Bourbon Review #6: Four Roses Small Batch 2013 Limited
Edition
Category: Boutique
Price: $100
Availability: Limited Annual (Fall) Release
Proof: 103.2, 51.6 %abv (Barrel Strength)
Mashbill: OBSV-18 Years, OBSK-13 Years, OESK-13 Years (Three
separate recipes)
Age: 13 to 18 years (depending on the barrel)
Distillery: Four Roses, Lawrenceburg, KY
There are three things you need to know in order to appreciate what an
incredible bourbon company Four Roses (F. R.) is. 1. The History 2. The man who
is Jim Rutledge 3. The magic of the yeast. I’ll walk you through it.
1.
The History: (A true come back story): Four roses is a brand of
Kentucky Straight Bourbon that was started by founder Paul Jones Jr. in 1884.
Jones moved his thriving business to Louisville, Kentucky where he opened an
office in a section of historic Main Street called, "Whiskey Row."
Paul Jones Jr.
In
1922, the Paul Jones Company purchased the Frankfort Distilling Company, one of
only six distilleries granted permission to operate through prohibition to
produce bourbon for medicinal purposes. In the years under Paul's direction,
sales of the bourbon flourished and Four Roses grew to be America’s number one
selling brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
Above photo: 1928 F.R. as a prescription only, medicinal whisky
Four Roses experienced a transition when Seagram purchased the brand
along with the Frankfort Distilling Co in 1943. At the close of the
1950's, bourbon sales in the US plummeted. For this reason, Seagram made the
decision to discontinue Four Roses as Kentucky Straight Bourbon to an American
market. During this time, blended whisky was actually more popular than KY
Straight Bourbon, and for some strange reason considered to be a premium
product.
1935 Pre Seagram advertisement.
1936 Pre Seagram advertisement.
Lets take a moment to discuss what blended whisky is. At that time a blended
whiskey was most commonly an aged whiskey blended with Grain Neutral Spirits
(GNS). Think of it as light whiskey or whiskey-flavored vodka as some describe
it. The real Four Roses Bourbon was still being distilled in Lawrenceburg
Kentucky, but Americans could taste not a drop of it for over forty years! All
of it was for export only to Asia and Europe, where bourbon was experiencing a
rise in popularity. The “USA version” of Four Roses was distilled out of
Indiana and Maryland as “grade A”, and eventually bottom shelf “grade B”
blended whiskey. To quote F. R. Master Distiller Jim Rutledge, “The quality of
the stuff they were selling was a rotgut whiskey. It was just awful.”
2. The man who is
Jim Rutledge: Four Rose’s greatest hero is Jim Rutledge. He grew up
in Louisville, KY. Jim started working for Seagram in the late 60’s. He, above
all people, worked relentlessly to try and get the management at Seagram to
return their premium bourbon to an American market. Despite his best efforts,
he was turned away time after time.
Above Photo: Jim Rutledge
During the 1990’s Seagram made some bad financial decisions, and ended
up going out of business. Four Roses Bourbon was alive and well in Japan. It
was the best selling American Whiskey in Asia. Kirin, one of the largest breweries
in Japan, was the distributor for Four Roses Bourbon in the Asian market. They
knew all too well what a great product Four Roses was, and they did not want to
lose it.
In 2001, Kirin purchased Four Roses. Meetings that followed gave Jim
Rutledge one last audience to plead his case, (paraphrase) “Let us get rid of
this blended whiskey from the U.S. shelves and bring Four Roses Bourbon back”.
Jim was given the answer he had been waiting on for decades.
Kirin said yes to the man that had waited so long to restore the Four
Roses brand to prominence in the U.S. In 2002, Jim and his team proceeded
forward with that task in earnest. They recalled all of the U.S. Four Roses
Blended Whiskey from the shelves and dumped it!
When the new F. R. first hit the shelves as “the return of America’s
favorite bourbon”, folks were skeptical. This was due to decades of negative
associations. The brand conjured up images of homeless, boxcar-winos. The
transition did not happen overnight.
Over time bourbon connoisseurs, the world over began to see F. R. in a
new light. In 2004, F. R. introduced their Single Barrel line. This product is
now the top selling single barrel bourbon in the state of Kentucky, a testament
to the quality of the product and the power of the brand today. F.R. has been
on a roll wining awards both nationally and internationally. Now, Thanks to the
hard work and dedication of Jim Rutledge, it’s considered to be one of the
finest Kentucky Straight Bourbon Companies in the world.
F.R. created the Limited Edition concept
around five years ago. This has grown to become one of the highest anticipated
releases of the year, earning it the nickname " The B.T. Antique
Collection Killer." The collection is made up of two expressions: 1. Small
batch and 2. Single Barrel. As with many limited release bourbons, each year’s
release is a different expression from the year before. Part of the reason that
these bourbons are so unbelievably good has to do with their unique mashbill.
The subject of this review is the 2013 L.R. Small Batch.
As with all “small batch” bourbons, the master distiller will hand
select separate barrels that he feels will exemplify the best of there given
mashbills. The barrels are then married together to create a truly unique
expression. If you scroll up and read my mashbill section, you will see some
cryptic coding. I will briefly explain:
Each of the recipes is identified by a four-letter code, but only two of
those letters describe the makeup of the recipe. The first letter is always O,
which designates the bourbon as having been made at the Four Roses Distillery
(It is assumed that these codes date back to when the distillery operated under
its previous name, Old Prentice). The second letter will either be E (75% corn,
20% rye, 5% malted barley) or B (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley). Recipes
with a higher percentage of corn will typically produce sweeter bourbon, while
those with a higher percentage of rye will usually result in a bourbon with
more spice character. The third letter is always S, which designates the
distillate as “straight”, meaning it came off the still at 80% abv or less.
3. The magic of the
yeast: I think it really gets interesting when we get to the fourth
letter. This letter referrers to the yeast strain. Let me just say that to my
knowledge, no other distillery is doing anything remotely close to this. I’m
speaking about combining different yeast strains from different mashbills to
create an ultimate small batch expression. F. R. has a total of ten different mashbills and five
different yeast strains that they can mix and mingle. When you couple that with
age, warehouse location and so on, The possibilities are endless! In the case
of the 2013 Small Batch Limited Release, the “V” in the recipe refers to the
distillery’s fruitier, creamier yeast. “K” refers to a spicier strain of yeast.
These whiskeys were “mingled” together to create a harmonious blend. The
results are something truly epic.
Overall: This is
truly
an unparalleled, master-class bourbon, offered at the perfect proof! It’s big and bold, while
maintaining a rare elegance and sophistication unmatched in the bourbon world.
Its unique notes of vanilla custard and rich cherry cordial balance the smoke
infused oaky finish. The
Colonel gives this bourbon a 10 out of 10! Christmas in a glass! Shear genius!
Each of the ten recipes is identified by a four letter code, but only two of those letters describe the makeup of the recipe. The first letter is always O, which designates the bourbon as having been made at the Four Roses Distillery (I assume these codes date back to when the distillery operated under its previous name, Old Prentice). The third letter is always S, which designates the distillate as “straight”, meaning it came off the still at 80% abv or less (all Four Roses whiskey is “straight” these days, but under Seagram’s ownership there would have been plenty of whiskey floating around which didn’t qualify for the “straight” designation, making this a more relevant bit of information).
The second letter identifies the mash bill. It will either be E (75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley) or B (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley). Recipes with a higher percentage of corn will typically produce a sweeter bourbon, while those with a higher percentage of rye will usually result in a bourbon showing more of that grain’s unique spicy character.
The fourth letter identifies the yeast strain:
V – delicate fruitiness savory, complex, slightly fruity, exceptionally well-balanced classic bourbon
K – spicy full-bodied, slow-aging, with a particular spicy quality distinct from that of rye grain
O – rich fruitiness plump, juicy and rounded with red fruit tones, complex and long in flavor
Q – floral exceptionally floral with almost acacia-like tones, delicate and highly aromatic
F – herbal
