Four Roses Bourbon Whiskey

Four Roses Yellow Label is the only bourbon made from ten recipes — two mash bills times five proprietary yeasts — and it's the everyday pour of the Lawrenceburg distillery that Jim Rutledge rebuilt into a cult. Four Roses was a top-selling bourbon before World War II, was banished to export-only by Seagram for forty years while a blended whiskey wore its name at home, and returned to American shelves in 2002 under Kirin; the Spanish Mission-style distillery on the Salt River is a National Historic Landmark. Yellow Label is a blend of all ten recipes — the high-rye 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley mash bill and the 75/20/5 one, each fermented with five yeast strains chosen for fruit, spice, floral, or herbal character — aged around five years in single-story rack warehouses at Cox's Creek that keep the aging even, and bottled at 80 proof. Bourbon Culture notes the high-rye recipes give it more spice than its proof suggests. Expect a nose of honey, pear, apple, and rose with a gentle rye lift, opening into a soft, floral, fruity palate of caramel, light spice, and a hint of oak with a short, clean finish. Honest note: at 80 proof it's built for mixing, and the Small Batch and Single Barrel up the shelf are the sippers — but as a Whiskey Sour or Mint Julep base it's the most elegant bourbon at the price. For a highball, a sour, or a julep. Ten recipes, one label.

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