Four Roses 2021 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon
Here we go folks - it’s that time of year, and here come the limited editions!
Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch is an annual release that’s usually between 10,000-15,000 bottles (this year is around 14,500 total bottles). For these annual releases, Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott draws from any of Four Roses’ 10 recipes. Last year featured one of the oldest to date with a 19-year-old OBSK in the mix.
This year, the age is back to 12-16 years old instead of 12-19, but the release is notable for two non-age-related reasons: first, at 114.2 proof it is the highest proof ever for a Limited Edition Small Batch release (note that single barrel picks, especially from the upper tiers, can regularly hit or exceed 120 proof, but those are single barrels). Second, this release brings in my favorite recipe: the OBSQ.
OBSQ hasn’t been in a limited release for several years - in fact, of the eight releases posted on the Four Roses website (going back to the 2016 Elliot’s Select), not one has OBSQ in it. In their recipes, the second and fourth letter tell you about the flavor: B means the high-rye mashbill of 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malted barley, and Q is the yeast strain moniker, described by Four Roses as “floral essence”.
I can’t tell you exactly why OBSQ is my favorite - and oddly, I don’t get much “floral” from it. Instead, I get jammy fruits, dark and red, and a richness (for example, see my review of the Beast Master’s OBSQ “It Must Have Been the Roses” from 2020).
In an interesting twist of time, I got to join a Zoom call with Brent Elliott just before the release but after the blend was announced. He of all people is aware of the craze for Four Roses Single Barrel picks, stickers or not. He also knows the premiums the single barrels and the limited releases can command on the secondary market. Not that that comes as a surprise, but it’s nice to have it acknowledged from the top guy and have him sound as exasperated about it as we are when we can’t find a bottle.
What was more interesting regarding this particular release was hearing Brent go through the recipes and talk a bit about them, plus a few insights to his process. For example, he was bemused by people hunting the tier 5 and tier 6 single barrels. For him, these barrels can be overwhelming and at times overaged by nature of their placement. A barrel up there after 8-9 years is already approaching its peak, and after that it can be really tough to find something to do with it. For Brent, the cream of the crop is in those lower tiers, especially the middle ones (3-4, sometimes tier 2) where the oak and flavor can really develop together.
Recipe-wise, he talked about how each recipe can behave differently once it’s in the barrel. Sometimes the characteristics can be grouped by family - whether it’s by common mashbill or yeast strain - but there’s a uniqueness to every barrel that makes the picking process even more fun. The last clause there isn’t unique, of course, since every batch pick anywhere must be fun, but it’s different when you’re working with one, two, or three mashbills or when you’re working with ten.
With the OBSQ, Brent was a bit more coy, but he clearly enjoyed using it in the mix for the first time in who knows how long. I have to say, I enjoyed it too. The 2019 Limited Edition is an all-time great for me, but the 2020 fell short. The 2021 - while not at 2019 level - is still great, with huge jammy flavors that blinded had me thinking this was a brandy- or Armagnac-finished bourbon. I’ll credit the OBSQ for that profile on my palate…maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but why not throw credit my favorite recipe’s way?
Four Roses 2021 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey: Specs
Classification: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Origin: Four Roses Distillery
Mashbill: Blend of Four Recipes: OBSV and OBSQ (60% Corn, 35% Rye, 5% Malted Barley) and OESK and OESV (75% Corn, 20% Rye, 5% Malted Barley)
Proof: 114.2 (57.1% ABV)
Age: 12-16 Years Old
Location: Kentucky
Four Roses 2021 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey Price: $150
Four Roses 2021 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey Review: Tasting Notes
Eye: Grade A maple syrup. Syrupy rims and slow droplet legs.
Nose: Chocolate and peanut M&Ms. Dried cherries and guava. A sweeter nose for sure. Touches of oak and proof, neither that powerful. Dark chocolate without the bitterness. Sweet corn shaved off the cob.
Palate: Dark fruitiness - brandy-esque, with all the stewed fruit and chocolatey notes that entails. More proof and oak heat hit the tongue and back palate, with a bit of both nuttiness and mint. Mouthfeel is silky and on the light side of medium, with more proof and oak pepperiness. The flavor continues to build as it coats the mouth, sticking around after the liquid evaporates.
Finish: The brandy/Armagnac swings back to the forefront on a medium-length finish. Maple sugar, too, with oak creeping in the back.
Overall: Trying this blind, I couldn’t tell you where the corn went after the nose, but it’s still a delicious overall pour. I want more balance between the brandy-esque flavor and the bourbon base, with a stronger mouthfeel as well. Seriously - it’s amazing this isn’t a finished product - that’s how strong the dark fruit undertones are. While not at 2019’s level, definitely a step forward from 2020.
Final Rating: 7.2
10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Old Label Batch 4 or 2, Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)
9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)
8 | Excellent | Exceptional (Stagg Jr. Batch 10, Highland Park Single Barrels)
7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)
6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)
5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)
4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)
3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)
2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)
1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)
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