Four Gate Batch 6 “Kelvin Collaboration 2” Review

Harkening back to their original Kelvin Collaboration, Four Gate has released an update that used both rum and cognac casks: Four Gate Batch 6 “Kelvin Collaboration 2”. Two cask types that can easily trip up whiskey makers and leave you with either no results at all or a total mess.

On the whole I’m not a huge fan of Cognac casks or rum casks, or sherry casks really, being used to finish bourbon. All too often it detracts more than it enhances and we end up with something that isn’t as tasty as just good old bourbon. But there are outliers, like the Wild Turkey Revival, which show it can be done well. Let’s see where this one falls.

Four Gate Batch 6 “Kelvin Collaboration 2” – Details and Tasting Notes

Whiskey Details

Region: Kentucky

Distiller: Undisclosed (likely Heaven Hill or Barton)
Mash Bill: At least 51% Corn + Rye + Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak, ex-Cognac, ex-Rum
Age: 12 Years
ABV: 63.2%

Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Batch: 6

Price: $200*

Tasting Notes

EYE
Polished oak

NOSE
Deep oak, velvety dark fruit, citrus, char, honey roasted nuts, toasted gingerbread, toasted grain, oatmeal, complex baking spice and a warm earthy farmy note.

PALATE
Oak, leathery dried dark fruit, cola spice, toffee, cocoa, molasses cookies, roasted nuts and the entire baking spice rack (nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, clove, etc.)

FINISH
Long -> Oak, spice, dark fruit, leather and vanilla.

BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Excellent, full, oily.

Four Gate Batch 6 “Kelvin Collaboration 2” – Overall
Aroma is explosive, expressive and threads that needle between beauty and brutality with a powerful delivery of rustic, farmy and decadently sweet profiles; Palate is crazy with the way it moves and shifts between cognac-like notes and rum-like notes but always with a heavy bourbon in-between; Finish is a warm synopsis of the palate that goes on and on and on…

Wow, what kind of sourcing and cask wizardry does Four Gate have going on right now? This is just absurdly delicious.

Four Gate Batch 6 “Kelvin Collaboration 2” – Final Thoughts and Score

There’s a strange part of me that never wants to give out a perfect score… ever. Even when my first instinct is “this is a flawless whiskey” I fight it and start looking for holes to poke in my own intuition. Often I’ll find a valid reason to pull back my excitement and level down to something less than a 5/5, but in this case, I just couldn’t do it; I couldn’t find a reason.

This is one of those whiskeys where I had a hard time not going through the whole sample in one sitting because it just blew me away. I managed to reign myself in and instead enjoyed it over four sittings while I dialed in the notes and am sipping the last straggling bit while writing up this Four Gate Batch 6 “Kelvin Collaboration 2” review. And I have to say… it keeps getting better.

SCORE: 5/5

*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.

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