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This favorite in Britain bourbon was created in 1885 by Rufus Rose, a lover of strong alcoholic beverages, at a tiny factory in the States, near Kentucky. Remembering the Four Roses, I want to utter a replica of Bulgakov’s mystical character: “How bizarrely the deck is shuffled!” – Today the brand is not on the American market, it is completely focused on Europe.
The stories of all famous drinks would be incomplete without mentioning the legends or mysteries associated with their creation. There is such a legend in the Four Rouses. Moreover, it is considered official – the story is published on the company’s website and is used in advertising.
A century and a half ago, in a small town in the east of America, there lived a romantic young man who dreamed of great love. Love met him in the form of a young charmer, capricious and wayward, encouraging courtship, but not making any promises. The young man was patient and persistent, and when, on the eve of the traditional city ball, he proposed to the girl, she did not refuse. But she demanded that in case of a positive answer, he was ready to put on her a belt of scarlet roses and accompany her to the upcoming ball.
The belt was woven immediately, but there were still 4 days left before the ball, the roses were slowly withering, and the young man replaced the flowers one by one with fresh ones. When on the day of the celebration the capricious girl nevertheless said “yes”, the guy in love wrapped roses around her waist and announced her engagement at the ball. To perpetuate feelings, he created Four Rouses.
Pragmatists, on the other hand, call the legend an ordinary advertising fairy tale and associate the name of the drink with the name of the creator – Rufus Rose.
The brand’s slogan, used in flyers: “One noon, two barrels, three shots and four roses.” This, in essence, is the plot for creating a whiskey fan’s own story – one meeting, two glasses, three toasts and, of course, Four Roses.
Dates
- 1885 Rufus Rose creates a new bourbon recipe and starts making small batches at his own distillery in Louisville.
- 1886 Rose sells the distillery and bourbon rights to entrepreneur Paul Jones, who begins commercial production of the drink.
- 1888 Paul Jones registers the Four Roses brand, moreover, he makes an attempt to appropriate the creation for himself, claiming that he came up with the recipe back in the sixties. But justice was restored, and today the date 1888 is on the label.
- 1919 The work of the intensively developing enterprise was suspended due to the adoption of the Dry Law.
- 1922 Paul Jones buys one of the failed factories of the Frankfort Distilling Company, which has a license to produce spirits as a medicine, and begins to produce Four Roses. Until 1933, when Prohibition was repealed, bourbon occupied a place on the shelves between aspirin and weight loss products, and managed to become the best-selling drug in American pharmacies.
- 1943 Paul Johnson’s company and the rights to the Four Roses brand become the property of the Seagram Company Limited. The group’s management decides to withdraw from the US market and reorient itself to Europe and Asia, actively advertising Four Roses as the leader of American sympathies. “Four Roses” very quickly conquers the European market and to this day remains the most popular bourbon in Europe.
- 2002 The company is taken over by Kirin Brewery Company Ltd. The policy regarding the drink has not changed to this day: only American fans know about bourbon, the name of the brand is hardly known to ordinary whiskey lovers in the USA.
Four Roses Production Features
Alcohols are created by triple distillation at the Louisville distillery.
The extract of the drink takes place eighty kilometers from the distillery, where the company’s cellars are located. The cellars are low, or as they are called – one-story. This design allows you to achieve a uniform ripening process at a stable temperature and humidity level.
Four Roses is the result of six years of aging in carefully charred handmade oak barrels. It is barrels that experts call the main reason for the success of bourbon.
Interesting Facts
- Despite the absence of this whiskey in the US market, the Four Roses distillery already in the 6st century received the title of “Best American Distillery of the Year” XNUMX times.
- 50% of Four Roses customers are women who buy bourbon as a surprise for their husbands. This choice is due to the design of the bottle, psychologists say: the fair sex is attracted by the image of flowers on the label.
- Unlike Scotch drinks and most American whiskeys, Four Roses pairs well with many foods. It is often added to sauces and spicy marinades, served for dinner with meat dishes and as a digestif with sweets.
- London’s most popular Manhattan cocktail is made with Four Roses bourbon. The bartenders explain the choice by the pronounced rye taste of this drink.
- The head master of the Four Roses distillery today is Jim Rutledge. And when asked what kind of cocktail he drinks bourbon in, Rutledge laughed and answered: ice with Four Roses definitely tastes better.
Best Four Roses Bourbon Cocktail Recipe
The New York Sour was voted best by Dan Priceman, tireless promoter of the Four Roses in London.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml bourbon “Four Roses”;
- protein of one egg;
- juice of half a lemon;
- 2 teaspoons of cane sugar.
Recipe: mix the ingredients in a shaker until a dense foam is formed. Then pour the drink into a glass and decorate the foam cap with a few drops of red wine.
The cocktail has a pleasant refreshing taste and, as Priceman says, instantly corrects the worst mood.
Types of Four Roses Bourbon
- Four Roses, 40%. Whiskey amber color with a light fruity aroma, which is the result of six years of aging in charred oak barrels. The taste of the drink is light, fruity, with notes of pear, apple and prunes.
- Four Roses Single Barrel, 50%. Judging by the name, a premium amber drink with a slightly sharp spicy aroma and a cherry-plum taste matures in one barrel during the entire aging period – 12 years. This is the most “corn” Four Roses: if the other varieties of the brand contain about 50% corn alcohols, then this one contains 60%. Bourbon leaves a long aftertaste with woody notes.
- Four Roses Small Batch, 45%. Golden amber whiskey with a creamy, moderately sweet taste was first released in a limited edition for the 120th anniversary of the brand in 2008. The drink is made from four bourbons of different aging, it smells pleasantly of fruit and caramel.
