4 Roses Tour and Trade Secrets

[kickert]

Hey folks, I was able to tour the 4 Roses distillery last week and really had a great time. The tour was short because they were closing things down for a bit (their bottling plant was without power) and the tasting was by the book (Yellow Label, Small Batch, Single Barrel - minimum pours). Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the exterior. The place boasts beautiful Spanish architecture. I did take quite a few pictures inside the distillery. You can view them here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59068&id=504187490&l=f1388

I did happen upon one interesting item. In the presentation room there was a flip chart that had been used previously. On it was listed the specific mashbills and yeast varieties. Maybe these aren't trade secrets, but I was curious. I have posted the information below:

Mashbills (Corn / Rye / Malted Barley):

75/20/5

60/35/5

Yeast Varieties:

V - Light Fruit

K - Spicy

F - Herbal

O - Rich / Full Bodied Fruit

Q - Floral

I also learned a bit about the specs of 4R's standard bottles.

Yellow Label: averaged 5.5 years and is a blend of all 10 varieties

Small Batch: averages 7-7.5 years and is a blend of 4 varieties. 35 barrels are used per batch.

Single Barrel: averages 8-10 years. My guide wouldn't tell me which yeast variety is used, but did confirm it is the high rye mashbill

[barturtle]

The "OB" high rye mashbill is fermented by the "V" yeast. It was published in a magazine...either MA or Whisky...I don't remember which.

[cowdery]

Jim Rutledge provides all of that information when he gives presentations, so don't worry, the Four Roses police aren't coming for you.

[Attila]

Yellow Label: . . .

Small Batch: . . .

Single Barrel: . . .

Black Label: anyone have the low down on this one?

[Hondo]

Awesome pics Ben! Thanx

[Kendall]

Thanks for the pics.

Good job on getting the info. Some of us don't know as much as others.

[Josh]

Great post kickert! Great info & photos. Thanks.

Last July I was only able to get pictures of the outside since they weren't giving tours at the time. If you don't mind here is what I got.

The first one with the doughy guy in the red shirt is the visitor's center. The second & third is the bottling/distilling building (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong). The Spanish style seemed a bit out of place there, but they are both beautiful buildings, no question about it.

[kickert]

Great post kickert! Great info & photos. Thanks.

Last July I was only able to get pictures of the outside since they weren't giving tours at the time. If you don't mind here is what I got.

The first one with the doughy guy in the red shirt is the visitor's center. The second & third is the bottling/distilling building (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong). The Spanish style seemed a bit out of place there, but they are both beautiful buildings, no question about it.

Thanks for posting... I am glad you did. Part of what makes the 4R tour so neat is the buildings.

The building in the second and third picture is actually the distillation building (where all my pictures are from). They do their warehousing and bottling at their Cox Creek facility.