Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 Review [In Depth]
Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024Details
Distillery: Four Roses
Type & Region: Bourbon, Kentucky, USA
Alcohol: 54.1%
Composition: Hard to say based on what is provided
Aged: At least 12 years
Color: 1.6/2.0 on the color scale (mahogany, henna notes)
Price: $200
From the company website:
This 2024 Limited Edition release is a symphony of lively flavors that captivate the senses with every sip. Creamy vanilla, honey and brown sugar on the nose are followed by the flavors of ripe berries and tangy citrus on the palate. Intertwined are herbal notes and Four Roses’ signature mellow spice to balance out the layers of complexity and sweetness with a delicate finish – for a pour that’s ready to savor and enjoy.
Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024overview
It’s 2024, and that means another release of Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition, more or less Four Roses’ most fancy release every year. It’s their Old Forester Birthday Bourbon or George T Stagg equivalent.
It’s all about blending together older and exceptional barrels to create something special, and hopefully it is.
This year’s blend is composed of the following
- OBSV – 12 years (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% barley / delicate fruit)
- OESK – 15 years (75% corn, 20% rye, 5% barley / slight spice)
- OESF – 16 years (75% corn, 20% rye, 5% barley / herbal notes)
- OBSV – 20 years (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% barley / delicate fruit)
For reference, the 2023 release was composed as follows
- OBSV: 25 year (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% barley / delicate fruit)
- OESV: 16 year (75% corn, 20% rye, 5% barley / delicate fruit)
- OESK: 14 year (75% corn, 20% rye, 5% barley / slight spice)
- OESV: 12 Year (75% corn, 20% rye, 5% barley / delicate fruit)
And like last year, the youngest barrels are 12 years old, but this year’s release doesn’t have the super old 25 year bourbon. 20 years is still no joke though. Those 15+ year old barrels are reserved for limited releases and the very rare single barrels to celebrate certain occasions.
Let’s find out if this release brings down the house in this Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 review.
This sample was provided at no cost to me (lucky me I know). All opinions are still my own.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 smell
Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 has dark caramel, dried cherry, vanilla, fragrant roasted oak, dark chocolate, cinnamon, tobacco, baked red apple, wood varnish, dried orange peel, licorice, and some lychee. It’s a little hot for me though.
It should not come as any surprise given the blend, but this has a lot of old oak scents (roasted oak, dark chocolate, and more wood) just like Elijah Craig 18 Year. At the same time, the layers haven’t opened up to me yet. It still smells incredible though, but it’s clear to me that it hasn’t hit its stride yet.
It also reminds me a lot of Hardin’s Creek Clermont 17 Year, but a tad more fruity.
After swirling and 15 minutes of rest, I smell dark caramel, heavy baked red apple, dried cherry, roasted oak, dark chocolate, tobacco, cinnamon, oak varnish, strawberry, coconut meat, and some herbal fennel. Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 smells amazing, it really does, but “wow” somehow doesn’t cross my mind.
The low end opens up more with more time, so this really needs 20-25 minutes to open up all the oak and sweetness.
It’s rich, varied, and fragrant, but it’s also not as layered and nuanced as it should be. The oak, chocolate, and fruit suggest that there should be this captivating dance between them, but I keep searching for the layers and it doesn’t fully appear.
Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 has so many amazing, mature, and developed scents, but something about it doesn’t feel completely put together.
Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 taste and aftertaste
I taste rich caramel, vanilla, dried cherry, baked red apple, roasted oak, wood varnish, cinnamon, dark chocolate, tobacco, and some nuttiness, maple syrup, and smoke. Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 is super rich, flavorful, and interesting, although in many ways I’ve definitely tasted bourbon like this before.
There’s a lot of sweetness and oak, and I mean a lot of oak. It’s not overdone, but it’s inescapable. If you don’t like oak-forward bourbon, I can guarantee that you will not like this. For reference, this feels like the slightly less oak-forward version of Hardin’s Creek.
After one sip, I’m pretty sure that this is going to be spectacular.
With hard “chewing”, I get dense caramel, vanilla, dark chocolate, baked red apple, a mature roasted oak, cinnamon, coconut meat, macadamia nuts, tobacco, shimmery oak, strawberry, and fennel.
“Chewing” elevates the experience. It’s a much richer, bolder, and complex experience that hits a wide range of flavors. While it’s still very oaky, there’s more sweet, fruity, and herbal pop. From memory, I might go as far to say that it’s the best-tasting Small Batch Limited Edition that I’ve had in a while, although I have not done a side by side to confirm that statement.
The finish leads with roasted oak, dark chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, and dried red apple with lingering oak that just goes and goes
“Chewing” leaves more of the same. The back of the finish leaves more of an impression, with a lot of lingering oak, tobacco, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
I put this a hair over Russell’s Reserve 13 Year, but a hair below Hardin’s Creek Jacob’s Well Frankfort. It’s delicious, but I don’t quite think “wow this is unforgettable”…the x-factor is missing. That might sound crazy for you to read, but when you know you know.
My critique is that it doesn’t quite have the nuance or expressiveness to get it over the very very high wall to “Top Shelf+”, although I believe that it’s close.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this because it’s both so delicious yet not as captivating and complex as I think it’s trying to be…at least at the “Top Shelf+” level.
I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too.
Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 Rating
I’m so close to “Top Shelf+”, but I can’t quite get all the way there. I think that the flavors are just about “Top Shelf+”, but the scents aren’t. While I tend to over index on the flavors, I think the scents hold this back enough from getting there in total.
Is it delicious? Absolutely. Is it “Top Shelf+” levels of memorable? I’m not confident in that, but maybe. I’m not all in on that higher rating, as much as I’d love to. Believe me, I really want this to be “Top Shelf+”. I would feel better about it if it was…yet here we are.
Like prior releases, this is an oak-forward bourbon that shows off the age. Purely from memory, I want to mention that this is the most oaky one I’ve had. As varied as the flavors are, that next level of depth, pop, and general “wow” isn’t there for me, which is disappointing given what is in the blend.
I’ve had unique and memorable Four Roses Bourbons, and this isn’t quite one of them for me. I wonder if Four Roses plays it safe with this release because it’s “THE” release of the year. And instead of doing something really crazy, they play it safe and consistent. To this day, I still personally prefer the 12 year old Potomac Wine and Spirits OESF Private Select and the OBSK Single Barrel from the Taster’s Experience. Those are some “wow” bourbons.
I wish that Brent Elliot and team would change it up and find more barrels that expanded on the fruit. Oakiness is a given with bourbon this old, so give us even more than that.
I also think that it doesn’t eclipse the less rare (at least when it was released) Jacob’s Well Hardin’s Creek 17 Year Bourbons, which has just a little more to it.
At the end of the day, Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2024 is another incredibly well crafted bourbon that doesn’t do enough to push the boundaries and get to “Top Shelf+”. Would I still pay $200 for a bottle? I probably still would because it’s a cool bottle to have and still an amazing bourbon.
Meet the Author: Alex
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
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Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)
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