Four Roses

There are conflicting accounts of the brand's origin.{{cite web| url=http://www.ellenjaye.com/4roses.htm| work=American Whiskey |title=The Four Roses Distillery | first=John |last=Lipman| access-date=October 23, 2009}} Four Roses owner Kirin Brewery names Paul Jones Jr. as the founder of the brand.[http://fourrosesbourbon.com/history/ Four Roses Bourbon History] page on Four Roses brand website. The company says the brand name was trademarked in 1888 by Jones, who claimed it had been produced and sold as early as the 1860s. An alternative account has the brand founded by Rufus Mathewson Rose, speculating it was probably named in honor of himself, his brother Origen, and their two sons.{{cite web| url=http://www.atlantaga.gov/index.aspx?page=429| title=Rufus M. Rose House| author=Atlanta Urban Design Commission| access-date=November 5, 2015}} The company website makes no mention of anyone named Rose.

The Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, was built in 1910 with Spanish Mission-style architecture, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.{{NRISref|version=2010a|dateform=mdy|access-date=March 28, 2014}} It was originally called the Old Prentice distillery and was owned by J.T.S. Brown.{{cite web |url=http://josephandjoseph.net/100-years-of-distillery-design/ |title=100+ Years of Distillery Design |work=Joseph & Joseph Architects |access-date=August 21, 2019 |archive-date=August 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821172134/http://josephandjoseph.net/100-years-of-distillery-design/ |url-status=dead }} It was designed by Joseph & Joseph Architects, a firm with a history that has spanned more than a century in distillery design.

The Four Roses brand was purchased by Seagram distillers, a Canadian firm, in 1943. Around the end of the 1950s, Seagram discontinued its sale within the United States in order to focus on promoting its core product, blended whiskey – although it introduced other brands of premium straight bourbons in the 1960s and 1970s, such as Benchmark and Eagle Rare.{{cite web|url=http://fourrosesbourbon.com/faq|title=Frequently Asked Questions|website=Four Roses bourbon official website|access-date=October 11, 2013|archive-date=January 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126124309/https://fourrosesbourbon.com/faq|url-status=dead}} A staid product in the US, Four Roses Kentucky straight bourbon's focus was shifted to Europe and Asia, which were rapidly growing markets at the time. In the United States during this period, the Four Roses name was used on a blended whiskey, made mostly of neutral grain spirits and commonly seen as a lower tier brand.{{cite web |first=Clay |last=Risen |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2009/05/domestic-whiskeys-best-kept-secret/16629/ |title=Domestic Whiskey's Best Kept Secret |work=The Atlantic |date=May 7, 2009 |access-date=August 21, 2019}}{{cite web |first=Jason |last=Pyle |url=http://sourmashmanifesto.com/category/reviewsratings/four-roses-reviewsratings/ |title=The Four Roses Story |work=Sour Mash Manifesto |date=February 15, 2011 |access-date=August 21, 2019}} Four Roses continued to be unavailable as a straight bourbon in the US market until after 1995.{{Cite book |last1=Waymack |first1=Mark H. |url=https://openlibrary.org/books/OL784496M/The_book_of_classic_American_whiskeys |title=The Book of Classic American Whiskeys |last2=Harris |first2=James F. |date=1995 |isbn=0812693051 |page=149 |ol=784496M |quote=Four Roses is quite difficult to obtain in the U.S. So far, we haven't been able to get our hands on any Four Roses...With any luck, [it] will reappear in the domestic market.}} In 1999, Four Roses brand ownership passed from Seagram to Vivendi/Universal, then in 2001 to Pernod Ricard and Diageo before being purchased by The Kirin Brewery in 2002. Kirin discontinued the sale of blended whiskey to focus exclusively on Four Roses Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey.

The brand's master distiller during 1995–2015 was Jim Rutledge, who had started working for Seagram in 1966. The previous master distiller was Ova Haney. Since Rutledge's retirement in 2015, the master distiller has been Brent Elliott, who had worked with Rutledge for the preceding 10 years. Elliot is originally from Owensboro, Kentucky, and has a degree in chemistry from the University of Kentucky.{{cite web |url=https://fourrosesbourbon.com/heritage/master-distiller/ |title=Meet the Master Distiller |access-date=August 21, 2019 |work=Four Roses bourbon official website}}

In April 2019, the Four Roses distillery completed a $55 million expansion project that coincided with the launch of Small Batch Select{{snd}} the first permanent addition to the distillery's bourbon lineup in 12 years.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemicallef/2019/06/08/four-roses-small-batch-select-is-a-must-try-addition-to-the-distillerys-core-range/ |title=Four Roses Small Batch Select Is A Must Try Addition To The Distillery's Core Range |last=Micaleffe|first=Joseph V.|date=June 8, 2019|website=Forbes |access-date=September 18, 2019}} The distillery's expansion project began in 2015 and resulted in the ability to double production capacity.{{Cite web|first=Bruce |last=Schreiner |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/four-roses-eyes-expanded-us-sales-with-distillery-expansion|title=Four Roses eyes expanded US sales with distillery expansion|date=April 16, 2019|website=Fox Business |language=en-US|access-date=September 17, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://insiderlouisville.com/lifestyle_culture/four-roses-reopens-distillery-after-34-million-expansion-and-celebrates-release-of-small-batch-select/ |work=Insider Louisville |first=Sara |last=Havens |title=Four Roses reopens distillery after $34 million expansion and celebrates release of Small Batch Select |date=April 16, 2019 |access-date=September 18, 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

The expansion project invested $34 million into the Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, and $21 million at the Warehouse & Bottling facility in Cox's Creek. At the distillery, Four Roses added two new buildings and equipment, including a new column and doubler still and more fermenters.

With the duplicate column and doubler still, production capacity is scheduled to increase from 4 million to 8 million proof gallons, enough to fill more than 130,000 barrels per year ({{convert|6.89|e6USgal|hl|disp=out|abbr=off}}). The Louisville-based architecture firm Joseph & Joseph designed the original distillery in 1910, and modeled the new buildings after the existing Spanish mission-style structures.{{cite web|url=http://josephandjoseph.net/four-roses-reopens-distillery-after-expansion/|title=Four Roses reopens distillery after expansion|website=Joseph & Joseph Architects|access-date=September 17, 2019}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

File:Pieroni Creative- Small Batch Select-3082.jpg

The company distills ten separate bourbons using two mash recipes and five yeast strains. From combining these ten bourbons, the Four Roses distillery creates their standard bourbon. The single barrel bottlings are made with only one of those ten bourbons. The brand's regular bottlings are:

• Four Roses Bourbon: 80 U.S. proof;{{cite web |title=The Bourbons |url=https://fourrosesbourbon.com/bourbon/ |work=Four Roses bourbon official website |access-date=August 3, 2019}} sold in U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan
• Four Roses Small Batch: 90 proof; sold in U.S., Canada and Europe
• Four Roses Single Barrel: 100 proof; sold in U.S., Canada, Europe, and in small volumes in Japan
• Four Roses Small Batch Select: 104 proof; aged at least six years; non-chill-filtered; sold in U.S. and Canada
• Four Roses Black: 80 proof; sold in Japan
• Four Roses Super Premium: 86 proof; sold in Japan

The company also produces special limited-production commemorative releases. These are often non-chill-filtered and bottled at barrel proof.

• Four Roses Small Batch
• World Whiskies Awards 2019 – Gold Medal – Taste{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldwhiskiesawards.com/winner/gold-medal-3-world-whiskies-awards-2019|title=World Whiskies Awards 2019 – Gold Medal – Taste – Four Roses Small Batch |website=World Whiskies Awards|language=en-UK|access-date=2019-09-19}}
• Whiskey Magazine Editor's Choice August–September 2015{{Cite news|url=https://whiskymag.com/taste-bottling/12-four-roses|title=Four Roses / Small Batch |website=Whisky Magazine|access-date=2019-09-19|issue=129|date=August–September 2015}}
• Four Roses Single Barrel
• World Whiskies Awards 2019 – Gold Medal – Taste{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldwhiskiesawards.com/winner/gold-medal-4-world-whiskies-awards-2019|title=World Whisky awards 2019 – Gold Medal – Taste – Four Roses Single Barrel |website=World Whiskies Awards|language=en-UK|access-date=2019-09-19}}
• Four Roses 130th Anniversary 2018 Limited Edition Small Batch
• World Whiskies Awards 2019 – World's Best Bourbon and Best Kentucky Bourbon{{Cite journal|title=APA Division 51: About Us: Division Awards|date=2012|doi = 10.1037/e670562012-001}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldwhiskiesawards.com/winner/whisky/2019/best-kentucky-bourbon-world-whiskies-awards-2019|title=World Whiskies Awards 2019 – Winners – Best Kentucky Bourbon |website=World Whiskies Awards|access-date=2019-09-19}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldwhiskiesawards.com/winner/whisky/2019/worlds-best-bourbon-world-whiskies-awards-2019|title=World Whiskies Awards 2019 – Winners – World's Best Bourbon |website=World Whiskies Awards|language=en-UK|access-date=2019-09-19}}

• List of historic whiskey distilleries

{{reflist|2}}

• [http://www.fourrosesbourbon.com/ Four Roses official website]
• {{cite web|url=http://www.whiskymag.com/whisky/brand/four_roses/whisky239.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129180222/http://www.whiskymag.com/whisky/brand/four_roses/whisky239.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-01-29 |title=Four Roses Bourbon |work=Whisky Magazine }} (with tasting notes by Michael Jackson and Dave Broom)
• [https://archive.today/20120909073314/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS166352+16-Sep-2008+PRN20080916 Reuters article]

{{KYBourbonTrail}}

Category:Kirin brands

Category:Bourbon whiskey

Category:Products introduced in 1888

Category:1888 establishments in Kentucky

Category:Industrial buildings completed in 1910

Category:Distilleries on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Anderson County, Kentucky

Category:Mission Revival architecture in Kentucky

Category:Anderson County, Kentucky