Four Roses is one of the most iconic Kentucky bourbons on the shelf. It’s massively respected and hugely sought-after — especially their single barrel releases (more on those later). But it wasn’t always that way. Barely two decades ago, it was a dismissed brand of whiskey that nearly shuttered for good. The public’s view of Four Roses was that it was swill, rotgut — the stuff your grandpappy hid in the garage.
Through diligence and commitment to craft, Four Roses has made an incredible comeback. Now, the whiskey is so good and nearly ubiquitous that I knew it was time to rehash and rank every single available expression. Available is italicized because Four Rose is truly unique in the bourbon whiskey world — using 10 different mash bills (recipes) to make its bourbon. Most distilleries (even the huge ones) will use one or two (maybe three if they’re doing something wheated).
10 mash bills is a true outlier in bourbon, so it makes sense to break them down a little. Four Roses’ 10 mash bills are created from two distinct grain recipes with five different yeast strains. The grain recipes are a very high-rye bourbon mash bill of 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malted barley. This is called mash bill “B” — remember that for a little later. The other mash bill is a lower rye but still on the high end with 75% corn, 20% rye, and 5% malted barley. That’s mash bill “E,” you’ll need to remember that one too.
How do these two mash bills become 10 bourbon recipes? Yeast. Four Roses deploys five distinct yeast strains that it propagates in-house. Each yeast has its own structure that focuses certain flavor notes to be more present in the resulting beer and, later, the whiskey that eventually ends up in your glass. These strains are also given a letter name and are as follows:
- “V” — Delicate Fruit
- “K” — Slight Spice
- “O” — Rich Fruit
- “Q” — Floral Essence
- “F” — Herbal Notes
Why are the letters important, you ask? Well, they allow you to decode what is either in the blended bourbon or single barrel bourbon bottle you have. Four Roses uses a four-letter code to tell the drinker what they’re drinking. They look like this: “OBSK” or “OESO” or “OBSF”.
You can decode it easily. “O” is for “Old Prentice Distillery” which is the old name for the Four Roses Distillery (which just celebrated 135 years of operations). The “E” or “B” is always the second letter and denotes the mash bill. The “S” tells you that the whiskey is a “Straight” bourbon. And finally, the last letter tells you which yeast strain was used.
So “OESO” is a Four Roses straight bourbon made with Mash Bill E and “Rich Fruit” yeast. Savvy?
That leads us to the “why?” of it all. Four Roses does this so that it can create a fantastic line of whiskey expressions, plain and simple. I’ll get into what’s in what bottle below. But trust me, it can be shocking how different a whiskey can taste based on yeast alone. Moreover, this also gives Four Roses the unique chance to release single barrel releases that highlight one of the recipes. That, in turn, makes the hunt for every recipe single barrel voracious. Seriously, when word gets out about a new single barrel release at Four Roses, the line to buy one can be miles long.
There’s a workaround for that now. Four Roses just announced that it’s releasing a 10-bottle tasting kit of each one of its recipes represented. Now, you too can try each of the ten recipes without waiting in a line for a day or spending well over MSRP!
To that end, I’m ranking every Four Roses expression that you can get on the shelf. I’m not including vintage single barrel releases because… there are a gazillion of them. But I am ranking every single barrel recipe alongside the standard stuff and their prized Limited Edition annual release (again, I’m not ranking every Limited Edition Four Roses release because those go all the way back to 2008). This is about what you can get now, capiche? Let’s dive in!
Part 1 — The Standard Four Roses Bottles Ranking
14. Four Roses Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $21
The Whiskey:
This introductory juice from Four Roses is a blend of all 10 of their mash bills. The barrels are a minimum of five years old when they’re plucked from the warehouses, blended, brought down to proof, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose also brings along dried flowers, plenty of honey, and orchard fruits, with a hint of dark spice.
Palate: The palate adds vanilla to the honey and apple foundations with a light sense of tinniness that feels kind of cheap.
Finish: The end is short but full of orchard fruit, caramel sweetness, dark spice, and green oak with a nice vanilla underbelly.
Bottom Line:
This is a rail whiskey. It’s meant for mixing with Coke, Sprite, or ginger ale. Use it accordingly.
13. Four Roses Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $35
The Whiskey:
Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon is a blend of four whiskeys. The blend is split evenly between the high and low-rye bourbons with a focus on “slight spice” and “rich fruit” yeasts — that means OBSK, OESK, OBSO, and OESO are in the mix. After six to seven years of aging, the whiskey is blended, cut with soft Kentucky water, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft and sweet apple and cherry woods greet with a good dose of sour red berries dusted with brown winter spices, especially clove and nutmeg.
Palate: The palate leans into soft and salted caramel with a hint of those berries underneath while the spices get woodier and a thin line of green sweetgrass sneaks in.
Finish: The finish is silky and boils down to blackberry jam with a good dose of winter spice, old wood, and a hint of vanilla tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is lightyears ahead of the standard Bourbon above. It’s a soft bourbon that can work as an easy everyday sipper over some rocks or make a killer cocktail base.
12. Four Roses Small Batch Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 52%
Average Price: $57
The Whiskey:
This expression uses six of Four Rose’s ten whiskeys. The blend employs OBSV, OBSK, OBSF, OESV, OESK, and OESF all aged six to seven years before batching, much lighter proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This nose is enticing with a mix of dark berries and cloves with a yeasty doughnut filled with dark fruit and covered in powdered sugar next to a thin line of berry brambles — stems, thorns, dirt, leaves, everything.
Palate: The palate is lush with a balance of dark berry pie filling next to winter spices, mincemeat pies, nutshells, and brandy butter vanilla sauce.
Finish: The finish arrives with a rush of fresh mint next to wet cedar, blackberry Hostess Pies, and nutmeg-heavy eggnog all leading to a final note of that dark berry bramble black dirt.
Bottom Line:
This is just excellent whiskey. It’s a great sipper neat or on the rocks. It also makes a whiskey-forward cocktail that will slap. You cannot go wrong with this bottle.
Part 2 — The Single Barrel Four Roses Ranking
I didn’t need to make this division in the ranking but it does a great job of illustrating that all of Four Roses’ best stuff is their single barrel stuff.
11. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OESF
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 75/20/5 mid-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “herbal note” yeast, or “OESF.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose takes you on a walk through a mint garden after the rain while layers of classic orchard fruits, honey, and vanilla mingle beneath the fresh herbs.
Palate: The palate takes a turn toward sage and thyme with a hint of green tea cut with cinnamon and honey over caramel chews and a hint of rhubarb.
Finish: That rhubarb, mint, and sage combine on the end with a rush of sharp winter spice barks and soft vanilla.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the funkiest of the single barrel, single recipe bourbons for me. I like it a lot but I really need to be in the mood to reach for it.
10. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OBSK
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 60/35/5 high-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “slight spice” yeast, or “OBSK.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The spice is present on the nose as cinnamon sticks, clove buds, star anise, and a hint of black licorice that leads to creamy root beer with a touch of vanilla and cherry and maybe a whisper of boot leather.
Palate: The palate starts off with smooth vanilla that leads to a rich and nutty winter spice cake brimming with black tea, cardamom, allspice, and nutmeg next to light leathery tobacco.
Finish: There’s a sense of stewed apples with plenty of wintry spices that amps all the way up to red chili pepper with a woody and leathery finish.
Bottom Line:
This does lean into spice but only really hits 100 by the finish. Until then, this is a balanced whiskey that presents as very classic.
9. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OBSV
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $43
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 75/20/5 mid-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “delicate fruit” yeast, or “OBSV.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Woody maple syrup and cinnamon sticks lead to a hint of pear candy with a vanilla underbelly on the nose.
Palate: The palate lets the pear shine as the spices lean into woody barks and tart berries next to leathery dates and plums with a butteriness tying everything together.
Finish: A spicy tobacco chewiness leads the mid-palate toward a soft fruitiness and a hint of plum pudding at the end with a slight nuttiness and green herbal vibe.
Bottom Line:
This feels like classic Four Roses and not that far off the Small Batch Select above. Because of that, I like this one in cocktails quite a bit, especially Manhattans.
8. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OESV
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 75/20/5 mid-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “delicate fruit” yeast, or OESV.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A mild sense of waffles in maple syrup work toward blueberries and currants with a hint of apple cider and maybe some vanilla cookies.
Palate: There’s a light softness that’s kind of like pear cake covered in caramel syrup with a hint of date and maybe almond at play.
Finish: The soft berries come back at the end with a fleeting sense of mint tied to old tobacco and mixed berries pie with a dollop or malted vanilla ice cream.
Bottom Line:
This is getting into the interesting stuff. It’s just so different and so tasty. The berry pie filling, hint of mint, dark fruits, orchard fruits, and slight tobacco spice all create a really deep experience. This is a good sipper, folks.
7. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OESK
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 75/20/5 mid-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “slight spice” yeast, “OESK.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a subtle sense of old gingerbread that you’d build houses out of with a hint of powdered sugar next to apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks and clove buds floating in a mulled wine.
Palate: Those muted cinnamon sticks and clove buds lead to allspice and nutmeg-heavy eggnog with a counter of ginger candy and orange peels next to soft leathery notes of tobacco.
Finish: The sip dries out with the spice attaching to mincemeat pies and nut bread on the warming end.
Bottom Line:
This is another one that I like a lot. Admittedly, it does feel more like a holiday bourbon. So I’d generally save this one for those months.
6. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OBSQ
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 60/35/5 high-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “floral essence” yeast, or “OBSQ.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of nasturtiums floating in a honey pot next to orange blossoms and rose-water-kissed marzipan.
Palate: The palate takes us on a walk through a summer wildflower bed before veering toward the woods with mild spice, old barks, and a hint of dried white mushrooms.
Finish: The end really leans toward the earthiness with a mild dry sweetgrass braided with cedar bark and wild sage and then left in a fully in-bloom cherry orchard.
Bottom Line:
I don’t like floral whiskeys all that much but I like this. There’s something about the floral notes and how they’re tied together that just works wonders for the depth of the palate. Overall, this is a great one to reach for when you really want something unique in your bourbon glass.
5. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OBSF
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 60/35/5 high-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “herbal note” yeast, or “OBSF.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with rye bread crusts just touched by caraway and sourdough before veering toward sweetgrass and wild sage with a hint of saddle leather.
Palate: The palate leans into vanilla cakes and mint before hitting on a medley of sage and cardamom next to soft notes of saffron-stewed pears served with a hint of dried mint.
Finish: That saffron helps dry out the finish with plenty of smudging sage and old tobacco leather.
Bottom Line:
This is another one that’s funky and fresh. It’s so different, again, but still has this comforting sense of familiarity. It’s a nice balance.
4. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OESQ
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 75/20/5 mid-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “floral essence” yeast, or “OESQ.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a subtle nose that blooms toward cherry blossom and rose water with a deep marzipan and vanilla base before leaning into fluttering moments of chili spice.
Palate: The palate leans toward orange water and oolong tea leaves with a sense of cedar bark and a very mild hint of dry lavender dipped in fresh honey pots.
Finish: That honey/lavender vibe carries through the finish and gets a touch creamy as soft chewing tobacco and old oak staves mingle with a light flourish of nasturtium and orchard blooms.
Bottom Line:
This is getting into the single barrels that are just so wildly good that it’s hard to rank. I like the floral here a lot but I’m on the record as not being a huge “floral in my whiskey” guy. Still, this is good enough that it converts me, especially over some ice. It gets creamy kind of like a marzipan-lavender cake with a sprinkle of spice. It’s so nice.
3. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OBSO
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 60/35/5 high-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “rich fruit” yeast, or “OBSO.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a classic sense of old-school bourbon — rich salted caramel, black cherry, oily vanilla pods, and sourdough pancakes with maple syrup.
Palate: The pancakes take on blueberries and pecans as the caramel moves toward toffee butteriness with a touch of roasted almond and dark chocolate next to very earthy dark fruits and berries.
Finish: That earthiness drives the finish toward spiced barks and orange rinds floating in mulled wine with a touch of sticky toffee pudding rounding out the long end.
Bottom Line:
This is starting to hit on everything good about bourbon — in general. It’s classic and deep while still feeling approachable. It’s also just straight-up delicious.
2. Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — OESO
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $129
The Whiskey:
This version of Four Roses single barrel is the 75/20/5 mid-rye bourbon mash that’s fermented with “rich fruit” yeast, or “OESO.” The barrels are selected and bottled after seven to nine years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with this mix of mincemeat pies, sticky toffee pudding, and vanilla sauce kissed with orange oils that give way to a deep sense of spiced barks and berries next to old oak and boot leather and this fleeting sense of dry mint tobacco.
Palate: The palate leans into the creaminess with a rich black-tea-soaked date sticky toffee pudding with freshly ground nutmeg and cinnamon over buttery rum-washed toffee and gently flakes of orange rind leading to plum and apricot.
Finish: The end leans into Christmas spices and woody vibes before veering back toward leathery prunes and dates with a hint of figs dashed with olive oil and mint.
Bottom Line:
This has everything. It’s funky, fresh, and fabulously tasty while still feeling quintessentially Kentucky bourbon. This is the single barrel I’d line up for.
Part 3 — The Best Bottle Of Four Roses Bourbon
Okay, another fake division. I did it because… this deserves its own section. Also, it’s not a single barrel release so I was sort of handcuffed by the previous section heading.
1. Four Roses 2022 Limited Edtion Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 54.5%
Average Price: $499
The Whiskey:
2022’s LE Small Batch is made from a blend of 20-year-old Bourbon from the OBSV recipe (high rye, delicate fruit yeast), a 15-year-old OESK (lower rye, slight spice yeast), a 14-year-old OESF (lower rye, herbal notes years), and a 14-year-old OESV (lower rye, delicate fruit yeast). The blend is non-chill filtered and bottled at 109 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is soft and feels aged yet fresh with mild notes of old cellar beams that lead to a sour cherry next to sourdough pancakes smothered in butter and maple syrup with a thin line of spiced cherry jam next to a bit of crumpled-up old leather gloves.
Palate: The palate opens creamy with a vanilla underbelly that’s countered by a whisper of barnyard funk and old barn floorboards before a chewy spiced cherry tobacco leaf kicks in with layers of nutmeg, clove, and allspice with a creamy eggnog vibe and a hint of Kentucky hug warmth.
Finish: The mid-palate gets a little warmed before diving back toward the spicy cherry tobacco and a finish that’s full of creamy brown sugar butter and hazelnut shells.
The Bottom Line:
While I adore a lot of the whiskey above, especially the Small Batch Select the OESO, this is truly the mountaintop of Four Roses. It’s just so good. It’s got that Four Roses vibe of funky and fruit that sets it apart while still being something 100% relatable. It’s a wonderful pour.
