Four Roses Bourbon Expanding Amid National Five-Star Praise
LAWRENCEBURG, Ky – With Four Roses Bourbon expanding beyond Kentucky after a 50-year absence in many markets, it recently received a critic's rating placing it among the top spirits available. In the current issue of F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal, one of the nation's leading liquor-industry publications, Pacult awards both Four Roses Single Barrel and Four Roses Small Batch five-star ratings and his highest recommendations.
The Spirit Journal, a "quarterly independent guide to distilled spirits, beers and wines," focuses its third quarter issue on North American whiskeys, including bourbons. New product reviews are featured in each issue, which are rated on a scale from one star (disappointing/not recommended) to five stars (classic/highest recommendation
Four Roses Single Barrel and Four Roses Small Batch were the only American whiskeys to receive five-star ratings this issue.
Pacult writes of Four Roses Single Barrel:
"If ever someone says to you that Americans can't make great whiskey, introduce them to this golden nugget."
On Four Roses Small Batch, Pacult describes the finishing flavor as "a seductive maple-like flavor…that's both stirring and classy," and adds the product is what small batch straight bourbon should be. He concludes by stating Four Roses Small Batch is "already an esteemed member in my bourbon pantheon."
"It's an honor to receive these five-star ratings by one of the most influential spirits writers," said Jim Rutledge, Four Roses Master Distiller and Bourbon Hall of Famer. "It couldn't come at a better time as we re-introduce our products and remind Bourbon lovers and Four Roses fans we're back on the shelves."
With the combination of two mash bills and five proprietary yeasts, the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ky., produces ten distinctly different Bourbon flavors adding to the brand's smooth, mellow character.
Four Roses production dates to the 1860s and grew to become the top-selling bourbon in the U.S. throughout the 1930s, '40s and '50s. In the late '50s, then owner Seagram decided to market the brand solely overseas. Four Roses currently is the top-selling bourbon brand in Japan and among the leading brands throughout Western Europe.
Kirin Brewery bought Four Roses in 2002 and, at Rutledge's urging, reintroduced it to America - starting in Kentucky. Last April, Four Roses returned to metro New York and the company is currently completing market launches in Illinois, Tennessee and New Jersey, with more to come in 2008.
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