Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon: The Ultimate Bottle Guide

Even non-whiskey drinkers are likely to recognize Four Roses. The Lawrenceburg, KY distiller is a mainstay on the bourbon scene since the mid-19^th century. And yet, it wasn't until the 21^st that most of today's drinkers were able to get our hands on a bottle.

While the standard bottle of Four Roses comes through at 80 proof, the Small Batch is 90 proof, likely due to its slightly older age. The rest of the regular lineup includes the barrel-strength Single Barrel (100 proof), and Small Batch Select (104 proof), this last of which is non-chill filtered. These elevated editions tend to be regarded as one of the better deals in bourbon, where you can get quality at a decent price. To some drinkers, the new-ish Small Batch Select, first released in 2019, is worth even more than its sticker, as it didn't get nationwide distribution even after expanding its reach in 2021. And then, of course, there are the Limited Edition Small Batch releases, barrel-strength and not chill- filtered drops that vanish almost as soon as they hit shelves.

Whiskey drinkers are more divided on the regular version, known as Yellow Label. Generally, at its lower costs, it's seen as valid competition to other utilitarian mixers that are still fun to drink neat, such as Jim Beam and Evan Williams — good company. However, as the price has crept up, some experienced whiskey sippers feel it's outgrowing its britches, and that you're better off proceeding up to Small Batch.

Given the mid-1800s had radically different landscapes of business and what legally constitutes different types of whiskeys, it's pretty common for bourbon brands, particularly resurrected ones, to have complicated genealogies by changing and merging labels, recipes, master distillers, or distilleries. Four Roses is no exception. In fact, it's unclear how old the Four Roses brand actually is. If you go by the official Four Roses founding story, it seems more or less cut and dry, but in-depth research indicates the Four Roses brand (or brands?) has uncertain origins by date and even location.

It's known for certain that after Prohibition, Four Roses rose to become one of the most popular brands in America. Despite that, by the end of the '50s, it had become unavailable in the nation where it was made. That's right, it's surprising, but for much of its history, you couldn't actually get Four Roses bourbon in America. The whiskey spent over four decades exclusively distributed abroad, only returning to U.S. shelves in 2002. Since then, it's spent the 21st century growing the lineup, growing to (fittingly) four official and perpetual releases as of 2019's Small Batch Select. Additionally, the Single Barrel line is now expanding through the recipes, with Private Select and Limited Edition releases available beyond the active roster for devoted hunters of the high-rye bourbon.

Remarkably mild for something so rich, Four Roses Small Batch comes across sweet and nutty, like a breakfast cereal but spicier. These are both in the nose, officially characterized in the bottle's marketing copy as caramel and oak, though I do think the nose also delivers on the fruitiness that will wait a moment before making its tasting debut. It's one of the most pleasurable bourbons out there to simply inhale, which I recommend you do both before drinking and after draining, when the perfume in the glass cries out to be preserved somewhere. Four Roses, this is me officially registering my request for a Small Batch candle.

Whereas all 10 recipes go into the flagship product to showcase the wealth of flavors each brings, Small Batch keeps it to just four: OBSK, OBSO, OESK, and OESO. This means both mash bills are subjected to the same two kinds of yeast, K and O, producing two spins on spiciness and another two on fruitiness. Where Yellow Label has shallow breadth, Small Batch drills tightly for depth. You could do a lot worse in the $35 price range, and for its richness, this could readily go for another $15 against a lot of scotches or bigger-swing bourbons. In fact, pretty much all of the bourbons with comparably high-rye bills cost at least ten bucks more, if not twice as much. Small Batch remains a solid deal, whatever your opinions on Yellow Label.

Four Roses' website outlines its whiskey-making process in uncommon depth and detail. It's a typical mash cook to extract the corn's carbohydrates before adding in rye and a small amount of barley, at lower temperature. With five yeast strains and two mash bills, its blends are perhaps a little more part of its brand identity. Four Roses is structured around these combinations, with production codes (outlined below) that help fans discern the differences. Of its 10 pitched worts (cooled, cooked mash liquid with yeast added), OBSV is the backbone, although blending and barreling decisions wreak big changes from the same source. Yellow Label primarily uses OBSV but all 10 go into it. In that regard, Small Batch's biggest step away from the brand's basis might be foregoing OBSV.

After the yeast works its magic, the resulting beer is double distilled, first in a column still, then a doubler to fine-tune the product in the range of 138-140 proof. Before barreling, the distillate is watered down to 120 proof.

While production is standard, Four Roses stores whiskey differently. Most distilleries use several stories to take advantage of changes in humidity and temperature of up to 35 degrees, but this Rose keeps its Four on the floor. Its liquor travels from its Lawrenceburg distillery to single-story storage in Cox's Creek, KY exactly 50 miles away. You can visit both locations, but be sure you go to the right one you booked!

While the standard Four Roses Yellow Label is a useful, satisfying mixer, I recommend you enjoy Small Batch on its own merits. It's a uniquely pleasurable bourbon to feel this rich at 90 proof. I'd be inclined to drink it as-is and appreciate how quickly this ramps up into a contender that stands alongside similar bourbons meant to be employed regularly while still occupying a standard-bearer role. Small Batch stands right next to pricier high-rye bourbons like Bulleit or Redemption that are sold on the potency of flavor, and I will admit that there are times I add some ice halfway through drinking, in order to make the sweetness and nuttiness even more prominent. This is a whiskey that doesn't respond much to a splash of water, except maybe to bring out a little more burn if you find it too docile, so take it as it stands or steer directly toward the rocks.

If the average bottle of Yellow Label lives its life as 2/3 mixer and 1/3 easy on its own, I'd say Small Batch is flipped. It's a great pick to enjoy a bourbon unto itself, but not so premium you'd hesitate to mix it in, and indeed, might deliberately reach for it in any cocktail where the whiskey isn't buried and gets a chance to show off its characteristics. Again, as with Bulleit, that bartender's choice to beef up whiskey cocktails. Just don't drown it in anything so complex that the liquor itself is indistinguishable.

Four Roses is purportedly one of the highest-rye bourbons out there since its bottom floor is 20 percent and its top is 35. For a moment I considered pitting it against a high-corn rye like Wild Turkey's to compare it from the other direction with mirrored proportions. There aren't a lot of 1:1 comparison options out there, although Smooth Ambler Old Scout and Redemption certainly come close, thanks to a shared Midwest Grain Products background that suggests the same yeast strains, rye sourcing, cinnamon notes, and at least in Redemption's case, matching 120-proof barrel entry. Redemption also ladders up to single-barrel select releases, giving it another comparison point to Four Roses.

And yet...despite all those strong reasons, I still feel like it's Bulleit's high-rye bourbon is a truer comparison, with comparable mash bill, price range, and mixture of fruity and spicy notes. It's pretty common to see bourbonheads debating Bulleit with Yellow Label, only for someone to step in and end the thrashing by saying it's not a fair fight, and that Four Roses Small Batch is the truer counterpart. Bulleit oozes fruit from head to toe of a hardy body, and Four Roses Small Batch devotes half its contents to same effect, but in my opinion, much deeper flavor. It costs only a nominal amount more, perhaps five bucks, but in my opinion, it's worth it as a more successful edition.

Each bottle of Four Roses is catalogued and described by four-character codes, all starting with the letter O, indicating the distillery location in Lawrenceburg. The next letter will be either E or B, indicative of the two mash bills used. Third up is always S, for straight distillation: aged at least two years. All Four Roses is straight bourbon, typically aged at least five years, though often up to around ten. Four Roses tends to eschew age statements, since, as Master Distiller Brent Elliot says, it's "ready when it's ready." A straight whiskey younger than four years would be required to disclose its age. And bringing up the rear is the real definitive indicator, the type of yeast used. This will be F, K, O, Q, or V. Each confers a different aspect: herbal, spicy, deeply fruity, floral, and delicately fruity, respectively.

Four Roses famously adheres to minimal mash bills , blending by their interaction with the multiple yeast strains. While the more recognizable distilleries tend to have proprietary, or at least devoted, strains, and multiple mash bills for blending, you can tell the main recipe in each label, though not its percentage, by its order in the list. In that spirit of disclosure, the label on each bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel indicates the barrel, rick, tier, and position numbers/letters, so you can pinpoint its exact pedigree. Warehouse M is said to be the most desirable.

It won't be easy to hunt down, but you can sample all 10 recipes for yourself with the distillery's sampler pack, recently introduced in 2023. For the first time in Four Roses' history, Fans looking to familiarize themselves with each mash/yeast combination's distinctive notes, can taste their distinct qualities discretely from each other with 50ml samples aged eight to 10 years, drawn from the Private Selection barrels. (Small Batch, for the record, is aged six to seven years.) This sampler kit debuted in the Kentucky distiller's gift shop in June of that year, then soon saw limited distribution to California, Georgia, Illinois, and Kentucky that same summer. Not easy to find! 

If you find one you particularly love, odds are 40/60 you can buy an entire bottle of it these days. Single-barrel releases have historically been strictly OBSV until very recently. As of 2025 onward, you can now find single-barrel bottles of OBSF, OESK, and OESO for sale. Who knows? We might get the whole lineup before too long. If you can't wait for an official release, and you feel like a trip to Kentucky, you could always buy a Private Selection bottle of your desired recipe. They're getting up in price, but remain a square deal for undistributed releases.

While the Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batches are hard enough to find, completists can definitely nab one if you're not particular about the year. However, two bottles are produced strictly for export to Japan, which was a safe harbor for bourbon producers in the years when straight bourbon had fallen out of favor in America — particularly for Four Roses, which spent the late '50s through early '00s not even bothering with the U.S. market. It's not surprising to find slightly richer, older exports for Japan, which is home to the distillery's parent company Kirin.

We've covered both bottles in our list of rare bourbons you can only get overseas. Four Roses Black is buttery and sweet, with chocolate fruitiness, before the smoky, pleasurable bitterness of the char slides in. Its nose is notably floral as well. As for Super Premium, it's "quite fruity, with cinnamon and a mild nuttiness dominating the aroma," albeit thin-tasting despite "surprisingly significant oak and spice influence."

The Japanese spirits industry has no shortage of its own fabulous (if too-often rare here) whiskies that closely resemble scotch malt whiskies. While corn whiskey can be grown anywhere, only the U.S. can legally produce bourbon, making it an appreciated import in whisky/whiskey-loving nations. The same is true in the States, and if you're lucky you'll spot a great Japanese whisky at Costco for a low price.