A Guided Tour Of Four Roses Ten Recipes

We turn the Four Roses 10 Recipe Tasting Kit into a hands-on bourbon class, testing how two mash bills and five yeast strains can reshape flavor in the glass. We rank our favorites, compare the kit to an OBSK single barrel, then build a custom blend to chase the perfect balance of sweet, fruit, and spice. 
• quick sponsor shout and housekeeping plus where to watch and listen 
• why Four Roses matters plus the brand history from Prohibition to its US comeback 
• the 10-recipe system explained using two mash bills and five yeast strains 
• tasting through Mash Bill E recipes and calling out vanilla, pear, tea, floral and bitterness 
• tasting through Mash Bill B recipes and tracking rye driven spice, cherry, caramel and oak 
• naming our top picks with OBSK as the standout for our palate 
• comparing kit pours vs a bottled single barrel and checking proof 
• asking and answering barrel entry proof today and why it changes whiskey 
• blending equal parts to build a personal Four Roses style pour 
Remember www.scotchybourbonboys.com for all things scotchy bourbon boys. No matter whether you listen to us or watch us, make sure you leave us good feedback, become members, you know, just support us overall.

Ten bottles from one distillery sounds simple until you realize Four Roses is playing a completely different game. We crack open the Four Roses 10 Recipe Tasting Kit and put the distillery’s famous “two mash bills plus five yeast strains” system to a real test, glass by glass, note by note. If you’ve ever wondered whether yeast can really change bourbon flavor, or why one Four Roses single barrel hits your palate perfectly while another feels sharp, this tasting turns that mystery into something you can actually taste.

We walk through the Four Roses story and the modern rebuild that made the brand a favorite among bourbon enthusiasts, then get practical with the production details: Mash Bill E versus Mash Bill B, and what each yeast strain is designed to contribute (delicate fruit, spice, rich fruit, floral, herbal). From there, it’s a guided bourbon tasting focused on what matters most for building your own palate: identifying vanilla and caramel sweetness, spotting fruit shifts like pear and cherry, noticing herbal tea and mint notes, and paying attention to bitterness and finish when a recipe doesn’t land as a great standalone sipper.

The fun twist is we don’t stop at rankings. We compare the kit to an OBSK single barrel, talk proof, look up Four Roses barrel entry proof, and then blend our own custom pour to see how the recipes behave when you mix them like a master distiller. If you love bourbon education, Four Roses recipe codes, and DIY tasting experiments, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a bourbon friend, and leave us a five-star review so more people can find the show.

If You Have Gohsts

Transcript

Whiskey Thief Sponsor Spotlight

SPEAKER_06 0:46

Tiny here to tell you about Whiskey Thief Distilling Company and their newly opened tasting room. Whether you are up for a farm to glass distilling experience on the Three Boys Farm in Frankfurt, Kentucky, or an out-of-this world tasting experience in Newland, you won't be disappointed. At both locations, their barrel picks all day, every day, are like none other. Each location features stations with five barrels, each featuring their pot-distilled bourbons and rye. Once the barrels have been cleaned and tasted, you can make a selection and clean your own bottle. A day at Whiskey Teeth with their friendly staff and ownership will ensure you many good times with good friends and family. Remember to always drink responsibly, never drink and dry, and live your life unplugged and unfortunately. And I will, what would you say? I will kind of shy away from it. I found my favorite, but I won't tell you everybody who's watched it kind of knows what my favorite. Oh no, it just came that way. As as John Rett Susan says, if everybody on the audio is not going to be able to see this, but I'm wearing a hat that gives me some false hair. Uh, and if you've ever met me, not that I take my hat off too much, but I have no hair. But when I add it, it does add some kind of flair. And it's got to be fun. We've done over 600 podcasts,

Show Updates And How To Support

SPEAKER_06 4:06

and I'm always looking for different things to kind of do, to keep it going, to keep everything going. Thank you, uh, Christopher, saying this is amazing. Appreciate that. We're on we're also on YouTube. That's going tonight, but it's, you know, to start off to tell everybody about the Scotchy Bourbon Boys. We're www.scotchybourbonboys.com. For all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys, you can find out things about us. You can we've updated some pictures, we've done some updates, and we're gonna update it a little bit more. Roxy's got a little bit of time now because she's kind of put a bunch of berths together, and so she's gonna be doing that. Plus, uh, we're welcoming in our new sponsor, Neely Family Distillery. We're looking forward to that. And we're always working in directions. There's some things coming up in the future. It just definitely keep checking us out. It's we're we've we've booked a lot of really, really good content when it comes to distilleries, distilling, and that type of thing. But we don't have a lot of our guests for the most part are not celebrities, but we've got something, a couple things in the making that might allow us to get a couple of those types, type guests on that we can bring to you. Always looking for that. And then also remember we're on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X, along with Apple, iHeart, and Spotify. Whether you listen to us or you watch us, support us. You know, if you become a member, we have different shelf levels for the podcast uh as a membership on YouTube. You can also, if you're on YouTube, you can send across any super chats that's all there. And so, you know, just you know, support us. Another good way is on Apple, leave us good feedback, uh give us a five-star review, write a review because that helps. We've when you do this many and this many people watch you, every once in a while, someone either they have something against what's going on or they don't like it, and you get it, whatever. So getting our reviews up is a good thing. So I thank you so much for all the support that all of our listeners give us. And we're ready to get this one going. I have to get this one going because when you're gonna sample 10 different bourbons in a night, and it's a sample, I got minis. And tonight we're tackling one of the most unique tasting experiences in bourbon, the Four Roses 10 Recipe Tasting Kit. 10 different bourbons from one distillery. Use only two mash bills and five yeast strains. Can yeast really make that much of a difference? Tonight we're gonna find out. And so, real quick, as far as four roses go, how it got its name was that the founder, it's a romantic story, Paul Jones Jr., proposed to a Southern bell. She told him that if he answered if his if her answer

Why Four Roses Stands Apart

SPEAKER_06 7:06

was yes, she would wear a corsage, uh, a corsage of four red roses to the Grand Paul. When he arrived, she was wearing the roses, and he took that as her acceptance. The brand adopted the name Four Roses in honor of that moment. Whether every detail of the story is historically verifiable, it's been part of the brand's identity for generations. So, where did Four Roses begin? Trademarked in 1888 by Paul Jones Jr., distilling operations later moved to Kentucky. The current distillery in Lawrenceboro, Kentucky dates back to 1910 and is one of the few Spanish mission-style distilleries in the United States. During Prohibition, Four Roses was only a handful of distilleries allowed to produce whiskey for medicinal purpose, helping the brand survive. Why did it originally disappear from American shelves? This is one of the most fascinating stories in bourbon. In the 1950s, Seagrams owned Four Roses. To focus on premium brands overseas, they stopped selling straight bourbon in the U.S. Instead, Americans mostly saw Four Roses as a lower-end blended whiskey. While Japan and Europe received the high-quality straight bourbon, for decades, American bourbon fans had no idea how good Four Roses bourbon actually was. What changed? In 2002, Japanese beverage company Curran Brewery acquired Four Roses and made a major investment in restoring the brand's reputation. They emphasized quality, transparency, and education, especially around the unique 10 recipe system. Today, Four Roses is regarded as one of the premier Kentucky bourbon producers. So master distiller Jim Rutledge from 1995 to 2015 is widely credited with rebuilding Four Roses' reputation. He reintroduced premium straight bourbon to the U.S., highlighted the 10 individual recipes, created the highly regarded small batch, single barrel, and limited edition small batch releases, earned respect among bourbon enthusiasts for consistency and craftsmanship. Many people consider him one of the architects of the modern bourbon renaissance. Now, the current master distiller, Brent Elliott, if you go back in our episodes, he's been on twice. Brent, we see him at the festivals, has always been kind and generous. We're hoping this year that when we have our bus tour, that he will come out and talk or lead our tour through the Four Roses distillery. That is one of the places that we're going on our bus tour. And Brent Elliott took over in 2000. He took over as master distiller in 2015 after working alongside Jim Rutledge. He has continued the tradition of the 10 recipes, released acclaimed limited edition small batch bottlings, introduced an innovative expression, including the 2025 Four Roses American Wheat Whiskey, expanding the distilleries portfolio while maintaining its signature quality. His work has earned Four Roses multiple whiskies of the year and the best bourbon honors. Why is Four Roses different? Most distilleries produce one or two mash bills and use a single house yeast. Four Roses creates 10 distinct recipes by kind combining two mash bills, five proprietary yeast strains. That gives the distillery incredible flexibility when creating small batches, small batch select, limited edition small batch, single barrel, and barrel strength releases. No other major Kentucky bourbon uses this exact pros approach. So although this doesn't get that four roses doesn't get quite yes, Dave Sandlin said we next time we're at the House of Commons, we should discuss theory on how age and proof influence four roses mash bill. Yes, we should. So what I've got here is this kit. And when I saw it, I was like, oh god, this is a tasting kit in a box. And and we I picked this up with uh John Ritt when we were in when we were in Chicago. I was it was been out for a little bit, but I was able to get it, and it was on sale. So the way this works, now this is the part. Explain the magic. Here it is. Draw this on a whiteboard. There's two mash bills. Mash bill B, which is 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malted barley. Higher rye, more spice. Mash bill E. 75 corn, 20 rye, 5% malted barley. Sweeter, more traditional bourbon profile. Five yeast strains. V K O Q F. Explain. So the V is delicate fruit. The K is slight spice. The O

Two Mash Bills Five Yeasts

SPEAKER_06 12:46

is rich fruit. The Q is floral, and F is herbal. So explain each mash pill is paired with every yeast strain to create 10 unique recipes. So the first one that they think that AI thinks I should start with is start with the lower rye recipes. All right. So real quick, the the OES V right here I have. And then the OES K right here. Now I'm gonna read the back of this right now. Hopefully that doesn't come out. I've got that set up. Let's see. Damn it. Can I reach it? Is the question. I slid it off. I got it. Good. So this is enjoy a first of its kind tasting experience. As fans of Four Roses know, the creative blending of our 10 signature recipes is what sets us apart and gives each of our award-winning bourbons the distinct characteristics. We've perfected the art of quality and consistency and used the guiding principle to develop these recipes. Each is made from a combination of one or two mash bills and one of our fried propriety yeast strains and demonstrates its own balance of fruit, spices, and nuance. For the first time ever, we are releasing all 10 non-chill filters for you to experience firsthand and gain key insights in the building blocks of the unique versatile makeup of four roses. Inside, you'll find our hand-selected recipe bottles and labels with the mash bill yeast strain, along with a personal guided tasting where I will discuss flavors and distinctive production processes that create varieties of the recipes. Master distiller Brent Elliott. So, anyways, he's got a tasting guide online, but I don't want to go by the tasting guide. What I'd like to do. All right, let's see what these are. These are mini. Here we go. So we did that. Delicate fruit and caramel are the tasting notes on OESV. And the tasting notes on this is Baking Spite and on OES K. So for me, I've got a little four roses, I am going to try to taste. All incredible. That's cool. Alright, so let's open up OES V like they suggested. I'm gonna find out. I mean, I don't think I've ever had now a lot of times a single book, I don't know what the ages are. I'm sure if you're online, Brent's gonna, but they're hand selected. So here we go. I smell a lot of corn and some vanilla.

Tasting Mash Bill E Recipes

SPEAKER_06 18:08

So that one is spicy. I mean, I should try that again. I think the spicy nut was there. So there's a lot of vanilla on this OESV, plus maybe a little bit of pear. So that might make sense because delicate fruit. So I really like that one. So there we go. So next, this is an annealie. Now, this is O E S K. And this one, because of what what it's saying, should increase some spice. I'll show that to everybody. All right. This one, the nose is softer. Maybe a little it's not as sweet. So just dip my nose. Let's see. Like a black tea almost. Let's see. Yeah. It's tea herbal, but a little bit. These are very neutral to me. No, I don't like I said let's see. If I these these would be very, very I'm making a batch. Both of them are very blendable for what you would want. That one picks up a now. I'm picking up a little bit of mint. That time I picked up some mint. It's like more like what would you say? Aricolet cough minty with that flavor of that cough drop. But it's it's like a I love it, it's the one I love. Flavor in it. So it's very like herbal tea-ish. All right. So now we have OES Q. So we all know what they all stand for. It it's all right. Let's see. So the different yeast strains. So this these three yeast strains are using the OE strain, which is O, which is a rich rich fruit.

SPEAKER_04 22:04

We've got OES K, OES O Q, and OES V O E.

SPEAKER_06 22:32

So I remember right now the I know what the O the O. E. The E stands for something on each one. That stand the E stands for the mash bill E and the B stands for the Mashville B. And then the yeast is SQ is the O, but then the SQ. It told me where it was. I think it was up here. All right. Coming through here. Conversation. Four roses, smoother, sweeter closing. Maybe that part. So on. Maybe taste ESV and then BSV. Too many to taste in one night. Truth is, many variations, many different flavors and aromas. That's right. All right, we're gonna try OES Q. I'm just doing it because I can. This is fun. Here is the OES Q. Now this one. This one I'm picking up on the OESQ. Let's see. This one picks up a fruitier flavor. This is nothing like what would you say. On the OS OES Q. All right. So there we're on that. So if I had to pick the one I like the best, I have to say right now, out of the three, OES V is winning. So now well that was OES O. Yes, that was OES O. And that one, the fruit, it did get fruitier. OESQ. And then OES F. So we're gonna go with the O the E mash bill, and then we're gonna go into the B mash bill. And then we're gonna pick the best of the V and the best of the B. And then what I'm gonna do is blend the two, because why not? That's what I think we all should do. This is a four roses, Glenn. Here we go. That one's there's almost uh there's definitely a floral on that. Like a like actually a rose petal, but kind of like what I get. Let's see. The floral is a little bit more bitter. So I could see all of these being used in blending. I don't know how much I want this like as far as single barrels. That's my least favorite. It has bitter ending so far. There's a little bit of graham cracker. I don't know where the heck that came from. And if there's any kind of question about four roses for me, is that I found OBSK to be my absolute favorite. And sorry, but as it's my absolute favorite. What's that one? There's another Neely family. Let's see what this, but I will say OESV has intrigued me. So Thomas Anderson says he has eight of the Four Roses single barrel strength recipes and have the other two coming in the end of August in September from Pix. And I have the OBSK barrel pick from the state of Ohio, I think. And I that one I know actually the OBSK, I think I got it at the distillery and I bought it at the state of I I was able to pick it up here in Ohio. So this one is really sp the OES F. It's spicier. They ranked themselves. I ranked this first, I ranked this second, third, fourth, fifth, as you went through. All right. So we got through the mash bill of E, which with the different yeast strains, is 75 corn, 20 rye, 5% malted barley. Now the 60% corn, 35 rye, and 5% malted barley. So you're you're just getting 15% more corn and fifty like 15% less corn and 15% more rye. Now I am going to do this. We'll start off with let's see, what does it say we should start off? OBSV. Now I'm supposed to notice the difference in the rye. I think can is there a difference in color? No. All of these seem Yeah, definitely. The bee mash bill instantly comes across. But I like it. Let's see.

Tasting Mash Bill B Recipes

SPEAKER_06 31:17

That tastes more. If you want to add spice to your blend, you would use the OBSV. So we got OBSV and OES V. And now it's this one. Okay. Now we're getting to what I think is the best. OBSK. It's the one out of all of, you know, knowing Brett Elliott and everybody, it's the one I found. I have not seen it in Ohio. Greg Schneider says, as he recalls, the OESV was probably his favorite. So that was my favorite for the OEs, that's for sure. But this is the OBSK. Yeah. Wow. That's like it says baking spices, but no. That's that's this this aligns OBSK aligns with my palate. Maybe graham crackers. Honey. Very, very good. Very good. That's good. That's my favorite by far. As always. Now we're gonna try an OBSO. And I can honestly say I haven't tried them all like this. So comparing OBSK is like 50 times better, in my opinion, of everything that I've tasted, and we're just three left. I would I would use that right off. I mean, that's what I would put, but you know, those are single barrels. All right. So this is the OBSO, and it's telling me it's supposed to pick up some cherry. I can see that on the nose. Definitely pick up the cherry. Dark fruits. I could see you using this in the blends. That's for sure. This this would be fun to make your own. This this this is awesome. But as we go, the oh has the cherry, but it still has the oaky, there's a bitterness to it. So which I don't mind, it's not bad. I'm not gonna tell you it's bad, but not my wheelhouse. All right, I need another glass. We got ten glasses. I was ready for this. So this is OBSQ. Now, this one has a nice subtle aroma. I mean, for being the higher rye. A little vanilla. A fruit I can't quite pull out. All right, let's see what this tastes like. Okay. I'm in. Cherry and what? Caramel? So I would have to say OBSQ. Which I'm like when I see when you see ten different bottles and tastings, and it's like trying to remember everything. All right. And then drop in the OB at OESB for a blend. That's that's my blend so far. So now we're at OBSF. Can take this down. And seem to be doing all right. All right. OBSF. I swear. I don't know what snipped in today or whatever. Whatever, but whatever it is, I'm feeling okay. There goes that went. Didn't want that to go. Alright, let's get off that. So Greg says he recalls Seagrim's did not have 10 recipes in the 1970s and 1980s, maybe four. So they must have expanded the list of recipes. I think they expanded the list of recipes when they were purchased, where he purchased that. So here we go. I think that's the best nose I've had on them yet. Although there's a grassy note I wasn't sure about. All right, let's see what happens as far as taste. Yeah. With this one, this one is subtle. It's not spicy like a lot of the four roses. And I I mean, honestly, the longer in the barrel, I didn't a lot of times four roses is really hot for me on those single barrels. And I wonder if that's close. I mean that four roses single barrel was damn good, but we're locating it is not the easiest thing to do. Anyways, all right. If you're doing a blend, you're gonna add a little OBSF because you're gonna want a little bit more sweetness if you don't have enough. And honestly, I get a little grapefruit, which is bizarre as far as a fruitiness. All right. So, based off of this, I want to say what I learned is I still love OBSK. And I wish I could just look down and see where that bottle is. Oh, there it is. Now my wish was granted. Here it is. So there's the OBSK that I picked up in that single barrel. I saw it and I jumped. I still have two more glasses. So let's see what OBSK. Well, it's just I know I mean what's what's going on here. Let's see. Is it close? I don't know. It seems lighter, but I'm gonna hit this OBSK single barrel. I'll give you some stats on it. All right, so we're gonna stick that in the bottle in the glass. Well,

Favorite Picks Proof Checks And Notes

SPEAKER_06 41:25

we'll really be able to tell now. I could just grab this glass because that's what it OBSK is. I wanna say I really feel that these might be a little bit younger in the tasting kit, but I could be wrong. What are we looking at in the bottle? Why am I why do I have glasses on? Alright, so now's the time where I quick stop being ridiculous and become more there. We go. Tiny's back instead of guy, Tiny Ferrari. But what do you guys think? I mean, yeah, they might be they might be the same age. All right, so wow. This oh this single barrel right here is mellower, but they're both right in my wheelhouse. What's the proof on that one? Let's take a look at the proof. I mean the proof should be on it has to be single barrel. Where's the proof? Recipe OBSK single barrel seven fifty. It's a hundred. Okay, so what are we dealing with here? Actually, we're dealing with fifty-two, a hundred and four that's like oh four proof. I believe it means a hundred and four, but let's see. Oh oh four proof. Okay, 104 proof, but that is obviously a mis a misprint. Are they all 104? Is the question? Yes, they are 04 proof. All right, so this at a hundred, I could tell the difference between the hundred and a hundred and four, very similar. Wow. If I'm going for it, I'm gonna say I like the OBSK single barrel, but I like what's in the kit even better. Alright, so now comes the fun part. I'm gonna take this Middle West Spirits Glen, and I'm gonna do a little blending. One question. In the 1970s and the 1980s, our entry proof was 105. What is it today? Can result in it can result in a huge difference. Alright. That would be a question. Hey Rachy. Hey, hey, it's Rachie Pied Piper. Let's see. Where can I get that from? Well, let's just try. Hey Siri. What is the entrance proof

Barrel Entry Proof And DIY Blending

SPEAKER_06 45:15

of four roses today? Into the barrel. Hey Siri. Is the barrel entry proof for four roses into the barrel?

unknown 45:33

All right.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

Four roses fills barrels at 120 proof, which is below the legal maximum of 125.

SPEAKER_06 45:40

So there you go.

SPEAKER_00 45:40

What this answer is from Thuiskiwash.com.

SPEAKER_06 45:43

So it was 105. Now it's 125. 20. There you go, Dave. So that can make a big difference, Greg. Alright, so we're gonna start out obviously with OBSK. This is gonna be some weird math, but I'm gonna say a third OBSK. This is my pour for tonight. And this is the cool thing about something like this. I still have a bottle, but that's gonna be gone soon. OBSK will be gone soon. Okay, we need that to happen. Okay. And then let's see. I wanna I did come up with OBSO. Was it OBS O or OBSQ? I liked. I want to say it was OBSQ. Well, I know it was OES V. Let's do a third OES V. There we go. Well, it's good to see you, Rachie. It's great to see you actually. Thank you for popping in. All right, so doing both of them together. Holy crap. That brings out the spiciness. So we need to mellow that down. Because the two, so the two together, and it makes sense. That's what I what I get out of most four roses. Like their blend, you know, their their standard thing is always hot and spicy for me. So how do I cool that down? Well, let's just take some OBSQ because I do believe that was the other one I liked, but I'm gonna make sure. Yeah. Yeah, but that's spicy too. Why did I do that? Let's put that back. So I know what to do to calm it down. It would be OBSF. So okay, so we're gonna do this. We're gonna make a pour like that. Stupid nose. Kirk is sipping. Brought out some caramels there, not too spicy. So I'm OBSQ, OBSK, and OESV in equal parts. Ooh. I don't know if I wanna I gotta write that down. I I put it into I don't got a way to do that. Equal parts. Hey Siri. Take a note. Equal parts OBSK, OBS Q, and OESB.

SPEAKER_04 50:05

Right. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 50:09

I wrote it down. So that's kind of cool. So this tasting kit. If you could find it, it allows you to experiment to what four roses is. I came up with the order of OBSK, still is my favorite. I worked hard and long long and hard to find out. I wish that that I thought I had that under control before I started. Let's have a a hot thing because that cleared me all right away. There we go. And then my second would be OES V and then OBSK OBSQ. Now, after that, not completely, what would you say? A fan of the rest, but I could see how making a blend. So the last part of this blend is I gotta put less in. I think OESF calms stuff down. Now that's not fair that I just did. But it did clear out my sinuses. Let's put a little bit of OESF and see what happens. Just a little. But that's kind of the fun part of this, right? Yeah. Nah. The the original blend's much better. Even that little bit. Maybe it is Ted's.

SPEAKER_04 52:28

He's bringing the heat. My water's gone.

SPEAKER_06 52:41

Nope. It got a bitterness to it. All right. There you go. That's what you can do. You get to taste all of them. Figure out your favorites. And then do a blend. And then see this is what Frank Elliott does all day long. I mean, you're right. It's just like now it has been purchased by, as Greg Schneider says, the gallows, and they're gonna keep it going. At first, you know, a lot of times when you, you know, Wilderness Trail was purchased, and a lot of things have been, and you know, it it's not doesn't go into the right direction, but in this case, it seems like I've seen Brent twice after the purchase, the repurchase, and it's just there's not a beat missed. And I agree with you there, Greg. It's great to see him keep it alive and prosperous and can't wait for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival and our bus tour to stop in and say hi to Brent Elliott and everything like that. So, right now I'm gonna finish up the podcast with everybody, and then I'll throw it out onto social media for everybody to join us. Anyone who wants to, I'm gonna throw out the link of this group to out to Facebook. All right, everybody. Remember www.scotchyburbonboys.com for all things scotchy bourbon boys. You can get Glenn Karen's t-shirts, contact me for those or buy them right off the website. And then also thank you, Christopher, for coming on tonight. And then

Final Rankings Bus Tour And Closing

SPEAKER_06 54:30

follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram. Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X, and then also on Apple, iHeart, and Spotify. No matter whether you listen to us or watch us, make sure you leave us good feedback, become members, you know, just support us overall. Everything goes back right into the podcast. And then remember, good bourbon equals good times and good friends. Make sure that you drink responsibly, don't drink and drive, and live your life uncaught and unfiltered. And AI will take us out. Stick around. I'm sending the link to Facebook.