Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Review

[TomFischer]

Four Roses will release a Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon in September of 2010. Today, Four Roses gave us a sample of the Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch and we have reviwed it on this link. A few delicious surprises from Four Roses. This new release will replace the "Mariage" collection from the last several years as it is similar in concept.

[Josh]

This new release will replace the "Mariage" collection from the last several years as it is similar in concept.

Like I always say, if it ain't broke, fix it.:skep:

[callmeox]

Like I always say, if it ain't broke, fix it.:skep:

Yeah, grrrrrrrrr.

[Josh]

Like I always say, if it ain't broke, fix it.:skep:

Yeah, grrrrrrrrr.

I know I'm being a grouchy bastard, but in my defense, I haven't had my coffee yet.:coffeedrinker:

I'm sure it will be mighty tasty, but I'm just gonna miss the Mariage. At the risk of being scolded by the Big Dog, I hope it's going to be cheaper than the Mariage was, since the whiskey is younger. Recipe-wise, it seems like a marriage of the Mariages.

[DeanSheen]

I liked the Mariage packaging but I see what they are doing here, creating a companion LE to match up with the small batch like they do with the yearly single barrel.

I love the small batch and I like the Mariage. The question is, if the new LE Small Batch is as good as the old Mariage is it still good?

(because it's now called SMB vs. Mariage ... heh!)

[BigRich]

Part of it could be marketing too. Your average buyer has no idea what "mariage" means but Limited Edition screams "extra special" to the joe on the street.

[StraightBoston]

Jim Rutledge said he wasn't a fan of the "Mariage" name when he spoke at Julio's -- this also gives a little more "blending" freedom (vs. only two whiskies in Mariage.)

Unfortunately, I prefer the fruity and floral 4R recipes to the spicier ones here, so I'm likely to pass (and stock up on more Yellow Label in the meantime as my go-to summer sipper!)

[callmeox]

The 09 Mariage was a combination of 3 whiskies.

Perhaps it is just a label change and will still be a barrel strength/unfiltered bottling.

Fingers crossed.

[StraightBoston]

The 09 Mariage was a combination of 3 whiskies.

[Josh]

You're right -- I should have said two recipes (OBSK 19yo and 10yo and OESO 10yo). I interpreted the bottling proof disclaimer as a good sign that the finished product will be cask-strength.

[jburlowski]

I echo the sentiments of dismay that Mariage is going away. The Mariage releases thus far are some of the best American whiskies I've ever tasted. I hope the new Limited SmB keeps to the same high standards.

[CorvallisCracker]

A nickname for the LE SmB: Four Roses Divorce

[OscarV]

A nickname for the LE SmB: Four Roses Divorce

[hectic1]

The 09 Mariage is some of my favorite juice...hopefully this one will build on that great bottling! :cool:

[OscarV]

I don't care for Small Batch. I went thru a bottle and a half, I tried but it was just to,... muddled? I don't know, I just didn't get it.

I see that the 3 recipes are different than the standard 4RSmB which uses 4 recipes.

They dropped 2 and added one. Does sound like a marriage that I could enjoy, or is that Mariage?

Except for the 2010 issue the four 4R1B LE's didn't use the standard 4R1B recipe, so I am looking forward to the arrival of the new yearly addition to the 4R lineup come September.

:cry: Farewell 4R Mariage, it was a great two year relationship.

All of a sudden I want to hear Tammy Wynette's D-I-V-O-R-C-E.:cry:

[Josh]

:cry: Farewell 4R Mariage, it was a great two year relationship.

All of a sudden I want to hear Tammy Wynette's D-I-V-O-R-C-E.:cry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPYZxIg2HsI

Indeed. It's sad. I just hope it doesn't turn into "He Stopped Loving her Today"

[Rughi]

'Tis but thy name that is the enemy;

Thou art Great Bourbon, though not a Mariage.

What's Mariage? it is nor nose, nor palate,

Nor taste, nor lingering finish, nor any other part

Belonging to a bourbon.

O, be some other name!

What's in a name? that which we call a Rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

So Mariage would, were it not Mariage call'd,

Retain that dear perfection which it owes

Without that title. Mariage, doff thy name.

[SBOmarc]

<ssnifff>...<ssniff>

whee is my handkercheif when I need one?

[OscarV]

Thank you for the comforting words Rughi, I think we all needed that.

[Rughi]

Thank you for the comforting words Rughi, I think we all needed that.

It's unclear how Shakespeare could know that in two centuries from his time that emigrants from one English subjugated land would settle in another English subjugated land and invent the world's greatest distilled spirit, and that, in the new millenium, masters of that spirit would make a heartachingly beautiful elixir that would then suffer having its very name torn from it, replaced with a mere utilitarian moniker. But somehow he knew. Though yet undreamt of by mortal man, he knew.

Likewise the prescience of Robert Burns foreseeing the Advent of the Mariage, with his poem "A Mariage of Four Roses."

O, my Luve's a Mariage of Four Roses,

That's newly sprung in June.

O, my Luve's like a melodie

That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair as thou, in my bourbon glass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will love thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Roger

(Must stop, getting verklemmt)

[CorvallisCracker]

<ssnifff>...<ssniff>

whee is my handkercheif when I need one?

Here, take mine. Mind the green spots.

------

Mariage dissolved

cohabitation persists

limited in name

[ThomasH]

I hope the Limited edition small batch comes out well. I too don't care much for regular small batch. The bottle I have delivers enough burn going down that not even ginger ale could tame it!

Thomas

[TomFischer]

I really believe you all will enjoy the Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch. It is incredible and definitely has the signature Four Roses flavor in a way which I've never experienced. And Josh, I agree on trusting Four Roses Master Distiller Jim Rutledge!

I've enjoyed reading your all's comments.

[DeanSheen]

I hope the Limited edition small batch comes out well. I too don't care much for regular small batch. The bottle I have delivers enough burn going down that not even ginger ale could tame it!

Thomas

I know what you are talking about as I have had batches with a bit of burn in it. The current batch has none of that and is smooth as silk.

[craigthom]

The Mariage was a limited edition small batch. I don't see why this will be of lower quality, considering the same people are doing it.

Is there any reason to believe that this is just a name change for the same concept, maybe to broaden its appeal? The Mariage last year didn't seem to sell out as quickly as the limited edition single barrels do.