Keeping you ahead of the curve, here’s news on a new Four Roses bourbon, scheduled to be released in April.
The previous owner of Four Roses, Seagram, focused on selling Four Roses bourbon overseas. But ever since Kirin took ownership of Four Roses in 2002, they have made an effort to bring back the brand to the U.S. Starting first in Kentucky, they now have reintroduced the brand to New York, New Jersey, Tennessee and Illinois.
Last year they expanded their portfolio to include a Small Batch bourbon, Single Barrel bourbons, and a limited-edition 40th Anniversary bottling for Master Distiller Jim Rutledge (recipient of Malt Advocate magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2007), which was a single barrel, barrel proof whiskey.
Now there’s going to be a new 12 year old, single barrel, barrel proof Four Roses bourbon to celebrate Four Roses 120th Anniversary. This limited edition will be released in April with a 3,000 bottle distribution.
I have not been told the distribution or price yet, but when I find out, I’ll post it up. Keep ‘em coming, guys!
Hi John,
Once again I’m glad to hear what you know.
I love Four Roses and it is tops on my list for gifting.
I gave a bottle of Jims 40th to an associate to celebrate his opening of a new bar in Milwaukee.
I also gave a signed bottle to the hard working crews of Campbeltown and Bruichladdich while attending a Whisky Fest in Zurich.
I’m surprised the new release is coming out in April,normally Mr. Rutlledge waits till Septemper and Bourbon Fest to give us his goodies.
Since we still dont have distribution of 4R. up here in Wisconsin,I’ll have to plan a trip “south of the border” in search of it.
Lets see Whisky Fest Chicago is somewhere on my calendar..
or maybe I can contact Stuntman Mike from “Deathproof” to drive up north with some,then again I dont approve of the way he stores it in his glove compartment or the way he dispenses it!!
Once again thanks for the info.
It helps all of us “Mellow Fellows” in the Mellow Moments Club make it through winter.
Mike, I think their logic for releasing it in April is to get the whiskey in circulation in time for the Kentucky Derby.
I’m really looking forward to trying it. –John
John,
Thank you for your coverage of Four Roses. I’m still reeling a bit from all the recognition of my 40th anniversary last year – especially Malt Advocates’ Life Time Achievement Award – and it keeps going. After all these years doing something I absolutely love it keeps getting better and better. For so many years while with Seagram I tried and tried to get them to discontinue production and sale of that *#*&*^ blended whiskey, with our name on it, let it die away and ultimately bring our Four Roses Bourbon back to the U.S. I reminded Seagram marketing people over and over that we were the number one selling Bourbon in the U.S. for a period of time prior to Prohibition and for three decades after Prohibition for a Good Reason – we have a Great Bourbon. Even if I didn’t agree, I honestly understood their logic. They all reminded me that their predecessors – begining in the 40′s ruined the renowned name for Four Roses Bourbon when they introduced a blended whiskey (made mostly in Indiana and Maryland) with our name on the label. It still devastates me that an industry giant, like Seagram, could go out of business primarily because of one person. I have so many Seagram friends and many have struggled since December 2001. However, for me personally, I’m continuing to live a dream come true. Not a lot of people gave us much of a chance, but I believed in our Bourbon and I felt over time that we could shed the image of the blended whiskey and people would once again come to respect and love Four Roses Bourbon for what it is – a Great Premium Bourbon.
I look around at the people at Four Roses and see the pride in their faces now that Four Roses is on its way back “home.” We’re relatively small in numbers but our hearts are huge and our energy seems to be endless. I hope I can somehow slow the Clock of Life down and stay on for years to come. I now have over 41 years in the business, but I feel like I’m still a Kid in a Candy shop, and I want to be around when Four Roses Bourbon is truly a global brand – including all of the USA. We’re on our way….
John and Amy – thanks again for your support and recognition. You’re helping me live this dream!
One more thing – You are right about us wanting to get our 120th anniversary Bourbon on the market prior to the Kentucky Derby, and we also want to celebrate our birthday all year long. But, don’t count the Kentucky Bourbon Festival time in September out for something special from Four Roses!
Sincerely,
Jim Rutledge
Master Distiller
Four Roses Distillery
1224 Bonds Mill Road
Lawrenceburg, Ky. 40342
Jim, thank you for that informative and heartfelt posting. All of us bourbon drinkers are thrilled to see Four Roses come alive again. And we are fortunate to have you at the helm. Don’t retire just yet please!
Having never been able to reveal my age since turning 24 (I only remarked “I’ll always be 24 in my mind and heart”) I suddenly realized in May 2008 that this Big Six OH! milestone birthday was worthy of commemoration since my lifelong denial had created a miracle: I don’t look a day over 42! Anyway, I’m writing my memoir and realized that Four Roses whisky had played a major role in my early years. I grew up in a Slavic area to the west of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Back then, neighborhoods were like extended families and we had yard or block or, as steelworker families could afford to build new ones, garage parties. Soft drinks were for the kiddies, of course, but Four Roses was the life of the party AND an ever-present logo in everyone’s china closet, kitchen cupboard, counter or right out on the table 24/7. I had no idea who made the whisky I so fondly recalled as “that pinchy stuff”–it pinched my tongue whenever an adult would slip me have a sip when my parents weren’t looking (in between the polkas danced to the accordion accompaniment which even I provided for a few parties later on!). As I was considering the possibility of writing a book about my life, while memories were flooding my mind, I visited an antique shop. It was filled “to the gills” with tiny things–not furniture. My eyes were busy trying to take it all in when, what did I spy? A Four Roses shot glass sitting on top of a window frame, the sun streaming through its colors! That was my “sign” to move forward with the book. Today (several chapters in and curious to taste the liquid gold to determine now, after fifty years, if it’s really all that pinchy) I Googled Four Roses whisky and was delighted to find that, although it was, indeed, gone for quite a long time, it magically had returned just in time for my major birthday–and for my first attempt at finding it! I’m in Maryland, now, so I’ll have to figure out how to get my hands on some. I’d love to have a souvenir yellow labeled bottle, but I am so pleased with my little shot glass, I just can’t get over it! Thank you so much for the good news and all the history I didn’t know and thank you ever so much for listening to me rattle on.
Veralynne: the pleasure is all mine. Thank you for taking the time to write. Fill that shot glass with some new Four Roses, and good luck with the book!
I am looking forward to tasting your bourbon. I unfortunately have to order it because it is not available in WA. I am going to try some of Julio’s bottling.