Review #8: Four Roses Small Batch Select

Welcome to our Shelter in Bourbon series. You may not be able to go outside, but at least you don’t have to be socially distant from your bottles. Today we are taking the blog on the road and writing it family style, with a guest appearance from our Aunt.

Four Roses Small Batch Select

Intro: Our next addition to the bourbon library comes to us from Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. A brand with a convoluted origin story, and an up-and-down history throughout the 1900s, and now finally re-establishing itself as a quality brand for bourbon.

Our guest reviewer is a fellow amateur, turned pro, bourbon enthusiast. She made the switch a few years before us… We decided that this tasting should take place on a cooler spring afternoon in the driveway, because you know, quarantine life.

Chances are you’ve seen the very distinctive insignia of the four full blooming roses on the bottle. The single barrel version of this bourbon is fairly available and, as opposed to some single barrel options, very reasonably priced. The Small Batch Select is a little bit more scarce, but if you know where to look you can find it. The distillery is ramping up investment and subsequently production of their product lines. We snagged our bottle from the distillery, but his Aunt purchased one from a local store to stave off quarantine boredom.

Visiting the distillery was a bit of a downer for us, but less so for the Aunt. It is a little bit out of the way, and when you see the pictures you think sprawling facilities and perfectly manicured grounds. In actuality, it is a smaller distillery (comparatively) to some of the larger brands. The day we went, we couldn’t take a tour or take part in the tasting room. A couple of bachelor parties showed up, nothing Four Roses could do about that. I think for us it was more so we had certain expectations of the visit, and it turned out to be a bit different from our experiences at other distilleries.

The Backstory: Four Roses was trademarked in 1888, however distilling and production dates back (potentially) to the 1860s. It was founded by Paul Jones Jr. The Four Roses name is derived as a symbol to the passion and devotion to his wife.

The distillery itself was built in 1910 with a very distinct Spanish mission style architecture. If you’ve only seen the pictures of it placed against the backdrop of other distilleries, it is quite distinctive.

The Four Roses brand has changed hands several times, and beginning in the late 1950s its bourbon under this brand was not sold in the US. Seagram decided to focus on blended whiskey and neutral grain spirits in the US instead. During this period the brand name in the US became known as a sub-par brand. Many still think that. It wasn’t until the mid 1990s that this bourbon was made available in the US market again. The brand was then sold to Vivendi/Universal, then to Pernod Ricard, then Diageo, and currently resides under the Kirin Brewery. Ironically enough, Kirin decided the focus solely on Bourbon in the US market and halted domestic sale of blended whiskey. It has taken years to re-establish the brand name to be synonymous with quality in the bourbon world. They’ve recently begun to win some awards and for taste which is a great sign as it continues its campaign to rebuild its brand name in the bourbon world. Four Roses combines two mashbills and five strains of yeast for this bourbon. This particular one includes fruit, slight spice, floral essence, and herbal notes. Both mashbills are corn dominant which accounts for the sweeter flavor, however the mix of rye varies. Mashbill B has a corn/rye/malted barley of 60/35/5. While Mashbill E is 75/20/5. The exact mix of each is not known. This particular product is aged for at least 6 years and possesses a proof of 104 (52% ABV). Tasting Notes: According to Four Roses: On the nose you get raspberries, clove, and nutmeg. To the palate you get apricot, berries, vanilla, and light oak. The finish is lingering spearmint, with a light touch of cinnamon.

According to the Aunt: This is a very smooth bourbon. Great for an after dinner drink, or a Sunday afternoon standing in the driveway. It has a whiff of cherry possibly raspberry.

According to Him: There is no bite to this bourbon, and minimal hug. A little bit of heat that comes back after the second or third sip, but then it backs off. Very sweet overall, and you definitely get the hints of different fruit. Slight spice on the back-end. Overall, it is a nice bourbon for embarking on a mid-afternoon drink in the driveway with the dogs running around.

According to Her: Sweet on the nose with hints of caramel, cherries, and raspberry. Very smooth and not much of a Kentucky Hug, but there is a bit of heat that builds after the first sip. It is sweet and has fruity undertones which makes it standout from the other bourbons we’ve profiled that tend to be darker colored bourbons with more spice, oak, nut and chocolate undertones. Not a bourbon I’d normal drink standing in a driveway, but it was a delicious treat to indulge in while under quarantine. The Rating: You can definitely tell Four Roses is starting to come back into its own as a bourbon maker. It’s a niche occasion bourbon due to it being sweeter with limited spice or heat. Niche isn’t a bad thing, but you will probably have to be more in the mood to drink this one over others in your collection. Compared to other small batch bourbons, the price isn’t too bad placing it in the $50-$60 range depending on where you purchase. 3.99 out of 5 Glasses. This was a combo rating, and probably rated a little higher based on the setting and time. It’s a consensus middle shelf bourbon for us, but considering the content and price, it’s a solid addition to your collection.