Four Roses For the Novice

[Alden]

Four Roses seems to make a bewildering variety of bourbons.

For a newbie, which are the best ones to start with?

[thiemb]

Four Roses seems to make a bewildering variety of bourbons.

For a newbie, which are the best ones to start with?

[squire]

I recommend the standard yellow label Four Roses, 80 proof.

[Yeti]

I think the K and V yeasts are the most typical bourbon flavors, the "safest" place to start with recipes maybe. Either mashbill is good, so OBSV, OBSK, OESV, and OESK would be my recommendations. The Q and F yeasts are very distinct and different from mainstream bourbon flavors IMO.

[amftx]

I'd recommend starting with the standard Small Batch and Single Barrel.

[OscarV]

What can I add? It's all been covered.

Start with them all and when you are done revisit them again.

btw, the Single Barrel is way way way better than the rest. (imho)

[Flyfish]

Four Roses seems to make a bewildering variety of bourbons.

For a newbie, which are the best ones to start with?

All distillers make a bewildering variety of bourbons. 4R just happens to call all of theirs 4R. I suggest starting with the yellow lable and working your way up. The Limited Editions are rather pricey for someone new to bourbon. Get your feet wet before diving from the 3 meter board into the deep end of the pool.

[bourbonandbacon]

i would only add to the suggestions about specific types of FR, that you should also have an understanding of what FR is about. to me, the SB is an incredible balancing act of flavors. really complex stuff that sometimes can take a bit into the bottle to fully appreciate. it doesnt necessarily hit you over the head with a one dimensional flavor profile like a lot of other bourbons out there. i think being able to appreciate that delicate balance of rye spice and sweetness takes a certain drinker with a certain taste. while many people on this site rave about FR (i mean complain about how utterly terrible it is), when i introduce it to new or non-bourbon drinkers, many people dont like it so much because of its subtlety. so, just as a heads up in case you go in to try your first bottle and are not immediately blown away

[Alden]

I think the K and V yeasts are the most typical bourbon flavors, the "safest" place to start with recipes maybe. Either mashbill is good, so OBSV, OBSK, OESV, and OESK would be my recommendations. The Q and F yeasts are very distinct and different from mainstream bourbon flavors IMO.

[bourbonandbacon]

http://www.fourrosesbourbon.com/ten-unique-bourbon-recipes/

[bourbonandbacon]

So these letters, including FR, denote different strains of yeast that are used for fermentation?

[HighInTheMtns]

So these letters, including FR, denote different strains of yeast that are used for fermentation?

[Alden]

OK,Got it. Thanks very much!

[LikeItWasSodaPop]

As far as my $.02 goes, I'd recommend against the Yellow Label as a starting point and strongly recommend the Single Barrel or Small Batch (in that order). It took me spending a lot of time with the premium limited editions and single barrels (08 and 09 Mariage, LESmB, 2010-2012 LESB, various Binny's and Party Source single barrels) to actually "get" the beauty of the Yellow Label. The 80 proof hides a lot of the complexity.

In any event, it's definitely a line of bourbons that, for a newbie, would be great to revisit every 3 months or so to see how your evolving palate/preferences intersect with the glory that is 4R.

[black mamba]

It constantly amazes me how many people just don't "get" Four Roses. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, loves Dickel and ETL, but it seems only whiskey die-hards like 4R. The quality is there, the proof is there, the flavor is there, and the price is there. What gives?

[CoMobourbon]

Yeah, seriously, Four Roses is at both the top and bottom of my whiskey buying spectrum. At the value end, I can get FR yellow for $13 around here for some wonderful unholy reason. At the top end of what I would ever actually pay for, I can get the standard single barrel for more like $35-$40. And at my fantasy / some-day-when-I-am-old-and-rich level, there are the LE small batches and even the barrel proof single barrels.

[Josh]

It constantly amazes me how many people just don't "get" Four Roses. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, loves Dickel and ETL, but it seems only whiskey die-hards like 4R. The quality is there, the proof is there, the flavor is there, and the price is there. What gives?

Shhhhhh. Some of us like it that way.

[squire]

Good responses guys. With it's myriad of yeasts and recipes Four Roses is, for me at least, the most interesting brand to study, but since Alden's original question was where to start I believe the standard yellow label has ample complexity to serve as an introduction to the brand.

[rndenks]

As another newer guy to bourbon I can tell you that I did jump right into the 4R 1B and love it. That is where I entered the 4R game after reading a lot of posts, and my local stores not caring 4R YL. I may not be able to totally break it all down yet, but I can note a lot of smells/tastes. I also think highly of it compared to some of the other bourbons I have tried. Probably my favorite pour on my shelf right now.

Squire may be right that Yellow Lable may be the way to slowly wade into 4R. I am just saying if you decide to dive in head first with the SB or 1B you can still swim. Sorry for the cheesy metaphors.

[Alden]

As another newer guy to bourbon I can tell you that I did jump right into the 4R 1B and love it. That is where I entered the 4R game after reading a lot of posts, and my local stores not caring 4R YL. I may not be able to totally break it all down yet, but I can note a lot of smells/tastes. I also think highly of it compared to some of the other bourbons I have tried. Probably my favorite pour on my shelf right now.

Squire may be right that Yellow Lable may be the way to slowly wade into 4R. I am just saying if you decide to dive in head first with the SB or 1B you can still swim. Sorry for the cheesy metaphors.

Not that cheesy.

The only one I can find locally is the 1B, so that will probably be the one I get first. If I could find the yellow label, I would start with that. I'll keep looking around. Most of my local shops don't have a huge variety in stock of anything but wines. Wine is very, very popular here where I live, in tourist town.

We do have a Total Wine and Spirits way over on the east side of Orlando, but I rarely get over that way.

[squire]

Waaay over across town? Com'on Alden, where's your sense of adventure.

[Brisko]

I'd recommend both the Single Barrel and the Small Batch. Both are very good products, and in somewhat contrasting styles. Most people seem to prefer one over the other. I happen to really like the small batch but there's only one way to find out. Like I say both are very good and worth your while to track down.

[callmeox]

My first venture into premium bourbon was FRSB and I've been a FR evangelist ever since.

[Alden]

I just asked the manager of my local if she could try to get some of the yellow label for me. She said "maybe".

We'll see what happens.

[Kalessin]

Straightbourbon.com is why I got into Four Roses (FR or 4R) at all.

I knew the name from their old advertisements from the 1930s, 40s and 50s (do a search on "vintage four roses advertising", it was fun stuff), but I only had them in my mind as a label on blended whiskey (like Thompson's) and hadn't tried any of their modern bourbons after they started selling straight bourbon whiskey again in the US in 2002.

I started with the Yellow Label (FRYL), but for me, that's a summer bourbon, with less punch and flavor. Tasty with a cube or two of ice in the summer, though!

I progressed to the Small Batch (FRSmB) and really like it. I haven't been buying it as much while I've been working on many other labels, but it's a favorite at that price point. The SmB is what I'd recommend for your first experimental bottle of 4R. It's important to know if you like the "house style"; there are members here who love many bourbons but don't like 4R at all.

I haven't yet had the chance to buy a bottle of the standard Single Barrel (FR1B or FRSB) because a local store has a "specially selected" Single Barrel that's only a few dollars more and VERY tasty. A number of the really big stores (Julio's in Massachusetts, The Party Source, K&L, etc) can buy whole barrels for a special Single Barrel release (yield about 280 bottles/barrel) of recipes other than the standard 1B. So instead of the standard OBSV recipe, I've been having a great time with Julio's Liquors "Loch & K(e)y Society" OESO-recipe 1B.

I also found out about some of their their special bottlings, the 1B Limited Edition (FR1BLE) and Small Batch Limited Edition (SmBLE, which was called Mariage when it started). Annual editions priced a bit over $80 in MA, and I found Mariage 2009 at a little store in 2012, last year's 1BLE12 only one bottle at another store, and last year's SmBLE12 at several stores. I dug deep to buy multiple bottles because I liked the whiskey so much.

They have some special editions beyond that (there was a 17-year-old 1B at the gift shop that's been mighty popular around here), but haven't managed to taste them yet. I'm definitely looking forward to this year's 1BLE and SmBLE.