Four Roses Small Batch bourbon is coming; here’s how to get a shot at a bottle.
Four Roses is rolling out its annual special release, the 2022 Limited Edition Small Batch, on Sept. 17.
But you have a chance again this year to win the opportunity to buy a bottle of this hard-to-get bourbon in advance.
You can register online a fourrosesbourbon.com for a lottery from Aug. 22-28; randomly drawn winners will be able to schedule appointments to come to the Four Roses Distillery Visitor Center in Lawrenceburg to pick up their bourbon.
What will winners be getting?
It’s a blend of four different recipes aged 14 to 20 years, according to Four Roses. This year’s version includes a 14-year-old bourbon from the distillery’s OESF recipe, a 14-year-old OESV, a 15-year-old OESK and a 20-year-old OBSV.
Those are four of the distillery’s 10 unique bourbons, made with two different mashbills and five proprietary yeast strains. Each has little different fruit, spice, floral and herbal notes.
“From the beginning of crafting this year’s limited edition small batch Bourbon, two particular batches stood out to me as potential candidates to go into the blend - a 14-year-old recipe batch that is remarkably smooth and rich on the palate, and a 20-year-old recipe batch that exhibits the best fruit barrel and spice qualities of extra aged Bourbon,” said Brent Elliott, Four Roses master distiller. “The test blends revolved around those two batches until we landed on a liquid with a perfect balance that is unique, layered, mellow and elegant.”
In a tasting with journalists, Elliott said that the 20-year-old bourbon is the same batch used for the special release at the ribbon cutting for the new visitor’s center at the distillery last year.
“I loved the batch some much. ... I knew going in I really wanted to incorporate that. That was really the starting point,” Elliott said.
After sorting through more than 30 blends, he settled on the one he liked best, a version that’s rich and complex but with a surprising bright and refreshing note too.
“This limited edition small batch is really the way each year we offer consumers something rare, and a little bit older,” Elliott said. “It allows us to demonstrate our variety.”
The result, according to Elliott, has a nose of brown sugar, dark cherries and oak, with a palate of apricot, creamy vanilla, ripe berries and light cinnamon. It’s 109 proof.
Only 14,100 bottles of the 2022 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon will be sold in the U.S. Suggested retail price is about $180.
Eastern Kentucky flood recovery special release
Elliott said that another special release is being bottled now to raise money for the Eastern Kentucky flood recovery. On Aug. 29, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Four Roses will release multiple barrels of a 16-year-old bourbon at the visitor’s center in Lawrenceburg and in Coxs Creek for $200 a bottle.
“I hope it’s sufficient to raise a lot of money,” he said. “It’s one of these batches we set aside for limited editions, it’s fantastic ... Private barrel people love to try something unique and they definitely want to contribute, especially knowing it’s going to a good cause.”
Attendees are also encouraged to donate water and cleaning supplies to the Four Roses Essentials Drive.
