Four Roses unveils 2017 small batch Bourbon

by Annie Hayes

Four Roses Distillery is readying to release the latest edition in its annual series of small batch bottlings, which features three of the distillery’s 10 Bourbon recipes.

To create the new variant master distiller Brent Elliott created a number of test blends from select barrels. The distillery combines two mashbills with five proprietary yeast strains to produce 10 distinct Bourbon recipes, and the 2017 bottling is the first in the brand's history to only feature its low rye mashbill. The final recipe comprises a 15-year-old Bourbon from Four Roses’ OESK recipe, a 13-year-old OESK and a 12-year-old OESV. "There is a remarkable synergy among the three batches," said Elliott. "Once we combined them, it resulted in more depth, richness and warmth than any one of the individual recipes." Bottled at cask strength with an abv of 53.65%, 2017 Limited Edition Small Batch offers allspice, vanilla bean, apricot, and stewed fruits on the nose. On the palate the Bourbon has flavours of raspberry, maraschino cherry and light oak, with a long finish of brown sugar and cinnamon. The 2017 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon will be available for purchase on September 16 at the Four Roses Distillery and Warehouse & Bottling Facility. Approximately 13,800 hand-numbered bottles of the 2017 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon will be made available across the US with the RRP of US$130.