We’ve talked before about single barrel picks, different mash bills, and other ways distillers make their whiskeys unique and exciting. While Maker’s Mark has their stave process and their wood finishing series, Buffalo Trace has BTAC and now the Daniel Weller experimental wheat, they aren’t the only game in town. Four Roses has been offering different recipes of their fabled bourbon — a collector’s dream to get them all (especially as a Single Barrel Barrel Strength select). Now, Four Roses Distillery has announced a limited release of the Ten Recipe Tasting Experience (pre-order here), with the goal of making all ten of their recipes readily available in one single box. Let’s dive in.
Four Roses Ten Recipe Tasting Experience
The Four Roses Ten Recipe Tasting Experience is a box-set release that contains ten 50mL bottles. Each bottle contains Four Roses whiskey that represent one of the ten unique combinations of ingredients often offered by brand. All 10 bourbons included in the experience are non-chill filtered and distilled at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Each one is bottled at 104 Proof (54% ABV).
The Experience also includes a video for a personal tasting guide hosted by Master Distiller Brent Elliott. Elliot guides drinkers through the entire tasting process.
This is a limited release, but you can pre-order it from Nestor Liquor and other online retailers.
Preorder From Nestor Liquor
Four Roses Recipes
Each Four Roses recipe is a combination of a specific mash bill and yeast strain, which in each create distinct tasting experiences. The 10 main recipes from Four Roses are all included in the tasting experience kit. The recipes included are:
- OBSV
- OBSK
- OBSO
- OBSQ
- OBSF
- OESV
- OESK
- OESO
- OESQ
- OESF
How Do You Read A Four Roses Recipe
The Four Roses recipe label is actually pretty straight forward. Each recipe title contains four letters. All ten recipes follow a simple pattern of O_S_. The O indicates that the whiskey was distilled by Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and the S tells you that it’s a Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The second letter in the recipe identifies the mash bills, and the fourth letter identifies the yeast strain that was used.
Four Roses Mash Bills
Four Roses Mash Bill “B”: 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley
Four Roses Mash Bill “E”: 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley
Obviously the big difference here is the ratio of corn to rye. Bourbon is, by definition, 51%+ corn. Mash bills with higher rye content might be a little “spicier”, while high corn percents are typically sweeter.
Four Roses Yeast Strains
K: baking spices
Q: floral character
O: richer fruit
F: herbal, minty
V: delicate fruit, think spiced pear
You can see how these combinations would create unique tastes in the Four Roses bourbons, and tasting them side-by-side will be a great experience for any level of bourbon drinker.
Is The Four Roses 10 Recipe Tasting Experience Available in North Carolina?
This tasting kit should start hitting shelves and retailers in early August, 2023. It’s a limited release, so you;ll want to purchase it if you see it (it may be your only chance). As for the kit’s availability in North Carolina, that remains to be seen. I’m keeping a keen eye on the NC ABC Warehouse Stock Status, and will update this page if I see anything. It will certainly be sold at select premium spirit retailers. Hopefully we’ll get an allocation to the state! If you don’t want to risk missing out, we’ve seen it available for preorder on Nestor Liquor, close to MSRP (plus shipping).
