Every bourbon brand has its own unique contribution to the bourbon landscape, and Four Roses is an exemplar of this rule. Four Roses is the only bourbon brand with 10 distinct recipes made by crossing five different yeast strains with two mash bills. Four Roses also has an interesting back story: you couldn’t buy it in the U.S. for nearly forty years. It was thanks only to Master Distiller Jim Rutledge convincing Kirin and pounding the pavement that we can now enjoy Four Roses in the United States once again.
If you’d like an opportunity to learn more about Four Roses from Jim Rutledge, you can join the Kentucky Whisky Chicks in the Four Roses loft at the BBC Taproom on Main Street June 25 from 6-8 p.m. for a Four Roses Bourbon Experience.
The event webpage describes it like this:
“Have you ever wondered why there is a bourbon called Four Roses? It began when Paul Jones, Jr., the founder of Four Roses Bourbon, became smitten by the beauty of a Southern belle. It is said that he sent a proposal to her, and she replied that if her answer were “Yes,” she would wear a corsage of roses on her gown to the upcoming grand ball. Paul Jones waited for her answer excitedly on that night of the grand ball…when she arrived in her beautiful gown, she wore a corsage of four red roses. He later named his bourbon “Four Roses” as a symbol of his devout passion for the lovely belle, a passion he thereafter transferred to making his beloved Four Roses Bourbon.”
This is, of course, decades old bourbon marketing lore, but it makes for a fun story nonetheless. It also puts present-day bourbon marketing into an important historical perspective - fun and interesting marketing stories have always been used and aren’t meant to be taken as literal historic fact. As I recently heard about the Maker’s Mark lawsuit, no one actually thinks elves live in trees and make cookies.
You can learn more about the folklore and the actual history of Four Roses by joining the Whisky Chicks for this event. Click here for more information.
Photos Courtesy of Four Roses
