Age: 7-Years-Old

Mash Bill: 95/5 Rye/Malted Barley

Proof: 112.5 proof

Bottle Count: 2,439

Tasting Notes: 

Nose: Mint, toasted marshmallows, oak, candied citrus.

Taste: The front palate is greeted by sweet crème brulee while toasted marshmallows line the perimeter. The rear palate gets a hint of black pepper and spices with pleasing warm oak.

Finish: Medium in length, spicy notes, and marshmallows mingle on the mid-palate.

Four Gate Whiskey is releasing its 1oth batch of whiskey and returning to their innovative Split Stave™ casks designed and produced exclusively for Four Gate Whiskey Company by Kelvin Cooperage.

These casks are built by Kelvin by constructing a series of medium-toasted casks and a series of #2 char casks. The barrels were broken down before use and reassembled into Split Stave™ casks with alternating toasted and charred staves. The result combines the marshmallow and crème Brulee sweetness of toasted barrels with the smoky oak of a double-barrel.

“The main focus was to add complexity of flavor and additional sweetness from the wood sugars. We were already very happy with the quality of the base product,” Said Kelvin Cooperage Director of Operations William Hornaday, “By focusing on more toasted oak we were getting all those amazing caramelized wood sugars to add sweetness and depth of flavor to an already beautiful and spicy rye. In concept, the two complimented each other perfectly.”

This is the second use of these innovative barrels by Four Gate Whiskey Company, with the original release, batch #4, consisting of a bourbon aged in Split Stave™ casks released last December

“We really love the creativity Kelvin Cooperage shows with these casks,” said Chief Blending Officer Bill Straub, “The fact that we can tweak them slightly, adding more toasted staves to the mix, for example, or using a lighter or heavier char, makes this finish process really versatile.”

The result with Batch 10 is a wonderfully sweet Rye Whiskey that still maintains a hint of spice and everything that makes the underlying Rye whiskey so delicious at the start.