Four Gate Bourbon Batch 1 – “Kelvin Collaboration” Review

Sourced from 11-year-old bourbon and finished in “ex-Sherry rum” casks the Four Gate Bourbon Batch 1 – “Kelvin Collaboration” is the first bourbon, or any whisk(e)y at all I know of, that’s been aged this way. Can you think of anyone who has used a sherry cask that was then used to age rum to then finish a whiskey? If you do, let me know in the comments.

Four Gate Bourbon Batch 1 - Kelvin Collaboration

Though, to be clear, sherry-aged rum isn’t wholly rare. Quite a few rum brands do a sherry aging or finishing in everything from PX to Oloroso. Ron Diplomatico, Facundo, Ron Zacapa and Brugal just to name a few. It’s the subsequent aging whisk(e)y I’ve not encountered till now.

The question is… what it a success? We’ll find out in the bourbon review below.

Four Gate Bourbon Batch 1 – “Kelvin Collaboration” Review: Details and Tasting Notes

In Four Gate Whiskey’s Words:

We located and purchased over 100 barrels of Kentucky Straight Bourbon ranging from 5 to 11 years old. And wanting to make a splash with our first release, we chose 14 of our oldest and most flavorful barrels of 11-year-old whiskey and combined them into our secondary Ex-sherry rum casks and let them age. We tasted them regularly, being careful to not let the barrel finish overwhelm the bourbon that is already excellent. When Bill was comfortable with the finish, we dumped them at barrel proof into our bottles and out the door they went. We dubbed the batch, aptly, “The Kelvin Collaboration.”

Four Gate Bourbon Kelvin CollaborationDetails (price, mash bill, cask type, ABV, etc.)

Details (price, mash bill, cask type, ABV, etc.)

Region: USA, Kentucky

Distiller: Various
Mash Bill: 74% corn, 18% rye, 8% malted barley
Cask: New Charred Oak, ex-Sherry Rum
Age: 11 Years
ABV: 61.7%

Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Batch: 1
Bottles: 1,732

Price: $200

Tasting Notes

EYE
Ruddy oak

NOSE
Oak, cherry heavy dark fruit, spice, leather and touches of pepper and citrus.

PALATE
Sherry, cocoa, spice, citrus, vanilla taffy, oak, brown sugar and a bit of bubblegum.

FINISH
Long -> Dark fruit, oak, spice fades to caramel and bubblegum.

BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Decent balance, med-full body and a light syrup feel.

A fun and interesting whiskey that doesn’t fully connect, but is a fascinating experiment.

Four Gate Bourbon Batch 1 – “Kelvin Collaboration” Review: Overall and Score

Smells great, tastes… alright. The Aroma is a solid “old bourbon” profile with some slight winey notes that start low and show more as it opens; Palate is warm an inviting, but lacks the velvety depth of the aroma with a bubblegum note that starts light and gets stronger as it opens; Finish starts out bold and fades to a light bubblegum note.

Four Gate Bourbon Batch 1 – “Kelvin Collaboration” is a decent bourbon with some interesting notes. Being a finished bourbon I to compared it in a side-by-side with the CA Belle Meade (sherry finish) from last week. The differences were more than subtle.

All around the Belle Meade was a bigger, darker and more complex, yet balanced, whiskey. Still, I enjoyed this Four Gate Bourbon Kelvin Collaboration sample enough that it’s no longer with us, so there’s that.

SCORE: 86/100 (B)