Four Roses Small Batch, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 45% vol

Built in 1910 the Four Roses distillery is in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky (not far from the Wild Turkey Distillery) and has been owned by the Japanese Kirin Brewery Company since 2002. Under Seagram distillers’ ownership (1943 – 2002) the Four Roses brand moved exclusively to expanding European and Asian markets where it became very successful, however was withdrawn from sale in its home US market in favour of their core blended whiskies, returning later as a name featured on cheap blended US whiskey. Kirin immediately moved focus from blended back solely to Four Roses, and rapidly reestablished Four Roses as a big quality player in the US market.

The distillery uses two mash bills (grain combinations) both with 5% barley, one using 75% corn and the other 60% corn with the balance being rye. Limestone-rich (hard) water for the mash comes from the local Salt River, and each fermentation uses one mash bill with one of five original yeasts. This gives options for ten unique and different distiller’s beers which ferment for at least three days and are kept separate until fully mature, so ten different bourbons. These then pass through their continuous distillation column to yield a distillate they call ‘White Dog’ which in turn goes into a pot shaped still for a second more gentle distillation in the ‘Doubler’. From here the spirit is sent by road tanker to warehousing in Cox’s Creek less than 1 hour away. Four Roses is one of only a few big distillers to use single storey warehouses as temperature fluctuations are significantly less than in traditional seven storey rickhouses. When deemed mature they are expertly blended for their signature range: Four Roses Bourbon, Small Batch and Small Batch Select, while special worthy barrels are aged further for special editions. The house style is mellow and balanced, fruity with sweet oak and gentle spices.