Four roses cult following here

[bourboNcigars]

Seems it has a die hard following here, I have a bottle of single barrel and small batch not opened yet cause I have too many other things opened, is it really that good? Also if it's so good in a world of over priced and price Gouching how or why is it priced at $30 to $40 a bottle?

[smokinjoe]

Who says we're "in a world of over priced and price Gouching" (I assume, gouging?) ?

[bourboNcigars]

Yeah I misspelled..damn small phone buttons lol, I just get the feeling in a few bourbons and rye prices are higher then should be due to the bourbon craze some speak of, my point is with a product like four roses that I have never heard a bad thing about I'm surprised it's in the price range it is and not going for around $60 to $80 when lesser quality and loved bourbons are in those price ranges..is it cause there is so much of four roses to go around and supply is not having a issue to meet with demand?

[Restaurant man]

Yeah I misspelled..damn small phone buttons lol, I just get the feeling in a few bourbons and rye prices are higher then should be due to the bourbon craze some speak of, my point is with a product like four roses that I have never heard a bad thing about I'm surprised it's in the price range it is and not going for around $60 to $80 when lesser quality and loved bourbons are in those price ranges..is it cause there is so much of four roses to go around and supply is not having a issue to meet with demand?

[bourboNcigars]

I LOVE ogd114, in fact has I got a email for this reply I was searching Google for any deals on it online lol, I have 3 bottles but want to store away a case of it

[393foureyedfox]

'Four eyed fox' hates four roses. I do not. That is kinda how things go around here. I doubt we all agree that it's great stuff. I guess they are charging what they want to charge or what the market will bear. They've been (re)building that brand from scratch (actually worse than scratch) in the US since 2001. Someone in an office somewhere feels it fits at that price.

You also see a lot of love for OGD 114 and that is a low 20's bottle. I doubt beam will be jacking the price anytime soon. Sometimes when a product is working the best course of corporate action is to let it keep working. For that matter pappy only takes small increases every few years.

[squire]

Cult is a bit strong, we're not mindless indoctrinated robots here, rather stanch individuals actually. More like a widespread appreciation for a very high grade product widely available at good prices.

Of course nobody has to like it but one would be hard pressed not to appreciate it.

Edited May 27, 2014 by squire

[garbanzobean]

I enjoy and generally approve of Four Roses' products and business practices. The standard Single Barrel is probably my favorite sub-$40 pour. It is distinct from most other bourbons on the market at that price, both in its unique creamy mouthfeel and savory floral/leather/tobacco notes to balance out the more typical sweet bourbon notes. The private barrel offerings are all interesting pours, and some are so different from the standard Four Roses offerings that they might as well be from different distilleries. The Small Batch and Yellow Label are good in their price ranges as well, but don't do it for me like the SB does. And then there's the Limited Edition SBs and Small Batch offerings, which are both delicious (NCF and cask strength) and perennial competitors for many publications' American/bourbon/overall whiskey of the year. And all of this is a direct result of Kirin giving Jim Rutledge and the Four Roses family the room to follow his vision.

[EagleRiver]

Start looking for the unfiltered and uncut Four Roses Barrel Picks that are done at the gift shop or for store barrel picks - They are absolutely some of the most interesting and best bourbons in the world, while every recipe might not be for everyone(I'm looking at you 2011 Single Barrel LE), I think you would be hard pressed not to find one of them you enjoy. Jim Rutledge's level of integrity to the product is amazing, putting quality ahead of trends, fads, and profits. Plus they are in a strange position, the US is not their biggest market, so as they have seen tremendous growth surge in the US they have had some of their foreign markets decline due to shifts in drinking trends in those various parts of the world. So they aren't running nearly as short as all the other major players are.

[EagleRiver]

I should have looked at your location, South Loop Binnys recently had all 10 four roses recipes in their uncut unfiltered single barrelly goodness. They might still have some left you might want to check, I bought both the OBSQ and OESQ from their and they were both great, especially the high rye.

[upStomp]

I resisted even trying Four Roses until a few months ago. All the talk about "floral" kept me away, as it's not a flavor profile in which I'm interested. One day I was in a new (to me) liquor store that had none of my standard pours, so I decided to try their store pick SB. From the first few pours I was sold. I didn't get any of the flower notes folks described, just an incredibly well balanced and interesting nose and palate - especially for the price. Now I have a bottle of SB and SmB open at all times, and I'm anxiously awaiting my first attempt at an LE and a local shop pick barrel proofer.

[Flyfish]

I have a bottle of single barrel and small batch not opened yet cause I have too many other things opened, is it really that good?

The answer to your question is sitting right in front of you. I didn't know there was a rule about how many bottles you are allowed to have open. When you get to feeling really adventuresome and iconoclastic, open those bottles and find out for yourself.

And don't forget to tell us what you think.

[bourboNcigars]

Issue I have all be it a good problem, I have 20 bottles open right now, and it makes it hard to choose what I want to pour lol I want to drink it down to 10 bottles of bourbon and then the rest single malts, rum, and arak

[Quantum]

Cult is a bit strong, we're not mindless indoctrinated robots here, rather stanch individuals actually. More like a widespread appreciation for a very high grade product widely available at good prices.

This sums it up pretty well, but I'll go ahead and throw in my $0.02 worth of details. I know much of this is subjective, but I am speaking in general terms here.

Solid top to bottom standard lineup. The Yellow Label is a little light for my tastes, but it is still a quality product. The 3 standard options are widely available, good quality, and a good value.

Limited Editions that match up well with anything else on the market. The annual LE releases are going to vary from year to year, but you can feel confident expecting something in the BTAC quality range.

10 different recipes available for private barrel selections! I don't even have words to explain how awesome this is, it just is. Besides the theoretical awesomeness of this, they are actually fairly prolific is selling private barrel selections. Depending on where you live, you could have steady access to a rotating selection of barrel proof Four Roses for around $55 a bottle. While each barrel is a little different, there are very few duds, which makes dropping $50+ on an untried bottle fun instead of frightening.

Cliff notes: Its just good stuff at a good price, and they have given us practically no reason to doubt them yet.

[mbroo5880i]

I have tried 5 of the recipes and liked them all. I hope to try the other 5 at some point. The thing about Four Roses is I never have any concerns about buying an "untested" recipe or new barrel. I have yet to have one that I haven't liked. I also have no concern in recommending Four Roses as a brand to anyone. As others have mentioned, the value for the quality is top shelf. The barrel proof offerings at $50 make them the best top of the mid-shelf quality available. In fact, I would match some with the best top shelf bourbons available today.

[OscarV]

I wouldn't go so far as to say I 'hate' four roses.......what I will say is that I just do not like the floral profile.

I have heard several people say they think that Four Roses has a floral profile and I have heard some say that the name isn't masculine and that's why they don't drink it.

Except for the 2008 Mariage I get no floral taste or smell from any of the 4R bourbons.

And the name doesn't bother me because I love flowers and I have seen some very macho guys grow roses.

4R Single Barrel is some of the spiciest whiskey you can get, no floral profile at all.

4R Small Batch is on the dry side for me and to much vatting going ie 4 different recipes mixed into one but nothing floral.

Yellow Label is like vegetable soup, each individual recipe is good but when you mix 14 together it doesn't taste very good.

[garbanzobean]

I have heard several people say they think that Four Roses has a floral profile and I have heard some say that the name isn't masculine and that's why they don't drink it.

Except for the 2008 Mariage I get no floral taste or smell from any of the 4R bourbons.

And the name doesn't bother me because I love flowers and I have seen some very macho guys grow roses.

4R Single Barrel is some of the spiciest whiskey you can get, no floral profile at all.

4R Small Batch is on the dry side for me and to much vatting going ie 4 different recipes mixed into one but nothing floral.

Yellow Label is like vegetable soup, each individual recipe is good but when you mix 14 together it doesn't taste very good.

When I say "floral," I mean that sometimes my tongue gets the impression I just walked into a room where someone sprayed air freshener or perfume, except it's not a negative in this case. As near as I can tell, it's connected to the savory leather/tobacco/shoe polish thing I get out of the Single Barrel. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. Either way, the standard SB is worth keeping around just because it is pretty different.

[TunnelTiger]

oh contraire, 4RYL to me is like comparing a blended scotch to a single malt. Both can be excellent depending on your pallete at the time.

Well that's just me. I might be in the minority but frankly I don't care.

[ebo]

I guess I'm in the "cult"...lol. I love the FRSB. Not the the small batch is bad by any means but, I think the SB is the shiznitz! Strange how much I dislike the FRYL?

[JPBoston]

I've enjoyed the two 4R products I've tried, standard SmB and SB. I get a kick out of the fruity/floral profile... But it's not a standard pour for me. I'd like to try the yellow label, but at 80pr, there are so many cheaper options in that proof range (and higher), it's hard to take the leap.

I think it's a little cheaper in some other areas... Which helps the popularity.

For my area:

YL: $18-20

SmB: $30-32

SB: $40-45

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

Edited May 28, 2014 by JPBoston

[nd2005]

Echoing the crowd...

The standard offerings are the among the best, if not the best, of their price point - yellow label among the sub $20 bunch, small batch among the sub $30, single barrel among the sub $40.

Then they have a wide offering of well aged, barrel proof bottles at the $50 price point - no other company out there offers 10-12 year bottles at that price. Plus a wide range of profiles and transparency about what exactly they are offering.

And on top of all those awesome offerings you add in the exceptionally well selected limited edition single barrel and small batch offerings.

To top it all off - an affable and transparent distiller who signs bottles and chats with regular joe consumers on the regular.

[tylermke]

Four Roses Private Selects are the absolute best value in bourbon IMO. If that makes it cult status, I have no problem drinking the Kool-Aid.

[393foureyedfox]

I have heard several people say they think that Four Roses has a floral profile and I have heard some say that the name isn't masculine and that's why they don't drink it.And the name doesn't bother me because I love flowers and I have seen some very macho guys grow roses.

Edited May 28, 2014 by 393foureyedfox

[squire]

Tread quietly Doug . . . you don't want to answer the doorbell one morning to find a couple of Four Roses guys there to convert 'ca.

[393foureyedfox]

Tread quietly Doug . . . you don't want to answer the doorbell one morning to find a couple of Four Roses guys there to convert 'ca.

Im content with my orientations....