Four Roses has a pretty solid following. Often on forums and in discussions with whiskey fans, I hear offhand statements like “this is a little like Four Roses, which is my favorite bourbon.” That’s a pretty strong recommendation for a bourbon that’s readily available and doesn’t have the trappings of mystique like Pappy Van Winkle or the respectability of craft producers like High West and Tuthilltown. My review of the “plastic jug” Yellow Label was actually pretty positive.
Four Roses Small Batch comes from the distiller’s 75%-20% (corn-to-rye) recipe and is bottled at 45% ABV after approximately 8 years of maturation. The “small batch” refers to a limited selection of barrels that are “batched” or vatted together to achieve a specific flavor profile. This one comes in at around $30 a bottle, which makes it comparable to (and somewhat cheaper than) other “small batch” bourbon releases. Don’t confuse this with the “Limited Edition” small batch, which is far more expensive.
Four Roses proudly uses only non-GMO corn, which is surprisingly (and expensive!) in this age of mass commodity production of corn. Good on you, Four Roses.
Nose: Spice. Lots and lots of black pepper. Black licorice. Mulling spices, but mostly black pepper.
Palate: Full-bodied and corn heavy, with lots of molasses. Suddenly it’s all sweetness and wood. Where are the spices?
Finish: Caramel Apple! Some milk chocolate. Much better finish than palate. Finally trails off with some cinnamon.
With Water: BIG Spice comes through on the nose, and the water wakes up some cayenne. Thins the body somewhat, and kills the finish. Try it once with water, but in general this bourbon doesn’t need it.
Overall: A respectable rye-recipe bourbon with some big, bold flavors. It’s not often that I’m able to identify bourbon notes other than cinnamon and spice (from the rye), corn syrup (from the corn), and charcoal (from the toasted barrels). Here I find black pepper on the nose, and delights like caramel apple and milk chocolate on the finish. The only downside is the relatively one-note palate, which is all corn syrup and barrel char. For that reason, I’d order this at a bar, but I wouldn’t make it my staple home bourbon. Still, for under $40, this stands up well to the competition.
Man, $30? I knew we had it cheap here in Madison, but I didn’t think it would be a 27% discount. Now I’ve really got to get a bottle.
I tried this not to long ago. I always drink my scotch neat but with bourbons I tend to add ice. I know it doesn’t give you the full experience (I always try them neat first)but bourbon has always been a summer whiskey to me and something about a chilled bourbon rolling past my lips is comforting. Anyways I really enjoy this bourbon. You are spot on saying this bourbon doesn’t need anything. It is tasty
Got mine for $25.00. here in central Fla. ‘Yellow’ label is $16.00. Nice bargain for a lighter bourbon.
I’ve found this to be an tolerable substitute for Black Maple Hills, since the Small Batch is readily available and Black Maple Hills has varied between available, available but stupid expensive, and just plain unavailable. Of course the Small Batch also stands on its own as a smooth, slightly sweet bourbon.
Just picked this up. I like it. The spiciness makes it interesting, but it has a smoothness that makes it very drinkable.
I wonder if they’ve changed their mashbill recently. I have a bottle of this, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear there was no rye at all in the Small Batch. I get lots of brown sugar, cherries, toasted marshmallow, vanilla and coconut. Odd.