Anyone who has tried Four Roses Single Barrel may feel they have gotten a little closer to the big place up in the sky! To me it has elegance, concentration, breeding, it is close to the perfect bourbon.
I can't resist passing on a story I read in a book I just finished, Titan, a biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (founder of Standard Oil), by Ron Chernow. This is truly one of the best books I have ever read, I highly recommend it. The story by the way has nothing to do with alcohol, of which Rockefeller was a fervent opponent.
In his later years, John D. used to like to take tours of the countryside in a Crane-Simplex auto, this was around 1918. He did this in particular in Florida where he maintained a home near the sea.
One day he and his entourage were in the car in the Florida back country and needed some gas. They stopped at a gas station and a woman attendant asked how much they needed. The chauffeur said, "5 gallons". Evidently the attendant didn't think that was enough for the large luxury car far from its home base. She asked the party where they were going. John D. replied, "Madam, we are all going to heaven". The attendant replied, "Well you ain't goin to get there very fast on five gallons of gas".
Chernow reports that for the rest of his life Rockefeller took pleasure in repeating the story.
Gary