31-Year-Old single malt whisky from Lowlands distillery, Rosebank, will be available in the USA after initially being available in August 2022 in the UK. The Lowlands distillery was closed in 1993, then purchased by Ian Macleod Distillers in 2017 and is currently scheduled to be re-opened in 2024. Rosebank 31-year-old single malt whisky was saved […]
31-Year-Old single malt whisky from Lowlands distillery, Rosebank, will be available in the USA after initially being available in August 2022 in the UK. The Lowlands distillery was closed in 1993, then purchased by Ian Macleod Distillers in 2017 and is currently scheduled to be re-opened in 2024.
Rosebank 31-year-old single malt whisky was saved from casks prior to the distillery’s closing [representing the last of the “old Rosebank” before the distillery re-opens] is bottled at 48.1% alcohol by volume [96.2 proof] and is said to offer both floral and fruit notes.
Rosebank 31-Year-Old is being made available for $3,300 per 700 ml bottle.
Speyside distillery Craigellachie has recently made available to a wider market a limited edition 37-year-old single malt Scotch whisky called Craigellachie 37 Years Old Bourbon Cask, after initially only being available in travel retail venues in Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey. Craigellachie 37 Years Old Bourbon Cask was initially aged in re-fill casks before being […]
Speyside distillery Craigellachie has recently made available to a wider market a limited edition 37-year-old single malt Scotch whisky called Craigellachie 37 Years Old Bourbon Cask, after initially only being available in travel retail venues in Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey.
Craigellachie 37 Years Old Bourbon Cask was initially aged in re-fill casks before being further matured in first-fill bourbon casks, bottled at 46.5% alcohol by volume [93 proof] and is said to offer notes of banana, citrus, coconut, pineapple and vanilla.
Only 3,012 bottles of Craigellachie 37 Years Old Bourbon Cask were made available for $3245 per bottle with China, France, Taiwan and the UK joining the three aforementioned venues of availability.
Speyside distillery Benriach has released a pair of 40-year-old single malts – The Forty and Forty Octave Cask Matured. Benriach The Forty was matured in peated casks, bottled at 43.5% alcohol by volume (87 proof) is said to offer notes of dark chocolate, grapefruit, orange, peach, plum and red apple. Benriach The Forty Octave Cask […]
Speyside distillery Benriach has released a pair of 40-year-old single malts – The Forty and Forty Octave Cask Matured.
Benriach The Forty was matured in peated casks, bottled at 43.5% alcohol by volume (87 proof) is said to offer notes of dark chocolate, grapefruit, orange, peach, plum and red apple.
Benriach The Forty Octave Cask Matured was matured in small octave casks [an eighth of the size of a regular cask], bottled at 51.5% alcohol by volume [103 proof] and is said to offer notes of cedar, cherry, pear, plum and red apple.
Benriach The Forty is being made available for $4085 per bottle while only 135 bottles of Benriach The Forty Octave Cask Matured are being made available exclusively in global travel retail venues for $4850 per bottle.
UK-based auction house Bonhams is putting a bottle of Yamazaki 50-Year-Old First Release on the block in an upcoming auction. Yamazaki 50-Year-Old First Release was launched in 2005 and only 50 bottles were originally released, of which only a mere 12 bottles are thought to still be intact. One of those 12 bottles will go […]
UK-based auction house Bonhams is putting a bottle of Yamazaki 50-Year-Old First Release on the block in an upcoming auction.
Yamazaki 50-Year-Old First Release was launched in 2005 and only 50 bottles were originally released, of which only a mere 12 bottles are thought to still be intact.
One of those 12 bottles will go under the hammer at the Bonhams Fine and Rare Wine and Whisky Sale in Hong Kong on May 20, 2022 and is expected to generate a selling price between $445,000-$575,000.
Yamazaki distillery was founded in 1923 – Japan’s first commercial whisky distillery – and there are three editions of 50-year-old Yamazaki, bottled in 2005, 2007 and 2011.
Yamazaki’s 55-year-old bottling, will also be auctioned in May and is expected to bring an auction price between $510,000-$640,000.
This Four Gate Old Sherry Pike is interesting. Not because it’s a bourbon finished in sherry, but because that’s all it is. Usually Four Gate works with Kelvin Cooperage to put out some kind of crazy zebra cask combo or charred and toast setup, but with this one it’s just bourbon finished in ex-sherry casks […]
This Four Gate Old Sherry Pike is interesting. Not because it’s a bourbon finished in sherry, but because that’s all it is. Usually Four Gate works with Kelvin Cooperage to put out some kind of crazy zebra cask combo or charred and toast setup, but with this one it’s just bourbon finished in ex-sherry casks for 80+ days.
Sometimes sherry finished bourbon goes well, like with the Wild Turkey Revival and sometimes it’s awful , like the XXX. And sometimes it doesn’t make a ton of difference and you end up just asking… why? Where does this one sit? Only one way to find out.
Let’s get to drinkin’!
Four Gate Old Sherry Pike – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Style: Bourbon (Finished) Region: Kentucky, USA Distiller: Undisclosed Blender: Four Gate
Blend: 6-year-old and 12-year-old bourbon finished in ex-Oloroso Mash Bill: 78% Corn, 10% Rye, 12% Malted Barley (6 yo) & 74% Corn, 18% Rye, 8% Malted Barley (12 yo) Cask: New Charred Oak, ex-Oloroso Age: 6 Years ABV: 59.45%
“We blended a 6-year Kentucky Straight Bourbon and a 12-year Kentucky Straight Bourbon and let it rest of 88 days in those wonderful Oloroso casks” – Four Gate Whiskey
Four Gate Old Sherry Pike Tasting Notes
EYE
Ruddy copper
NOSE
Sherry, copper, strawberry shortcake, vanilla, roasted nuts, bits of oak and baking spice, dried cherries and brown sugar.
The sherry leaps out of the glass on this one, it’s a huge hit followed by an undertow of everything else.
PALATE
Dried dark fruit, oak, baking spice, nuts citrus peels, copper, freeze dried blueberries, hazelnuts and leather baking spice. fruit syrup
Sweet and spiced with a huge layer of oak and more earthy notes. It hits an odd couple balance.
FINISH
Long -> Sherry, oak, baking spice and nuts fade out to an oaky spice.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Well balanced, full bodied and a dry heavy feel.
Four Gate Old Sherry Pike – Overall Thoughts and Score
The sherry is massive in this, but that’s not a problem because the underlying whiskey is even bigger. It’s a dueling demonstration put on by two titans of flavor, brought down to miniature, captured in glass and played out across the senses. It’s fun.
Water helps bring out some subtler notes of vanilla and lemon, but they come and go and overall it just evens things out and helps pull it together even more. Though water also brings out some slight metallic notes too and I’m not super crazy about the way they clash with the sweet notes.
I really like this whiskey, but don’t love this whiskey, especially with water. Four Gate Old Sherry Pike is good, but it wouldn’t be my first choice in their lineup to reach for if I had them all at hand. Though I’d also be far from upset should someone pour me another glass of it.
*Disclosure: The sample for this whiskey review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
