Four Roses Bourbon

Four Roses is the Kentucky distillery that quietly makes more bourbon than its modest shelf presence suggests. Founded in 1888, operating out of the now-iconic Spanish Mission-style distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, Four Roses is built on a production system unlike any other Kentucky distiller: two mash bills crossed with five proprietary yeast strains produces ten distinct bourbon recipes, each blended in different proportions to create every Four Roses expression. Yellow Label is a blend of all ten. Small Batch uses four of them. Single Barrel uses one (the OBSV recipe). Small Batch Select uses six. The complexity isn't marketing — it's the actual production model, and it's the reason Four Roses tastes more layered than its price tag suggests.

The lineup, by daily-drinker logic

The Four Roses shelf scales cleanly from $27 daily-pour to $349 limited-edition, with no obvious value-trap bottle in the middle. Each step up the ladder reveals a different facet of the ten-recipe system.

• Four Roses Kentucky Straight (Yellow Label) ($27.09) — the entry-point blend of all ten recipes. 80 proof, soft pear-and-honey nose, easy enough to drink neat but better in cocktails. The most under-appreciated sub-$30 bourbon on most American shelves.
• Four Roses Small Batch ($37.99) — a blend of four recipes (two from each mash bill), 90 proof. The bottle most Four Roses fans cite as the brand's sweet spot. Builds a serious Old Fashioned without losing its character.
• Four Roses Small Batch Select ($49.99) — a blend of six recipes, 104 proof, non-chill-filtered. The "Small Batch but more" upgrade. Sips beautifully neat with a single large cube.
• Four Roses Single Barrel ($54.99) — one bottle, one barrel, one recipe (OBSV: high-rye mash bill, V yeast). 100 proof. The bottle that shows what a single Four Roses recipe tastes like in isolation, before blending.
• Four Roses Super Premium Bourbon ($224.09) — the collector-tier bottle for the dedicated Four Roses drinker who has worked through the entire core line.

The yeast story (worth knowing)

Most Kentucky distillers use one yeast strain. Four Roses uses five — labeled V, K, O, Q, and F. Each strain produces a distinct flavor signature: V is delicate fruit, K is light spice, O is rich fruit, Q is floral, F is herbal. The two mash bills (B is high-rye at 35%, E is lower-rye at 20%) cross with the five yeasts to produce ten recipes, named with four-letter codes like OBSV (E mash, V yeast — fruity) or OESK (B mash, K yeast — spicy). Single Barrel uses OBSV exclusively. Small Batch blends OESK, OESF, OBSV, and OBSK. Once you know the recipe codes, the differences between expressions stop feeling like marketing and start feeling like chemistry.

Where Four Roses fits next to its Kentucky neighbors

Four Roses sits in the Buffalo Trace / Wild Turkey / Heaven Hill price-and-quality neighborhood — daily-pour bottles under $40, premium pours under $60, special-occasion pours under $250. If your shelf already has Buffalo Trace ($78.99) and Wild Turkey 101 ($32.99), the Four Roses Small Batch slots in as the "rounded out, less aggressive" pick — softer than Wild Turkey, more layered than the entry-level Buffalo Trace pour. Browse the full bourbon collection for the cross-distillery context.

Cocktails that flatter Four Roses

The Small Batch and Single Barrel were practically designed for the Old Fashioned — high enough proof to stand up to a sugar cube and bitters, layered enough to reward the orange-peel expression. Our Old Fashioned batch guide uses Small Batch in the recommended 12-drink pitcher build. For mint juleps, our mint julep bar guide ranks Single Barrel as the upgrade pick when 101 proof bourbons are too aggressive against fresh mint. Yellow Label works in a Whiskey Sour and a Boulevardier when you want a softer base spirit.

Father's Day pick from this collection

If you're shopping for a Father's Day bourbon dad who hasn't been gifted a Four Roses bottle before, the Small Batch is the obvious starter — under $40, instantly recognizable as "real" bourbon, low entry barrier for a recipient who isn't already deep into Kentucky distillery lore. Our Father's Day bourbon preview and the under-$60 daily-pour guide both feature Four Roses Small Batch. Pair it with our Father's Day Bourbon Bundle if you want a fully curated gift.

Shipping from our New Jersey warehouse

Four Roses ships from our New Jersey warehouse via UPS Ground to addresses in all states we serve. The lower-priced Yellow Label and Small Batch are typically in stock; the Limited Edition releases sell through quickly and tend to ship same-week when available. Browse the full Best Sellers shelf to see how Four Roses Small Batch ranks against the rest of the under-$40 bourbon field. For the broader whiskey collection — rye, Scotch, Irish, Japanese — the cross-category links are one click away.