For theFour Roses Small Batch Bourbon, Master Distiller Jim Rutledge mingles four different bourbon recipes to bring you one helluva balanced bourbon that’s great for drinking “neat”, with a splash or as an integral part of your holiday egg nog!

The four recipes follow as I thought it was very interesting to include the way Four Roses categorizes their ten total bourbon recipes with letter designations:

The first 3 letters represent production qualities such as distillery location, etc. as in:

O Designates produced at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY.

E The mashbill that is 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley.

B The mashbill that is 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley.

S Designates straight whiskey distillation.

The last letter designates the yeast strain used to create the flavor characteristics described – V, K, O, Q, and F. So in our case (and in my glass), we have the following four bourbon recipes:

OBSO (Four Roses Distillery, 60% Corn mashbill, Straight Whiskey – floral/rose petal, spicy, medium body, Four Roses Small Batch)

OBSK (Four Roses Distillery, 60% Corn mashbill, Straight Whiskey – rich in spiciness, full body, Four Roses Small Batch, 120th Anniversary Barrel Strength Bourbon)

OESK (Four Roses Distillery, 75% Corn mashbill, Straight Whiskey – spicy, full body, Four Roses Small Batch, 2011 Limited Edition Four Roses Small Batch)

OESO (Four Roses Distillery, 75% Corn mashbill, Straight Whiskey – fruity/red berries, medium body, Four Roses Small Batch)

Got it? There’s a quiz later. Anyway, I thought it was interesting.

Back to what’s in my glass! It has a beautiful, deep golden amber color. It sips sweet at first – like a brown sugar cinnamon stick, but then it gets complex and rich real quick with spicy oak, almonds, and caramel cherries and a nice long and warm toffee finish. Did I mention long and warm?

As the name “small batch” suggests, it’s available in limited quantities. Yes, once it’s gone it’s gone, so buy 2 bottles!