Episode 117: Four Roses Bourbon

Liquor and Liqueur Connoisseur

Episode 117 features Four Roses. Bottled in 750ml at 40% ABV, or 80 proof and it retails for about $25.

Enjoy this episode with a pour of Four Roses however you like.

Four Roses official website: https://www.fourrosesbourbon.com/

Brief Historical Timeline:

• 1860s - Paul Jones Sr. and Paul Jones Jr. get into the whiskey business in Atlanta, Georgia
• 1883 - Paul Jones Jr. moves to Louisville, Kentucky and builds his whiskey business there.
• 1888 - The brand of Four Roses is founded with a legend of a southern belle and a corsage of four red roses.
• 1894 - Paul Jones Jr. makes his nephews Lawrence Lavelle Jones and Saunders Paul equal partners in the Paul Jones Company.
• 1895 - Paul Jones Jr. dies.
• Circa 1910 - Lawrence buys his brother Saunders out of the business
• 1922 - Lawrence buys the Frankfort Distilling Company during Prohibition and securing a rare license to sell whiskey for "Medicinal Purposes Only."
• 1941 - Lawrence dies, leaving the company to heirs would almost immediately sell it.
• 1943 - Seagrams headed by Samuel Bronfman purchases Four Roses and Frankfort Distilling Company for $42 million.
• 1950s - Seagrams converts Four Roses to a blended whiskey for the US market, reserving straight bourbon versions for export markets.
• 1990s - Master Distiller Jim Rutledge convinces Seagrams to bring the straight bourbon back to the USA, in Kentucky only.
• 2001 - Seagrams goes bankrupt and the beverage alcohol brands are sold off. Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd., Four Roses' Japanese distributor buys the brand.
• 2002 - Four Roses Straight Bourbon Whiskey is bak on US shelves.
• 2015 - Brent Elliott is named Master Distiller and a $55 million expansion of the distillery begins.
• 2019 - Distillery expansion is complete, doubling capacity to 130,000 barrels a year.

Key Cocktails:

Drink Four Roses as you like, it mixes well in any cocktail calling for bourbon.

References:

Book: Four Roses - The Return of a Whiskey Legend by Al Young, copyright 2013

Wikipedia Article on Four Roses

Wikipedia Article on the Language of Flowers

Wikipedia Article on the Pure Food and Drug Act

Wikipedia Article on V-J Day in Times Square

Four Roses History Article

Four Roses History Article on SippingHistory.com

Difford's Guide Listing for Four Roses

Contact Information:

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