By now you know Four Roses takes a different approach to crafting fine Bourbons. That’s because only we combine five proprietary yeast strains with two mashbills to create 10 distinct Bourbon recipes – each with its own unique character. We then use those recipes – together or on their own – to achieve a wide range of flavor profiles.
OBSQ combines our rye-forward “B” mashbill with our floral “Q” yeast strain. The Q yeast strain is of particular interest because of how it changes during maturation. Here’s how our Master Distiller, Brent Elliott, describes the Q strain and how it pairs with the B mashbill:
The Q yeast strain’s expressed character is quite different from our other strains, and it is especially interesting how it evolves over time in the barrel. Historically, Q batches were only used at a low formulary percentage for “top notes” in Four Roses Bourbon. The delicate and fresh notes of honeysuckle, rose and lavender – which are very apparent on the nose at younger ages – contribute to the complexity and final character of Four Roses Bourbon.
However, once we started aging Q batches longer for our Private Selection Single Barrel Program, the taste changed, melding oak tones from the extra maturation with floral tones to create a candied and rich Bourbon with much more depth and complexity than expressed at younger ages.
It’s worth mentioning that either the high-rye B mashbill or the floral Q yeast strain are capable of defining a Bourbon on their own. But when the two are combined to create OBSQ, the result is a very robust, spicy and floral Bourbon – no matter the age.
Again, OBSQ is most readily experienced in Four Roses Bourbon, but if you’re lucky, one day you may come across a bottle of Single Barrel OBSQ from a private barrel pull. Until then, pick up a bottle of Four Roses Bourbon and challenge your palate to spot the spicy floral contributions of this extraordinary recipe.
Four Roses Bourbon has a longstanding and eventful history, both in the United States and internationally. The story of the bourbon’s founding is quite charming. Legend has it that founder Paul Jones Jr. came up with the Four Roses name after being smitten with a Southern belle to whom he proposed. He told her that if she agreed to marry him, she would wear a corsage of roses to an upcoming ball. She said yes, and chose to wear a 4 red rose corsage, hence the name.
The bourbon was officially founded in 1888 in Louisville, Kentucky, but Paul Jones Jr. claimed to have been making this bourbon starting in the 1860s. Paul purchased Frankfort Distilling Co. in 1922 and the business flourished. In 1940, Seagram purchased Frankfort, also acquiring the Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon business. Four Roses was the top-selling bourbon in the U.S. from the ’30s to the ’50s, but they decided to stop selling it in the U.S. and focused instead on the growing European and Asian markets, in which it also became the top-selling bourbon. Seagram then focused solely on a blended whiskey version of Four Roses for the U.S., which damaged the brand’s domestic reputation, putting it in the “rotgut” category.
