Four Roses
The 2024 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch was just announced, one of the most highly sought after bourbon releases of the year, and we have all of the details on what’s in the bottle, how much will be released, and where to get it.
This is the 17th year that Four Roses is releasing a Limited Edition Small Batch with each year offering something new and exquisite. Last year marked the 135th anniversary of Four Roses and a special LE release that included 65% of the blend older than 14 year bourbon, and a blend that was characterized by the OESV recipe.
2024 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Details
Four Roses
For the 2024 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch, master distiller Brent Elliott was kind enough to walk us through the blend, when he started on it, how many batches it took to get right, and all of the other details.
This year’s Four Roses Small Batch LE will be released on September 14th with about 16,680 bottles released with an SRP of $220. This marks a rise in availability from previous years with 15,060 bottles in 2023 and 14,100 bottles released in 2022. Here is the final blend breakdown:
- OBSV 12-Year Bourbon – 31% of the final blend
- OESK 15-Year Bourbon – 23% of the final blend
- OESF 16-Year Bourbon – 39% of the final blend
- OBSV 20-Year Bourbon – 7% of the final blend
Four Roses master distiller Brent Elliott called the OBSV recipe the primary ‘driver’ of the LE flavor profile this year which is the recipe in their flagship single barrel and it has also made an appearance in 10 of the previous Limited Editions.
This high rye recipe is known for it’s delicate fruit flavors (plum, apricot) which come from the V yeast strain. But the 39% F yeast of the blend adds some incredible floral notes to the blend as well, minty and clove notes that also add some incredible mouthfeel to the final blend, according to Brett Elliott.
With the F yeast, Elliott told us the barrel tends to imbue a lot of the flavor after the bourbon sits in the barrel past 12 years and it takes on a lot of oak but the yeast sticks around with amazing mouthfeel characteristics. So that’s definitely something to watch out for with this years blend.
Adding up the numbers, 69% of this blend is 15 year bourbon or older which makes this one of the oldest blended bourbons released this year. The 15-year OESK (23% of the blend) is phenomenal and was used by Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott to “balance out the brightness” of the OBSV and OESF components of the blend and bring out sweetness and shine a spotlight on the oak that comes from bourbons that have been sitting in the barrel for this long.
What Makes This Limited Edition Small Batch So Special?
Four Roses
Master distiller Brent Elliott called this year’s Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch a story of two fruits. On one side, it has almost ‘Juicy Fruit’ like elements to it with notes of cotton candy. And on the other side are the traditional deeper/richer fruits and rye spice, all spice, and cinnamon.
For this Limited Edition Small Batch, master distiller Brent Elliott started pulling barrels and blending in November of last year. He says it typically takes 6-8 weeks to put this final blend together and he earmarks special barrels throughout the years. In some years, it takes him up to 20 blends to hone in on the final blend but says he got there in 10-12 blends this year but was torn between the 17yr and 20yr but ultimately settled on the 20-year bourbon as the oldest component in the blend.
With about 16,680 bottles released, an increase from years prior, I asked Brent Elliott if this was intentional or coincidental. He says that going into this process he has a target of around 15,000 bottles but wants to set himself up where he can always go up in the number of bottles and not be limited to not having enough. The final number of bottles is then also determined by barrel yield which in some years can be higher or lower based on a variety of factors.
Where to buy the 2024 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch
This year’s Limited Edition Small Batch will be available nationwide in limited quantities.
However, the best chance at getting a bottle will be at the Four Roses Distillery on September 14th where it will be available for sale in limited quantities at both the Distillery Visitor Center in Lawrenceburg, KY and the Warehouse and Bottling Visitor Center in Cox’s Creek. This will be first come, first serve when the gates open at 7am and no overnight camping is permitted.
Happy hunting to anyone out there who hopes to find it at the distillery or elsewhere!
Four Roses Honey?!
Four Roses
I also wanted to mention the Four Roses x Ooni barrel aged honey that recently went up for sale. Partnering with Ooni, this barrel aged honey is perfect for drizzling on top of pizza. I recently scooped a bottle and drizzled it on peanut butter on top of a rice cake and it was excellent but with Ooni, they have tested it extensively on pizza.
The Ooni x Four Roses honey is made with elderflower honey and aged in Four Roses barrels to pick up that amazing bourbon flavor. This is a limited-edition product that will only be available this Summer so be sure to scoop it before it’s too late, if you are interested.