Four Roses Small Batch Select Bourbon Review

For most of the 20th century, you basically couldn't buy this bourbon in the country that makes it.

Paul Jones Jr. trademarked the Four Roses name in 1888 — the origin story credits a southern belle who wore four red roses to a ball and caught his eye. The brand thrived for decades, but after Seagram bought the distillery, the good stuff got shipped almost entirely to Japan and Europe while the US market got a cheap blended whiskey wearing the same label. It stayed that way until Kirin Holdings bought full ownership in 2002 and finally brought the real bourbon back to American shelves. Four Roses changed hands again as recently as this spring, when Kirin sold the brand to Gallo in a deal that closed in April 2026.

The distillery's whole identity runs on math: two mash bills — a high-rye "E" recipe and a very-high-rye "B" recipe — crossed with five proprietary yeast strains, producing ten distinct bourbon recipes from the same building. Small Batch Select takes six of those ten (OBSV, OBSK, OBSF, OESV, OESK, and OESF), ages them six to seven years, and bottles the blend at 104 proof without chill filtration. That last part matters more than it sounds: skipping the chill filter leaves the oils and viscosity in the glass, which is a big part of why this drinks heavier than the standard Small Batch sitting next to it on the shelf.

The Bottle

Distillery: Four Roses (Lawrenceburg, KY)

Release: Ongoing

Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Proof: 104 (52% ABV), non-chill filtered

Age: No Age Statement (six to seven years)

Mash Bill: A blend of six recipes across two mash bills — Recipe E (75% Corn, 20% Rye, 5% Malted Barley) and Recipe B (60% Corn, 35% Rye, 5% Malted Barley)

MSRP: $60

First Impression

Honey leads, thick and unhurried, with nutmeg dusted over the top of it. Then something cooler cuts through — a clean spearmint lift that pulls the sweetness back before it can settle into syrup. Underneath all of it sits a soft floral note, the kind that shows up when the yeast is doing more of the talking than the grain.

On the Palate

The honey gives way to chocolate, darker and rounder than the nose let on, and vanilla fills in behind it with real weight — that's the non-chill filtration earning its keep at 104 proof. Dark berries arrive late in the mid-palate, tart enough to keep the sweetness honest without ever fighting it.

The Last Sip

Apricot carries first, bright against everything that came before it, then cinnamon steps forward and holds. It fades into soft leather on the way out — dry, warm, and lingering just long enough to make the next pour feel like a decision rather than a reflex.

Final Thoughts

Here's the thing worth understanding about Four Roses: for a distillery whose recipes are built on rye — 20% in one mash bill, 35% in the other — the rye almost never dominates. Those five proprietary yeast strains are doing the work. They layer in fruit and floral notes that pull against the spice, so instead of turning aggressively peppery, the bourbon stays balanced. You can taste it in the arc of this pour, honey and spearmint up front, chocolate and berries through the middle, and the cinnamon only showing up at the very end where it belongs.

That balance is a plus in my book, though I'll be honest that it may not be what everyone is chasing. If you want a rye-forward bourbon that bites, this isn't it. If you want to taste what happens when a distillery spends a century and a half turning yeast selection into a craft, it absolutely is.

At $60 for six recipes, six-plus years, and 104 non-chill-filtered proof, it's an easy call.

🟢 Buy