Four Roses 130th

It is a combination of Four Roses’ 10, 13, 14 and 16-year old bourbons

Kentucky bourbon brand Four Roses has unveiled a small-batch variant to mark its 130th anniversary.

With an rsp of £185 (70cl), there will be 3,600 hand-numbered bottles available across Europe. It is a combination of Four Roses’ 10, 13, 14 and 16-year old bourbons – promising “vanilla, raspberries and ripe berries, and crème brûlée” on the nose.

Bottled at barrel strength of 54.2%, 130th Anniversary Limited Edition Small Batch offers flavours of apricot, mint, cinnamon, apple and “mellow oak”, with a “very long” finish that includes hints of cinnamon, fruit and vanilla.

Four Roses master distiller Brent Elliott had focused on “building around the unique fruit flavours in two of our yeast strains, and these really shine through in the finished product” he said. “As a contrast, I also included a spicy, older batch. By mingling these different profiles, I think we achieved a wonderfully balanced, complex and unique bourbon.”

The launch comes as imported whiskey’s value is soaring in the UK mults. Brit took home an extra £21.1m (9.6%) over the past year, pushing sales up 13.1% to £190.1m [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 17 June 2018].