Four Roses Bourbon 100 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750ml

Four Roses tells a story that most bourbon brands cannot. In 1888, Paul Jones Jr. trademarked the Four Roses name — legend holds that he named the brand after the four red roses a Southern belle wore on her corsage to a cotillion as her answer to his marriage proposal. She said yes. Four Roses has been saying yes to quality ever since — through decades of American bourbon history, a long detour as a blended product sold primarily in Japan and Europe while American consumers were largely unaware of it, and a triumphant revival that restored it to American shelves as one of the most respected and the most specifically technically interesting bourbon producers in Kentucky.

The technical interest is the ten-recipe system. Two mash bills — one with 35% rye, one with 20% rye — combined with five proprietary yeast strains, each selected for its specific flavor contribution: V for delicate fruit, K for slight spice, O for rich fruit, Q for floral essence, F for herbal notes. Ten distinct recipes, each producing bourbon of genuinely specific character. Every Four Roses expression is a blend of some combination of these recipes, selected by Master Distiller Brent Elliott to achieve a specific target profile.

Four Roses Bourbon 100 Proof is the newest expression in the permanent Four Roses lineup — the iconic Yellow Label bottle, the same rose medallion and Spanish-mission-heritage four roses motif, but with the 100 PROOF band displayed prominently at the neck and across the label. Same founding philosophy: all ten recipes, blended to deliver the signature Four Roses character of mellow spice, ripe fruit, and accessible elegance. The same bourbon America rediscovered and embraced — now at the proof that lets every quality deserve to be fully heard.

At $30, the most specifically value-forward 100-proof expression from one of Kentucky's most celebrated distilleries.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Four Roses Distillery was established in 1888 by Paul Jones Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky — the brand's founding year coinciding with the golden era of American bourbon production that preceded Prohibition and whose legacy Four Roses has been working to restore and honor ever since the domestic revival that Kirin Brewery initiated in the early 2000s. The distillery now operates in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, in a distinctive Spanish Mission-style facility on the banks of the Salt River — one of the most architecturally beautiful and the most recognizable distillery buildings in the Commonwealth. Warehousing operations are located approximately 40 miles away at Cox's Creek. In April 2026, Four Roses completed a landmark ownership transition: Kirin Brewery sold the distillery to E&J Gallo Winery for $775 million — one of the largest transactions in American spirits history, bringing Four Roses into the portfolio of the largest American wine and spirits company.

The production foundation that makes Four Roses unique among Kentucky bourbon producers has not changed: two proprietary mash bills — Mash Bill B at 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malted barley (high rye), and Mash Bill E at 75% corn, 20% rye, and 5% malted barley (lower rye) — combined with five proprietary yeast strains whose specific flavor contributions are documented with unusual transparency: V (delicate fruit), K (slight spice), O (rich fruit), Q (floral essence), and F (herbal notes). Two mash bills times five yeast strains equals ten distinct bourbon recipes, each identified by a four-letter code and each producing bourbon of genuinely different character from the same distillery, the same water, and the same barrels.

Brent Elliott — Master Distiller since 2015, trained under legendary Master Distiller Jim Rutledge who guided the domestic revival, with a chemistry background from the University of Kentucky — selects and blends the recipe combinations for every Four Roses expression. The 100 Proof draws from the full complement of all ten recipes, blended to deliver the Four Roses signature at the increased concentration that 100 proof provides — the same mellow spice, ripe fruit, and light floral character of the Yellow Label, with more presence, more warmth, and more of everything that makes Four Roses the most technically sophisticated blended straight bourbon in Kentucky.

Critics Reviews

No published critic scores are available for Four Roses Bourbon 100 Proof as a new expression at this time.

Tasting Profile

Nose
Warm amber — the ten-recipe blend's specific color at 100 proof, richer and deeper than the Yellow Label's lighter hue. The nose opens with the most immediately characteristic and the most specifically Four Roses-distinctive aromatic quality: ripe pear and soft apple fruit leading with the gentle, slightly honeyed freshness that the V yeast strain's "delicate fruit" contribution most directly produces. Apricot adds the most warm and the most specifically stone-fruit-adjacent secondary note — the fuller expression of the fruit character that 100 proof concentrates compared to the Yellow Label's lighter profile. Light floral notes from the Q yeast's "floral essence" contribution add the most delicate and the most specifically Four Roses-characteristic secondary aromatic dimension. Subtle honey adds warmth. Oak adds quiet structural backing. Gentle rye spice from the high-rye Mash Bill B component threads through — present and warming without the assertiveness of a high-rye-only expression. At 100 proof, the warm concentration is immediately apparent and entirely inviting.

Palate
Smooth, balanced, and fully present — the core Four Roses character at the proof that lets it show its full quality most completely. The entry delivers ripe apple and vanilla together with warm, caramelized sweetness — the ten-recipe blend's most generous and most immediately accessible fruit-and-oak combination. Caramel and toffee add the most specifically new-American-white-oak-derived secondary sweetness. The gentle rye spice builds progressively through the mid-palate — the slight spice that the K yeast strain adds, rounded and softened by the fruit-forward V and O yeast components' balancing influence. The 100 proof's warmth carries through the mid-palate with genuine but not aggressive presence — more than the Yellow Label's 80 proof provides, and calibrated specifically for the buyer who wants the full Four Roses character without the premium step-up to Small Batch Select's 104 proof.

Finish
Clean, mellow, and fruit-persistent. The lingering fruit and toffee carry the close most specifically — ripe pear and apple persisting alongside the caramel warmth. Gentle rye spice provides the most structural finish note. The 100-proof warmth resolves cleanly — the finish genuinely and specifically mellow rather than simply abbreviated, confirming Brent Elliott's long-standing commitment to what Four Roses has always called "mellow spice" as the distillery's most defining quality characteristic.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

The ripe fruit, gentle spice, and mellow finish make Four Roses 100 Proof one of the most broadly food-compatible bourbons at any price:

• Grilled peaches with brown sugar — the pear and apricot fruit character finding a warm culinary mirror
• Barbecue — the caramel and oak warmth carrying through smoked preparations
• Dark chocolate — the fruit and spice bridging the bitterness
• Pecan pie — the toffee and caramel aligning with the nut and sweetness
• Aged cheddar — the gentle rye spice providing the savory counterpoint

Cocktail Suggestions

Four Roses 100 Old Fashioned
2 oz Four Roses 100 Proof · 1 tsp Demerara syrup · 2 dashes Angostura bitters · expressed orange peel. Stirred over large ice. The ripe pear and vanilla carry through the Old Fashioned with the 100-proof presence that the 80-proof Yellow Label can't quite match — genuinely the ideal Four Roses cocktail proof.

Four Roses Whiskey Sour
2 oz Four Roses 100 Proof · ¾ oz fresh lemon juice · ½ oz simple syrup · optional egg white. Shaken over ice, served up. The delicate fruit and light floral character aligns beautifully with fresh lemon — the 100 proof carrying through citrus dilution with genuine presence.

Paper Plane
¾ oz Four Roses 100 Proof · ¾ oz Aperol · ¾ oz Amaro Nonino · ¾ oz fresh lemon juice. Shaken, served up. The Paper Plane's most celebrated original call for Four Roses — and the 100 proof is precisely the right concentration for this equal-parts cocktail's balance.