocks glasses that I would usually use to drink bourbon, I didn’t mind it at all. It almost reminded me of the herbal notes that an MGP 95% Rye would get. Not exactly, but reminiscent. As I said, I’m of two minds. I’ve had two separate 1 ounce pours tonight and I still can’t decide if I like it or not. I think I’m going to throw this down as a meh as there is nothing wrong with it, but based on tonight’s experience I don’t think it is for me. That said, I really applaud the experimentation and if you are an adventurous bourbon drinker, it is certainly worth a try as it is super interesting.
BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products and bourbon-related craft supplies I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And don’t forget we are still taking submissions for our Oscar Getz Giveaway. Enter now.