What we’re drinking: Four Roses 2024 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon
Where it’s from: Based in Lawrenceburg, KY, Four Roses (est. 1888) releases a few limited editions every year, including this revered small batch expression, now in its 17th iteration.
Why we’re drinking this: We’ve raved about prior LE Small Batch releases and championed the bourbon brand as our Distillery of the Year in 2021. And their core products remain everyday whiskey staples for us.
Here’s the deal with Four Roses — each release is the product of one of 10 distinct bourbon recipes, created from two mash bills (both relatively high in rye) and five proprietary yeast strains, which produce different flavors (fruity, spicy, floral, herbal, etc.) You can get a breakdown of what each of the recipes contributes here.
The standby Four Roses Bourbon blends all 10 recipes into a good (and inexpensive) 80-proof sipper, while the Limited Edition Small Batch releases focus on just four recipes. It’s also a chance for Master Distiller Brent Elliott to hand-select a few outstanding batches that have typically aged longer than the usual Four Roses barrel (btw, you can credit Four Roses, in part, for launching the small batch craze.)
The 2023 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Breaks a Record
Celebrating the distillery’s 135th year with the oldest recipe they’ve ever used“The limited edition release is the best example of how we can truly create something different every year,” Elliott says. “And it’s the most fun I have every year, getting to go back and revisit some of these special older barrels that have been set aside just to potentially be used in these limited editions.”
This year’s edition features four batches aged 12 to 20 years — 12-year and 20-year OBSV (the standard recipe Four Roses uses in their single barrel), a 15-year OESK and a 16-year OESF. “It’s definitely different from years past,” Elliott says. Let’s find out.
How it tastes: Non-chill filtered and bottled at 108.2 proof, this is a very complex bourbon. There’s a candied fruit element here (Elliott likens it to Juicy Fruit), though you’ll also find some red berries and stone fruit as you sip, along with the expected notes of vanilla and allspice. The oak isn’t overpowering but comes out more on the finish, along with a surprisingly strong cinnamon note, which I’d put somewhere between Big Red and a finish in an amburana cask.
It’s more complex than your typical Four Roses release and certainly takes you on a journey, as the nose, palate and finish offer unique experiences. It’s certainly approachable — even with that high rye content, it has a mellow spice — but it’ll grow on you with each sip.
Fun fact: How Elliott narrows down what he uses for the LE Small Batch is pretty interesting. “The whole process takes about six to eight weeks,” he tells us. “I pull samples in November or December but don’t really start diving into individual batches right then. I usually set aside 20 to 25 batches with anywhere from 10 to 100 barrels. These have been set aside through the years. Whenever I find something really special, I earmark some of them for private barrels and some for this limited edition.”
Where to buy: Only 16,680 bottles of Four Roses 2024 Limited Edition Small Batch will be released in the United States at a suggested retail price of $220, either at the two Four Roses Distillery Visitor Centers on Sept. 14 or select retailers starting in September.
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