Released in June 2017, this barrel strength Small Batch marked Al Young's 50 years at Four Roses. It blends four recipes aged from 12 to 23 years and comes in a replica of the bottle and label Four Roses used in 1967, the year Young joined.
About This Bourbon
Young and master distiller Brent Elliott chose the blend together: 50% 13 year old OESV, 25% 15 year old OBSK, 20% 12 year old OBSF and 5% 23 year old OBSV. The small portion of very old OBSV adds depth, while the OESV gives creamy fruit. It was bottled at 107.6 proof without chill filtration, and around 10,000 bottles were made.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Caramel and honeysuckle, with dried apple, cherry and a little baking spice.
- Palate: Soft and fruit-led. Peach, apricot and fig, with nutmeg, tobacco and rich oak.
- Finish: Gently drying and lasting, with a cool note of mint.
Serving & Food
Neat, in a Glencairn, with time for the older whiskey to open. The stone fruit makes it good with apricot tart, grilled peaches with mascarpone or a plate of dried figs.
How to Enjoy
Four Roses collectors, and anyone looking for a well-aged, fruit-led bourbon with a good story behind the bottle.
Product Details
Producer: Four Roses Distillery
Expression: Al Young 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Small Batch
Release: 2017
Category: Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey
Country: USA
Region: Kentucky
Blend Detail: 50% OESV 13 yr, 25% OBSK 15 yr, 20% OBSF 12 yr, 5% OBSV 23 yr
Age: 12 to 23 years
ABV: 53.8%
Proof: 107.6 proof
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.
Al Young started at the distillery in 1967, became distillery manager in 1990 and was named brand ambassador in 2007, the role that made him the public face of Four Roses.