If you’re not a Bourbon drinker, the Four Roses 2020 Limited Edition Small Batch just might change your mind. The new bottling is the latest release from the Lawrenceburg, KY-based distillery since its Master Distiller, Brent Elliott, took home the award for Distiller/Blender of the Year at Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky America awards this past February. If you thought that might mean Elliott would rest on his laurels, guess again.
A blend of Whiskeys aged 12 to 19 years, the 2020 Limited Edition Small Batch features four of Four Roses’ ten Bourbon recipes: OBSV (30% of the blend), 19 year old OBSK (20%), 12 year old OESV (25%), and 16 year old OESK (25%). If that means something to you, you’re clearly a Four Roses fanatic, if not, that’s okay, that’s what the 2020 Limited Edition Small batch is here for.
“Each year the goal is not only to make something smooth and mellow—which is kind of the philosophy or benchmark for all Four Roses products—but also to make something unique, or different from years past,” Elliott explains. “And in doing that we are showcasing our versatility and our ability to create different flavors by utilizing these different recipes and different combinations.”
Again, Elliott is an artist clearly at the top of his game. He uses the tools he has at hand to create something unique, yet on brand. The result is the kind of dram you would expect from a master–a title the Kentucky native has clearly earned.
Apples and oranges come through on the nose, along with vanilla and deep, dark chocolate. The palate finds cream and brown sugar mixing with toasted oak and raspberries. More oak appears in the finish with lingering spice and more fruit.
There’s a patience and subtle strength found in the Whiskey, like an autumn discussion on the porch that grows with the evening. It’s enticing and encourages sip after sip, but is never overbearing.
Complex yet focused, the Four Roses 2020 Limited Edition Small Batch warms and soothes. It’s a memorable tipple, made to be savoured and worth every penny of its $150 price tag.
Four Roses is obviously in excellent hands with Brent Elliott at the helm. The Whiskey will hit stores across the United States in late September.