Burlington Wine and Spirits in Burlington, MA, held a Four Roses whiskey tasting event presented by Jerusha Torres, the New England Regional Manager for the Four Roses Distillery.
The first time that I ever had Four Roses bourbon was way back in 2017 at Codex, a 1920’s style speakeasy in Nashua, New Hampshire (a fantastic, must-see location!)
And I’ve reviewed one of their single barrel products before (which I very much enjoyed)
First a bit of history: the origin of the Four Roses distillery is unclear. Some accounts credit Rufus Mathewson Rose, post Civil War, but the Four Roses website now credits a Paul Jones, Jr, who trademarked the name in 1888. In 1910 Four Roses was produced at the distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Seagram purchased this brand in 1943.
The brand went through a period of highs and lows, with dramatically changing mash bills and recipes. A series of ownership changes in the 2000’s led to the distillery being purchased by the Kirin Brewery Company of Japan. Under their leadership, Four Roses began producing a variety of highly regarded, straight bourbon whiskeys, one of which we’re reviewing today.
In one notable way Four Roses is different from other producers of bourbon whiskey: They have ten distinct recipes, which they get from combining their two mash-bill recipes and five different yeast strains.
and here are the names of their yeast strains:
Their standard, “bottom shelf” bourbon is made from combining all ten of their recipes. Their single barrel bottlings are, of course, made with only one of those ten bourbons.
So with all that in mind, let’s go through their lineup!
1. Yellow label – This is their standard, a mix of all ten of their bourbon recipes. For the price it is quote good – floral, aromatic, a consistent pleaser among my friends. This one is this is the most consistent in terms of flavor profile of all FR products. Minimum 5 years old. Still a relatively bargain at $20 to 24 nowadays (I remember when this was just $15.) 80 proof.
2. Small Batch – 90 proof, and this one is a blend of four of their recipes. This is smoother, a bit spicier due to higher percentage of rye grain, has a pleasantly fuller mouth feel. Besides the typical FR notes I detected a pleasant light melon note
3. Small Batch Select – This is their newest product, introduced in 2019, and is non chill filtered. Made from a blend of six of their recipes. Really smooth mouth feel, feels better aged, really knocks it out of the ballpark.
4. Single Barrel 100 proof – This is notably fruity, has a slightly thinner mouth feel than the small batches, but it feels better aged than the yellow barrel. Blended from barrels that are 7 to 9 years old.
5. Finally we got to the Four Roses single barrel OBSO 111.6 proof – a store pick from Burlington Wine and Spirits, Burlington, Massachusetts. This was very spicy, slightly different in flavor profile from the others. For my money I’m happier just getting a non-store pick. But, this store, like all the best ones, offers samples of their store picks. So if you try it and really like it then this is a great way to pick up something unique!
6. Ending the evening we got to sample a mystery allocated Four Roses. This one was a bit thinner. Dryer, and moderately more oaky. Slight leather notes in a very good way. This was designed to be distinct from their usual profile. It turned out to be their 135 anniversary limited edition from last fall 2023. Sure is nice, different from the usual. 15,060 bottles were made, so sure, relatively limited but not exactly rare. It sold for around $200 at the time, and goes for more now. For completists and collectors they may want this, but I didn’t enjoy it any more than their small batch select, which is far more affordable.
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