Four Roses 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch

ReviewsAmerican WhiskeyBourbonFour RosesKentucky

Aug 25

*Four Roses 2025 Small Batch Limited Edition Bottle. Photo courtesy of Four Roses Bourbon.*

It’s that time of year! The Fall bourbon release season is upon us, with limited editions galore. I’m lucky enough to get to try Four Roses each of the last few years, and it’s always a good time. I don’t love every year (if someone does, they’re either a massive fanboy - no judgment - or lying), but I do enjoy reading the reasoning.

From the brand:

“Year after year, we look to create a unique expression that highlights the best of what our ten recipes can offer,” detailed Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott in a company press release. “When blending this year’s release, I was drawn to the 13-year-old V batches that showcase pronounced delicate fruit and sweet barrel tones.
“Although these barrels can really shine on their own, the OBSK brought in a complexity that I think people will really enjoy. The addition of the 19-year-old OESV also adds another layer of depth and aged character that rounds out the blend beautifully.”
Also from the brand, the breakdown of the blend:

13-year-old OBSV (high rye mashbill, V yeast), 38% of blend
13-year-old OBSK (high rye mashbill, K yeast), 17% of blend
13-year-old OESV (lower rye mashbill, V yeast), 35% of blend
19-year-old OESV (lower rye mashbill, V yeast), 10% of blend

I will say - this year’s brand-provided tasting notes were spot on. The apricot and black tea on the nose, added citrus on the palate, and old wood all found their way into my notes before reading the ones provided.

The Four Roses 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch is a very good, even great, Four Roses bourbon. If you like fruity, you’ll love it. If you like a solid texture without much oak, you’ll like it. But I can’t justify paying $250 for it (or $249.99 - whatever…unless you win this in an auction in Pennsylvania, you’re not getting it at that price).

When trying to describe it, the word that kept coming to me was “safe”. It’s so in the Four Roses wheelhouse that it loses some of the “special” or “extra” we’ve come to expect from their annual Limited Edition Small Batches. It’s packed with fruit, a minimal rye spice, and not much oak, so it’s like a higher-aged single barrel pick.

In deference to Brent Elliott, let’s take a closer look (and I hope to talk to him soon, so perhaps we can answer some questions there). I remember being on a Zoom with him a few years ago during the height of single barrel craziness, where everyone wanted Tier 5 or 6, 120+ proof, beasts on every corner, and artists at the absolute height of their sticker game while sitting home during the pandemic. He understood why people liked those barrels on paper, but came back to the same few points:

when tasting truly blind, people overwhelmingly chose OBSV as their favorite (hence why until recently that was the only standard 100-proof single barrel available in the market)
when tasting truly blind, people liked flavor over their palate being blown out
he preferred the lower tiers (1, 2, and 3) while saying that given the racks only go 6-high, there really isn’t as much difference as people think there is from tier 1 to 6.

Four Roses is already doing more than most Limited Editions by telling us the percentages of each component, so I’ll give them a pass on telling us how many of the barrels came from lower tiers. My suspicion, though, is that it’s the majority. Brent says above that he’s looking for delicate fruit and sweet barrel tones. In that respect, this is a clear success, and I give him points for the intentionality. If you’ve got a blend of 13-year-old barrels, though, that’ll be hard to justify charging $250 for (though it hasn’t stopped others recently cough cough Wild Turkey). Add in 10% of a 19-year-old low-rye mashbill to add more body and sweetness, and suddenly that doesn’t seem so outrageous.

This is all a long way to explain why I gave a relatively high score to a bourbon I find “safe”. Based on Brent’s words and the tasting notes provided by the brand, this is spot-on to what they wanted to create. It’s objectively a great bourbon, and for those who prefer classic Four Roses and fruitier bourbons, this is going to be a must-buy. For my tastes, I will go for a solidly proofed single barrel (somewhere between 110-115, not so different from the Limited Edition Small Batch) and take a little more of the spice, either from rye or barrel, for less than half the price. It won’t have the 19-year-old bourbon in there, and will likely be closer to between 9-11 years old, but that’s the profile I prefer.

I’ll also keep sipping on the Four Roses 2023 Limited Edition Small Batch or the 2019, my two favorite of the 14 I’ve tried (there have been 18 total including this year). If you don’t mind paying the price and hunting, and this profile appeals to you, go for it. Take mine. And I look forward to trying 2026 - if nothing else, we know there’s thought in it, and I can’t stress enough how much I appreciate that being shared.

This sample was provided by Four Roses at no cost. All opinions are my own.

Four Roses 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch: Specs

Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Producer: Four Roses Distillery

Mashbill: Blend of Components Listed Above

Proof: 109º (54.5% ABV)

Age: 13 Years (3 Components, 90%), 19 Years (1 Component, 10%)

Location: Kentucky

Four Roses 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch Price: $249.99

Official Website

Four Roses 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch: Tasting Notes

Eye: Bronze. Variegated rims, no legs, tiny droplets.

Nose: Apricot jam, sweet oranges, and golden syrup. Honeycomb laced with baking spices. Brown sugar cookies. Over steeped black tea with barely-there tannins, equally light rye (reminds me of masticha flavor but it’s so light).

Palate: Oily, orange peel expressed on the rim and floating in the glass. A manhattan with vanilla bitters and brandyesque grape astringency. The vanilla is almost savory. Cherry syrup, or cherries dried and rehydrated. Mouthfeel is so oily, some proof hits the upper palate, orange and cherries muddled for an old fashioned. Dry cinnamon grows under the tongue as does oak.

Finish: Remains fruity, more oak showing through and drying the center line of my tongue. Chocolate covered cherries and old oak that taste wise is closer to a refill cask than a new charred oak cask. Medium to long.

Overall: This feels quintessentially Four Roses, yet I’m stuck by how safe this tastes (if such a thing could be said). Without knowing the specific percentages, this feels like three fruity 13YO bourbons were blended with a 19YO one to add oak at the end, just enough for body without throwing a stave into my glass. The apricot transition to cherry is lovely, and the vanilla and oiliness are enjoyable, but this feels like it could just be a unique single barrel rather than the more elegant balance of the 2023 or the dusty-reminiscent 2024. Still very good bourbon…but they’ve trained us to expect more, and I can’t justify paying $250 for “safe”.