Four Roses Masters Distiller (OESF) Straight Bourbon Whiskey USA

Please note the bottle image is representative and not of the actual bottle.

Distiller Notes

ERBS AND MINT
Well, we all knew this day would come yet it’s still a little bittersweet. It seems like just yesterday we set out to profile each of the 10 recipes we use to craft our award-winning Bourbons.

In case you’re just joining us, a little background: Four Roses takes a different approach to making Bourbon. We were the first distillery to combine five proprietary yeast strains with two different mashbills to create 10 distinct Bourbon recipes. We then use these recipes – either individually or in blends – to create an endless array of Bourbon flavors. As we often say, it’s part art, part science, and all love.

Over the past year we’ve been highlighting our recipes one by one, explaining their composition, flavor profiles, and how they contribute to our small batch Bourbons. It’s hard to believe, but today, we reach our tenth and final recipe profile: Ladies and gentlemen, meet OESF.

As its recipe code denotes, OESF is made by combining Mashbill E with the F yeast strain. As a reminder, Mashbill E is our “bright grains” mashbill, whereas its counterpart Mashbill B is more rye-forward. To give you a better idea of how OESF tastes and performs in blends, here’s a breakdown from our Master Distiller, Brent Elliott:

The F yeast strain is very unique with the herbal and minty character that it develops through fermentation. Because of the ability of these unique flavors to influence the final flavor of a blend, it has been used for years in Four Roses Bourbon at a low level to add dimension and layers of complexity. In OBSF, which employs our rye-forward mashbill, the F characteristics and rye flavors enhance one another with somewhat similar characteristics. In the OESF, however, the clean, herbal character of the yeast strain is less influenced by the rye, allowing the flavors of the yeast to be more apparent and meld elegantly with the mellow grain notes.

Other than Four Roses Bourbon and Small Batch Select, you’ll only be able to experience OESF in one Limited-Edition bottling, where it takes centerstage: 2014 Limited Edition Single Barrel – and good luck getting your hands on one of those.