Four Roses

Four Roses Bourbon

Four Roses’ 2019 Limited Edition Small Batch is a sugar daddy

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Four Roses Bourbon

Who’s your daddy?!

The term “sugar daddy” has two meanings, and strangely enough, the new Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch encompasses them both.

The first is a candy invented in 1925 by Robert Welch that is basically a slab of caramel served on a stick. It is now manufactured by the Tootsie Roll company, which also makes its counterpart, Sugar Babies.

I used to gnaw on a Sugar Daddy at the movies (sounds bad, but that’s because you’re thinking of the other meaning), and my trick to not pulling out all my fillings was to first warm it up in my hands (OK, that still sounds bad).

Anyway, I learned from doing research for this post that the original name for a Sugar Daddy candy stick was Papa Sucker, which also sounds dirty.

And that brings us to the second meaning of the term: a rich older dude who provides financial benefits, typically for certain relations.

So what does any of this have to do with Four Roses’ latest release?

Well, it’s not only as tasty as a slab of caramel on a stick, but the barrels selected for the Small Batch are much more mature — refined if you will — providing pleasurable benefits for your taste buds.

In fact, let’s go ahead and coin a new hashtag: #barrelswithbenefits

If this bourbon was on Tinder, I would not only swipe right but seriously launch a Facebook stalking campaign just so I could run into it at its favorite bar.

But I digress.

The release marks the first Four Roses limited-quantity bottling to feature a 21-year-old bourbon from the distillery’s OBSV recipe. It also includes some 15-year-old OESK, 15-year-old OESV and 11-year-old OESV.

The result is a rich, sweet, honey-forward, spicy bite of hand-warmed caramel that melts in your mouth and immediately queues up some Marvin Gaye in the background.

“Our 10 distinct bourbon recipes provide the ability to handcraft new and interesting expressions, and with this year’s Limited Edition, we found some exceptionally well-rested bourbons in some of our higher aged barrels,” said Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott in a news release. “Combining the delicate fruit flavors and light spice from our V and K strains resulted in a uniquely nuanced whiskey.”

Yes it did.

The bourbon — which will be released on Sept. 21 at both the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg and the Bottling Facility in Coxs Creek — will be bottled non-chill filtered at 112.6 proof and retail for about $140. This one will be hard to find — just like most limited editions — since there are only about 13,440 hand-numbered bottles hitting store shelves.

But like a good partner, it will be well worth your time and effort. Who knows … this might just be the one.

And with this and yesterday’s Old Forester Birthday Bourbon release, we’re off to a great start of the official Bourbon Release Season.

Happy National Bourbon Heritage Month, everybody!

Martini Italian Bistro wins Four Roses’ Rose Julep Contest

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Jolly for Juleps!

Jolly for Juleps!

Sometimes my job is extremely taxing, and sometimes I get to taste seven mint juleps. Last night was the latter, and I was humbled to be a selected Rose Julep Contest judge at the annual Derby Festival/Four Roses “Festival Unveiled” event.

Four Roses master distiller Jim Rutledge and Rose Julep winner Colleen McCarthy-Clarke.

Four Roses master distiller Jim Rutledge and Rose Julep winner Colleen McCarthy-Clarke.

I — along with four other judges, including the Bourbon Babe — sipped and scored all seven takes on the classic mint julep. We judged the cocktails based on aroma, presentation, creativity and taste. The winner was Colleen McCarthy-Clarke from Martini Italian Bistro, whose “Rosé Runner” added a twist of rhubarb syrup to the mix, along with procecco, mint, lemon and rhubarb bitters … oh, and Four Roses Small Batch, of course. It was delicious and will be available at Martini on Monday.

McCarthy-Clarke also won the People’s Choice award, which ought to be reason enough to go try it yourself.

Second place for the judges’ choice went to Jason Stark, also of Martini Bistro, and third was Saints’ Pizza Pub’s Jennifer Jarvis and Bruce Jarrett. Second place for People’s Choice went to Troll Pub’s Karla Ramsey, and third place was the Saints crew again.

Now I am ready for spring to take hold of this city and commence the Derby fever. Mint juleps for everyone!

Oprah: “You get a mint julep!” “You get a mint julep!” “You get a mint julep!” “You get a mint julep!” “You all get a mint julep!”

The winning julep: Rosé Runner.

The winning julep: Rosé Runner.

Four Roses releases Limited Edition Small Batch bourbon

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2014LESmallBatch_Front_USIn celebration of National Bourbon Heritage Month, Four Roses is releasing its newest Limited Edition Small Batch bourbon, which combines four of the distillery’s 10 recipes from barrels ranging in age from 9 to 13 years old. Master Distiller Jim Rutledge hand (tongue?) selected four of his favorites to create this limited-quantity release.

I got a chance to sample Rutledge’s newest creation, and it was simply divine. Notes of caramel, vanilla and citrus tangoed with my tongue, and the barrel-strength bourbon left a warm trail as I swallowed it down. It’s definitely one of those “very special bourbons” that you only whip out to impress company or if there’s a tornado warning in the area. (I can’t be the only one who hides out in the basement with a flashlight and a flask of good bourbon when those sirens go off.)

“It’s exciting and challenging to select the bourbons that will be used in various percentages for a special and different Limited Edition Small Batch,” Rutledge says. “We’ve only scratched the surface with what we can do with our 10 bourbon recipes relative to varying flavor profiles for special releases.”

Four Roses will release more than 11,000 bottles of the Limited Edition Small Batch starting this month. Look for it at liquor stores near you.