The 2013 Limited Edition Single Barrel marked 125 years of the Four Roses name. Jim Rutledge chose a set of 13 year old OBSK barrels, the high-rye recipe with the spicy K yeast, and bottled each one uncut and unfiltered.
About This Bourbon
OBSK pairs the B mash bill (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley) with the K yeast, giving a full-bodied, spicy bourbon. Rutledge found a group of 48 barrels at 13 years old, a little older than earlier single barrel limited editions. They yielded around 6,500 bottles, with about 4,000 sent to the US. The distillery gave a range of about 100.6 to 114.4 proof depending on the barrel, and critics found it richer and fruitier than the recipe's reputation suggests.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Cherry, cinnamon red hots and caramel, with dried rose and oak.
- Palate: Big and sweet at first. Dark fruit, brown sugar and cocoa, then rye pepper and firm oak.
- Finish: Warming and lengthy, with cinnamon, leather and lingering dark fruit.
Serving & Food
This is a big, spicy pour, so use a tulip glass and add water in small steps. It stands up to beef brisket, cumin lamb skewers or dark chocolate with chilli.
How to Enjoy
High-rye bourbon lovers and Four Roses collectors building a run of the Rutledge-era limited editions.
Product Details
Producer: Four Roses Distillery
Expression: Limited Edition Single Barrel, 125th Anniversary
Release: 2013
Category: Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey
Country: USA
Region: Kentucky
Recipe: OBSK
Mash Bill: 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley
Age: 13 years
Selected By: Jim Rutledge, Master Distiller
Strength: Barrel strength, varies by barrel (see label)
Filtration: Non-chill filtered
Volume: 750mL
About the Distillery
Four Roses was trademarked by Paul Jones Jr. in 1888. Its distillery at Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, a Spanish Mission style building from 1910, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Japan's Kirin owned the company from 2002 until April 2026, when it passed to E. & J. Gallo of California. Barrels age in single-storey rack warehouses at Cox's Creek, where temperatures stay more even than in tall rickhouses.
The distillery works with two mash bills, B at 60% corn and 35% rye and E at 75% corn and 20% rye, and five house yeast strains coded F, K, O, Q and V. Crossing them gives ten recipes, each written as a four-letter code on the label, such as OBSV or OESK.