Distillery Breakdown by Mash Bill – Four Roses

This is the fourth distillery breakdown by mash bill (see Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill and Jim Beam) I’ve done on the Bourbonr Blog. Initially, I thought Four Roses would be a simple breakdown. Four Roses has only 2 mash bills whereas, most distilleries have 2-5 bourbon mash bills plus a rye whiskey mash bill. The difficult (and interesting) part of Four Roses is while they only have 2 mash bills they incorporate 5 proprietary strands of yeast to create a total of 10 unique recipes.

Decoding Four Roses Four Letter Recipes:

The first letter for every recipe is “O”. The “O” indicates that it was produced at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY.

Four Roses mash bill is the second letter.

E = The mash bill that is 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley. B = The mash bill that is 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley.

The third letter will always be “S”, which designates straight whiskey distillation. That means every recipe will be “O_S_”. The recipes become a lot clearer when you realize there are only two variables in each recipe, the mash bill and the yeast.

One of the five unique strands of yeast is the fourth letter

K = Yeast K: rich in spiciness, full bodied

O = Yeast O: is floral (rose petal), spicy, medium bodied

Q = Yeast Q: slightly fruity, spicy, medium bodied

F = Yeast F: is more herbal

V = Yeast V: is delicate fruit, spicy and creamy

Final note: I’ve heard rumors of a Four Roses 10 recipe sampler pack. In my opinion, this needs to happen! Until then I will continue to try to collect all 10 recipes from private barrels.

Break Down:

Break Down of Four Roses Limited Editions:

What are your favorites from Four Roses?