Four Roses Limited Edition 2021 Release Details
Four Roses Limited Edition 2023 Small Batch Release
The Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2021 expression is official! Four Roses Distillery announced the release details on the Limited Edition bourbon in September. They. were released via a lottery, and now bottles are making their way onto the secondary market. This marks the 8th Limited Edition release since Master Distiller Brent Elliot’s tenure. This highly anticipated drop is featured on our bourbon release calendar for those bourbon hunters with an eagle eye. We review everything bourbon lovers need to know from price to proof.
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This Four Roses Limited Edition 2021 barrel strength release is the latest LE Small Batch expression produced within the Limited Edition lineup. However, the first release of this tradition which started in 2016 was a single barrel expression.
“The Limited Edition Small Batch that we do every year is really an opportunity to showcase that in a different way, with this release every September,” says Master Distiller Brent Elliot. “We’re hand selecting 10+ year old bourbons of any recipe, and there is really no upper limit but I think the oldest we’ve done is a 23-year in a Limited Edition. So we’re hand selecting three or four of these different batches and we’re mingling together to showcase how unique our products can be using these various recipes, and to create something very good. And I really think we’ve achieved that this year.”
Review & Tasting Notes
The 2021 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch barrel strength release consists of 4 different batches of Four Roses Distillery barrel stock. That juice ranges from 12-year bourbon on the low end of the spectrum, up to 16-year bourbon on the oldest. This mixture of various barrel strengths lands this expression at 114.2 proof. We’ve outlined the percentage of each of these bourbons in the overall blend.
- 58% 16-year-old OESV (Delicate fruit, 20% rye)
- 23% 12-year-old OESK (Slight spice, 20% rye)
- 13% 16-year-old OBSV (Delicate fruit, 35% rye)
- 6% 14-year-old OBSQ (Floral essence, 35% rye)
If you’re wonder what the codes are following the age statements, these are used to identify specific recipes within the Four Roses bourbon lineup. Since Four Roses uses 2 different mashbills and 5 different yeast strains, they typically produce 10 unique bourbon recipes. Of those recipes, a few are blended together for the Four Roses Limited Edition offering. In this instance, it includes 16-year OESV, 12-year OESK, 16-year OBSV, and 14-year OBSQ. In comparison, the standard Small Batch uses 4 of the 10 recipes which include OBSO, OBSK, OESO and OESK.
To dive deeper and decode the format, we’ll start with the constant letter O. This first letter designates the production facility — Four Roses Distillery. The second letter identifies the mashbill, therefore it’s always going to be E or B. The third letter typically remains constant since it designates the whiskey distillation, straight whiskey. The last or forth letter identifies the yeast strain used in the specific recipe. These can range from V (delicate fruit), K (slight spice), O (rich fruit), Q (floral essence), or F (herbal notes).
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Color
Dark Amber
Nose
Aroma: A beautiful symphony of ripe berries with floral notes and rich, warm oak.
Palate
Taste: Expect plum and orange peel on the palate, with a mouthfeel that also carries notes of delicate spice.
Finish
The finish leaves you with notes of vanilla cream and dark chocolate.
SEE ALSO: Four Roses Honors Great Steamboat Race Tradition with Celebratory Single Barrel Bourbon
Release Date & Availability
The Four Roses 2021 Limited Edition Small Batch will hit shelves in late September, 2021. Following last year’s trend, the distillery will make a portion of those bottles available for sale in their gift shop in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Fans will be able to enter an online lottery to win a chance, however those winners will still need to claim those bottles in person. For 2021, there will be an allocation of 14,500 bottles available at liquor stores around the country.
SEE ALSO: Four Roses Tasting Kit: Ten Recipe Tasting Experience Set
Proof & ABV
This Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch barrel strength blend is bottled at 114.2 proof and is non-chill filtered. The 114.2-proofing is the equivalent of 57.2% ABV. This is the highest mark on proofing to-date in this series.
SEE ALSO: Single Barrel vs Small Batch Bourbon
Mash Bill
The Limited Edition Four Roses Small Batch utilizes a unique bourbon mashbill each year since it is ultimately a blend of several distillations. For the Four Roses Limited Edition 2021, the mash bill specs leverage both of the variations Four Roses Distillery uses. As we previously mentioned while decoding the letters, this blend features both Mashbill B and Mashbill E. The B version consists of 65% corn, 35% rye and 5% malted barley. Meanwhile, the E version consists of 75% corn, 20% rye and 5% malted barley.
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MSRP & Secondary Price
This 2021 Limited Edition Small Batch is available in a 750ml bottle which resembles the same bottle the distillery uses for the standard Small Batch and Small Batch Select offerings. This LE Small Batch has an MSRP of $150. Being as it is a highly sought after offering with limited allocation, secondary market prices will demand many times over that that retail price. Historically those secondary prices have gotten more than $700.
Suggested retail pricing is officially set for $150. However, anyone who has looked for Limited Edition Small Batch for sale, you can attest that it is a major find if you can spot it in the wild. This year’s allocation was released via a lottery. Therefore, if you’re willing to pay secondary prices just to score a bottle, get ready to pay several times over that initial amount.
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