Nestled just south of the small Kentucky town of Lawrenceburg, Four Roses Distillery has long prided itself on a quality bourbon that stems from production as early as the 1860s. Four Roses creates variations in their bourbons, especially the single barrel series, by using five separate yeast strains and two differing mashbills, for a total of 10 different options. Every year, one bourbon on any enthusiast’s list of dream drams is the Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch. Released one a year in the fall, the dram is their oldest-aged expression you can find, outside of their brand new anthology series set to release this year.
The 2026 limited edition is a blend of four bourbons – the 14-year OBSK (39%), 14-year OESK (31%), 15-year OESV (20%) and 23-year OESK (9ish%). Bottled at 54.6% and non-chill filtered, Four Roses distiller Brent Elliott says that the “”Limited Edition Small Batch gives us a chance to return to a tradition we look forward to every year and celebrate the blending and craftsmanship at the heart of Four Roses.” The dram hits all the strong points of a bourbon, advertising aromas of apricot and oak, a palate of baking spice, honey, and subtle wood tones, and a finish of fruit, vanilla, and caramel.
Master Distiller Brent Elliott described the process of making the annually anticipated expression. First, he looks outstanding or unique batches and will set aside those, letting them age for 10+ years. Once yearly, he will sample from that group and experiment to find something fantastic. Mr. Elliott has expressed his enthusiasm for this process, pointing out that with Four Roses’ 10 core recipes, he can create an “infinite” number of flavors. To make the 2026 expression, he started with 30 different bourbons, narrowed to 8-10 batches for test blending, and ended with the 4 batches chosen. “This is … the epitome of [the small batch select] with extra age, hand crafted and blended batches every year.”
Sweet strawberry, honeyed corn, cinnamon on French toast, cigar box.
One of the white whales of the bourbon world, I was excited to try the Four Roses Limited Edition, and boy was it worth the wait. The full bodied explosion of rich flavor, quite unlike the single barrel and other small batch expressions, clearly comes from a lot of intention, careful blending, and excellent source material. A perfect gift or once-in-a-great-while treat, you should buy it if you see it on the shelf.
