Four Roses Bourbon Review

Four Roses Distillery has the distinction of distilling ten different recipes it blends together for making its range of bourbons. There are five different strains of yeast applied to two mashbills: 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley; and 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley, for a total of 10 different recipes. Their “Single Barrel” bourbon, which we have reviewed previously and greatly enjoyed, takes a single barrel of one of these recipies. Their “Small Batch” bourbon blends 4 of the recipes, while the “Yellow” may have up to all 10 of the recipes in its bottling. Today we will be reviewing Four Roses “Yellow” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

“Yellow” tends to reside more on the bottom shelf, at just below $20 per bottle before Washington’s generous taxing scheme. With no age statement on the bottle, we guess the bourbon was aged somewhere around 4-5 years, but what do we know? Nothing, we know. Direct your complaints to the comment section so we can delete them.

SWC Group Review

Nose – Vanilla, buttered corn, butterscotch, some floral, but prickly on the nose alluding to its youth.

Taste – Neat, this tended to be bitter and unimpressive, which a lot of spice and hotness from the alcohol, but little else. A little added water tended to mellow it out, making it more smooth on the palate, and bringing out some sweetness.

Finish – Dry, floral quality, with rye, a bit bitter. Medium to long.

Comments – While there is nothing particularly noteworthy in the bottling, as compared to other whiskeys of similar price, this one isn’t bad. It has the general qualities of bourbons we’ve liked, but displays the youthfulness in its alcohol bite and harshness.

SWC Rating – 75/100

Contact us at: SpokaneWhiskey@gmail.com