Revisiting Four Roses Bourbon

Four Roses bourbon tastes at Saratoga Wine & Food Festival.

Like a lot of people who came of drinking age in the second half of the 20^th century, I had a poor impression of Four Roses bourbon. It was an inexpensive blend without much benefit other than its ability to produce a hangover. But it turns out things have changed dramatically since Kirin acquired the brand around the turn of the century.

Four Roses had a tasting booth both days at the Saratoga Wine & Food Festival. I spent some time with Stephen Schuler, the rep from Proof Positive, talking about his bottles. The low-quality blend has been discontinued and the company now makes four bourbons for U.S. sales from 10 different recipes. The recipes are a mix-and-match of two separate mash bills (the blend in grain used) and 5 different yeast strains.

Four Roses Bourbon 80 blends all 10 recipes in a proprietary formula and rectifies (adds distilled water to control proof) to a final proof of 80. It’s an easy drinking everyday bourbon (I tried it in an old fashioned as well as neat) on a par with my standby, Evan Williams, and light years better than the harsh fusel oils in the blended product of my college days. About $20 at retail.

The Small Batch, 90 proof, blends 4 of the 10 recipes. It starts with a ripe berry note that reminds me of the fruity red wines that were popular a few years back, turns to a mellow nuttiness, and ends with a spicy kick in the back of the throat. High $30s at retail.

The Single Barrel, 100 proof, uses only one recipe (a high rye mash bill and a delicate fruit yeast strain). It has a deeper, more complex flavor profile—Schuler says he can taste notes of toasted caramel, cacao nibs, tobacco, leather. On my first visit to his booth this was the bourbon he poured when he found out I was an Islay drinker; it has the same kind of intensity that makes you sit up and take notice. Low $40s at retail.

The Small Batch Select, 104 proof, is blended with a similar process to the Small Batch using 6 of the 10 recipes. It is non-chill filtered which gives it an appealing syrupy mouthfeel that coat the palate. Schuler finds lots going on with this bourbon: nose of raspberry, clove and nutmeg; apricot, berries, vanilla and light oak in the flavor profile; lingering spearmint finish with a light touch of cinnamon. It’s a bourbon drinker’s bourbon, with layer upon layer of what a bourbon lover loves. Around $80 at retail.

By the way, according to Wikipedia there’s some historical fuzziness about the origin of the Four Roses brand. Some say it was originally distilled by four guys named Rose, which makes sense. But Kirin has a much more romantic story which leaves out the Roses entirely:

It began when Paul Jones, Jr., the founder of Four Roses Bourbon, became smitten by the beauty of a Southern belle. It is said that he sent a proposal to her, and she replied that if her answer were “Yes,” she would wear a corsage of roses on her gown to the upcoming grand ball. Paul Jones waited for her answer excitedly on that night of the grand ball…when she arrived in her beautiful gown, she wore a corsage of four red roses. He later named his Bourbon “Four Roses” as a symbol of his devout passion for the lovely belle, a passion he thereafter transferred to making his beloved Four Roses Bourbon.

However, they call this the “legend” rather than actual historical fact. Something to speculate about while you are enjoying a few sips of Four Roses bourbon.