They do like a Limited Edition Single Barrel over at Four Roses and this year’s features a tribute to the brands loyal following.
Master Distiller Jim Rutledge has once again picked out some of the best barrels in his aging warehouses to be bottled as the 2014 Limited Edition Single Barrel.
This time round he has gone for 11 year-old OESF barrels. We were lucky enough to visit the Four Roses Distillery last year and as such we actually know what that series of letters means.
O – is the first letter of all of the 10 distinctive bourbon recipes and means it was made at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
E – relates to the mashbill which in this case is 75% corn, 20% rye and 5% malted barley (the other mashbill is B and is 60% corn, 35% rye and 5% malted barley)
S – means it is made using straight whiskey distillation (again appears on all 10 recipes)
F – relates to the yeast strain, the F strain in particular is known for it’s herbal essence (taste and aroma not shampoo)
The bourbon is also bottled at barrel strength – uncut and non-chill filtered – which means the ABV in any given bottle can range from 52.2% to 54.3%.
In a nice touch to their passionate fans the bottle includes a toast from Frank Wheatley (now there’s a proper Kentucky name) of Louisville, who won a competition called Year of the Toast to celebrate Four Roses 125th Anniversary. He submitted his favourite toast, which was picked by the Four Roses executives as the best:
‘If I could age like bourbon, I wouldn’t mind getting old.’
With only 1,900 bottles of this years Limited edition for the whole of Europe you’d better move quickly if you want a bottle. If that is the case get onto UK distributors Spirit Cartel right now.