Four Roses Bourbon 100 Proof

I’d like to thank Four Roses and their PR partners for providing this sample with no strings attached.

As we discussed last week, I am a long-time fan of Four Roses. Discovering Four Roses was a foundational development in my bourbon journey. In a way, if you enjoy this site, you have Four Roses to thank for it, at least in part. Four Roses was where I discovered the geeky joy that blending can bring (though at one point they would have preferred I use a different word, as blended whiskey was a dark part of their own journey).

The idea that a company was distilling 10 different bourbons and only showcasing a handful of them (at least when I started my love affair with the brand) was mind-blowing to me. As you went up in price on their three core releases, you got more and more proof but fewer and fewer of the recipes in the mix. The prime position went to Single Barrel, which by definition could only have one recipe. They chose OBSV at 100 proof for that. Small Batch was the next lowest in price and proof, using a mix of OBSK, OBSO, OESK, and OESO at 90 proof. And then there was “Yellow Label,” nicknamed as such because, you guessed it, it had a bright yellow label. It had all ten of the recipes (most of the time; I have it on good authority that occasionally only nine make it in there depending on stocks) at only 80 proof.

And the lack of proof on that Yellow Label caused much sadness among bourbon aficionados. The flavor was amazing. The mouthfeel and depth of flavor? Not so much. Not at that proof. Though that hasn’t stopped me from picking it up now and again and then publicly whining about wanting a higher-proof version of their lowest-proof offering. One time, a long time ago, I even made a barrel-proof blend of all ten recipes from store picks that I had picked up. Back then, it was easier to do such things.

So it was with great joy that I opened an email from the Four Roses PR team that was titled: “Four Roses 100 Proof Rolls Out in Bars Nationwide.” I immediately asked if there would be samples and if it was also going to be available at retail. The answer I got to both was yes. This release was developed for bartenders because they wanted a higher-proof version for use in cocktails. But I was assured “it is not exclusive to the on-premise channel” (though there was some confusion on that at first, so you may see others stating otherwise if they published before the correction came out). The suggested retail price is $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle and $32.99 for a liter.

Let’s dig in.

Four Roses Bourbon 100 proof

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent to me at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $32.99 for a liter.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.00 (750 mL) or $1.65 (liter)

Details: 50% ABV

Nose: Floral vanilla, caramel, red fruit, mint, chocolate, and a touch of cinnamon.

Mouth: Spicy cinnamon, caramel, stone fruit, and oak.

Finish: Medium in warmth and length. Notes of cherry, cinnamon, chocolate, and oak.

Thoughts: This is so good! It has nice spice. The mouthfeel is very nice. There is a robustness that the 80 proof is lacking. In fact, that robustness is the main difference between the two. The 80 proof might be a little more fruit-forward, but the added spice, caramel, and oak notes make up for that, in my opinion. As I mentioned above, I’ve always wanted just a little more proof, going all the way back to the Yellow Label days. I even tried diluting that barrel-proof mix down to alternative proofs, including 90 and 100 proof just to see how it would react. And honestly, this release is pretty much what I was hoping for with all those experiments. Maybe a little more fruit would be nice, but now I’m quibbling. And it does work very well in a cocktail, holding up nicely to dilution. I’ve spent 12 years publicly, and privately, asking for a release like this and I am so happy with it.

Never give up on your dreams, kids.

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Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch, 2026

I’d like to thank Four Roses and their PR partners for sending this sample over with no strings attached.

It’s that time of year again. September. Bourbon Heritage Month. The time of limited annual releases. And for my money, the one that I have purchased the most over the years has been the annual release of Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch.

My love affair with this bourbon release started way back with the 2009 release. Of course, back then, they weren’t selling nearly as well as today. I found it in 2011 at a store tasting where it was on sale for less than $80. Of course, that love affair really took off the next year when we found out that my wife had ovarian cancer.

The day after she got the news, I went to all the stores where I remembered seeing it on the shelf. I told my story of how it was my wife’s favorite and that she was starting chemo and we wanted to put one away for her for when she got better. I don’t remember how many stores I went to. At least a couple, since I remember one not having it but offering me that year’s Pappy instead. But I finally got it, and we put it away. Nice story, right? That wasn’t what made me a Four Roses fanboy, though.

As she was going through chemo, I was sitting next to her. We were both scrolling Twitter on our phones (Twitter was a much smaller, and nicer, place back in 2012). All of a sudden, I heard my wife say something to the effect of “oh, that’s so nice” before tearing up a little. She’d tweeted earlier that she wasn’t looking forward to chemo that day, and the social media person at Four Roses had just sent a reply from the brand’s account that said a bit of encouragement along the lines of “we’re pulling for you, you got this.” It really did help her feel a little less alone that day. From that day on, Four Roses was a mainstay in the BourbonGuy household.

We joined the Mellow Moments Club. We attended the release party for the Limited Edition Small Batch every year until we stopped going to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival around the time of the pandemic. We are fans. And not just because of great bourbon, but because there are good people producing it, one of whom decided one day, a long time ago, to share a little encouragement during a hard time. It didn’t take long, however, to find a milestone worthy of pulling out that old 2009 bottle. A few months later we got her test results back and they showed no evidence of cancer. At which time, we pulled it back out and raised a toast with it. She has been clear ever since. And so I always have a hard time looking at this release objectively.

Even if I can’t find a bottle to purchase myself anymore. Thankfully, I am lucky enough to get a taste each year in order to write this post.

So now that you know my biases, let’s get into this year’s edition. As always, the Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch is made from multiple bourbons from Four Roses’ library of ten bourbon recipes. This year’s batch is made from a 14-year-old OBSK, a 14-year-old OESK, a 15-year-old OESV, and a 23-year-old OESK. It is bottled at 109.2 proof, with about 16,800 bottles being made available. The suggested retail price is $249 per 750 mL bottle. It will be available for purchase starting October 10, 2026.

Let’s dig in.

Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch, 2026

Purchase Info: This sample was sent to me at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $249 for a 750 mL bottle starting October 10, 2026.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $16.60

Nose: Cola, stone fruit, cinnamon, vanilla sugar, and oak.

Mouth: Cola and stone fruit lead off, much like the nose. After that comes cinnamon spice, cherry, caramel, and oak.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Notes of stone fruit, almond, cinnamon, and oak.

Thoughts: Very nice mouthfeel. Thick and rich. Lovely spice. Big fan of the peach/apricot stone fruit notes throughout. It has a nice sweetness to balance the spice. I’m really digging this one. If I had the opportunity to buy it at MSRP, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I might even stand in line, though, as I am not a line person (at all), that part is less likely. But this is really good. I think I might be in love.

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Four Roses Experimental Series, Experiment 001, Mizunara Cask Finish

I’d like to thank Four Roses and their PR Team for providing this sample with no strings attached.

Hello again folks! I sincerely hope you are ready for more Four Roses talk, because that’s what we are engaging in again tonight.

I’m on record as loving when companies experiment with their products. The very first review on the site was an experimental release from my friends over at MB Roland. The experience of tasting something super interesting, that may or may not be ready for prime time, is one of the reasons that I was big into the Craft Whiskey scene there for a long time. I’ve since gotten old and cranky, but I still enjoy seeing bourbon folks experiment now and then. And when it is coming from one of the few brands that I can honestly fanboy out over? That’s even cooler.

Tonight’s whiskey is the first in a series of experimental releases from Four Roses. And interestingly enough, it is one that embraces the Japanese ownership that Four Roses had until the recent acquisition by Gallo. Mizunara is a Japanese oak that is most well known in the whiskey world as being a wood used in the aging of some Scotch and Japanese whiskies. Even though the wood is notoriously hard to cooper (high water content leading to multiple years of drying before being made into barrels, poor water tightness once made into barrels, etc.), the flavor it provides seems to be enough for folks to keep working with it.

Here’s what Four Roses has to say about the choice:

The inaugural release, Experimental Series No. 001, is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey finished in rare Japanese Mizunara oak barrels. Prized in the whiskey world for its rarity and uniquely expressive flavor contribution, Mizunara oak was selected based first and foremost on flavor exploration. Throughout the finishing process, the Four Roses team monitored the barrels closely, pulling samples almost weekly to track maturation and determine the ideal balance point for each barrel individually before blending the final liquid.

Experimental Series No. 001 was developed through extensive trials across recipes, yeast strains, barrel specifications, and toast and char combinations to identify the ideal pairing for Mizunara oak’s distinctive flavor profile. Ultimately, [Master Distiller Brent] Elliott selected a six-year-old OBSK recipe for its ability to complement the oak’s layered spice characteristics while allowing its sweeter and more nuanced notes to shine through.

Let’s see how this experiment tastes.

Four Roses Experimental Series, Experiment 001, Mizunara Cask Finish

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $55 for a 375 mL bottle. It was available at the Four Roses Distillery Visitor Center beginning July 30.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $7.33

Details: 6-year-old OBSK bourbon finished in Mizunara casks. 52% ABV.

Nose: Floral vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, and an herbal, almost umami spice.

Mouth: Lots of spice notes right off the bat. Think cinnamon, allspice, sandalwood, and that same herbal spice from the nose. Other notes include floral vanilla, brown sugar, and almond.

Finish: Spicy, warm, and long with lingering notes of herbal spice, sandalwood, and almond.

Thoughts: If you like bourbons with tons of baking spice, this is one for you. It really is delicious. It takes the spiciness of a K yeast bourbon and layers the sandalwood and herbal spice notes of the Mizunara cask over it. Plus you get the underlying bourbon notes of vanilla and caramel/brown sugar as well. This is pretty damn good. I like it. This is one to take a good look at if you get the opportunity.

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Four Roses Anthology Series, Chapter One: Origins

I’d like to thank Four Roses and their PR Team for providing this sample with no strings attached.

Bonus Post time! And this time we are looking at one from Four Roses that, for the first time ever, I don’t think is for you and me. Which, coming from a long-time Four Roses fanboy, hurts to say. If you are here, you are looking for the opinion of a frugal bourbon drinker. And there is no $500 release that would be appropriate for a frugal person. Hell, I don’t think there is a bourbon that, in a vacuum, is worth $150. Arguably, at least not until you take scarcity into the equation. But reasonable people can disagree on pricing and value.

Chapter One: Origins is the first in a planned lineup of 10 annual releases that, according to the press release, are aimed at “collectors and enthusiasts.” This version is a series of OBSF single-barrel bottlings that are aged 21 years and bottled at cask strength between 102.5 and 124.9 proof. There were 1,200 bottles available initially.

Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Four Roses Anthology 21 year

Purchase Info: This sample was sent at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $500 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $33.33

Details: OBSF, 51.3% ABV, 21 years old

Nose: Almond, caramel, vanilla, red fruit, wintergreen, and oak.

Mouth: First sip is hot and full of oak. Subsequent sips bring out more depth of flavor with notes of chocolate, cinnamon, red fruit, caramel, almond, and oak.

Finish: Warm and medium length. Lingering notes of floral vanilla, nutty chocolate, cinnamon, and oak.

Thoughts: As might be guessed by a 21-year age statement, this is extremely oak-forward. Both oak as a note in and of itself, but also oak-derived notes like chocolate. It's very rich and thick in the mouth. There are lovely bright notes that help balance the oaky notes as well. This is a good bourbon. My only issue with it is that after that long in the barrel, it has lost a lot of its inherent "Four-Roses-ness." If handed it blind, I probably wouldn't have guessed Four Roses as the distillery on the first couple of tries. Add to that the fact that my personal preferences are for bourbons in the six- to ten-year age range (where the mash bill- and yeast-derived flavors haven't yet been overpowered by the barrel), and personally, I’d grab one of the F yeast Red Labels over this one. But that is just my personal preference.

If you are a fan of oak-forward bourbons, though, this would have been worth a look…if it weren’t so extremely limited, presumably sold out, and, of course, if the suggested retail price wasn’t 500 dollars! In a vacuum, I like it, even if I like others of their products more. As something I’d pay my own personal money for? I’d politely scoff at anyone who suggested I do so. God bless the folks who have $500 to spend on a single bottle of bourbon, but I’m not one of them. I can get ten of the Red Labels, which I legitimately enjoy more, for that price. Yes, this is a good bourbon. No, being good doesn't make it worth five hundred bucks.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Four Roses Single Barrel Collection, 2026

I’d like to thank Four Roses and their PR team for providing this review sample with no strings attached

In 1995, Four Roses launched Four Roses Single Barrel, OBSV, to much rejoicing from the masses (actually, as I was a freshman in college at the time, I have no idea if there was much rejoicing or just a collective shrug from the masses, but stick with me here). After 20 years of whining and complaining from people like me, they finally started to let us taste the other nine bourbons that they make, in single barrel form, by releasing the first installment of the Four Roses Single Barrel Collection. Now, these bourbons had been available as Private Barrel Picks for a long time, but those were at a higher proof and a higher price.

But until last year, they had never sold them in a package that was accessible to the average Joe or Jane—one unwilling to spend high prices and go on unicorn hunts to the stores that carried the ones they were looking for. Enter the Four Roses Single Barrel Collection. An annually rotating collection of three red-labeled recipes that are proofed and priced the same as the standard brown-labeled Four Roses Single Barrel. I was extremely excited to see last year’s release and even more excited to see it coming back again this year.

And if this sounds like I am a biased and enthusiastic fanboy for this product, I am. I’ve been a Four Roses fanboy since I was first getting into whiskey oh so many years ago. In fact, I can easily say that in 2025, I spent more money and bought more bottles of the 2025 collection than I did on all other bourbons combined. I must have purchased at least six or seven of each from my local corner liquor store. Maybe more. As long as it was on the shelf, it was my go-to pour. And I liked them all, so I’m referring to them interchangeably in this. And yes, I’m even more excited for this year.

You see, I’ve always been a huge fan of the Q yeast releases. I was chatting with Master Distiller Brent Elliott one time and mentioned that fact. He noted that I am one of the few who tell him that. I also love the F and the other yeasts too, but something about that floral Q just hits right with me. The herbal F is usually a close second, and the fruit and spice of the rest are right up there too. I just love Four Roses all around.

I was happy to see an F release last year, but I’m even more excited that this year’s release features both an F and a Q release. The 2026 releases are as follows: OESQ, which features the Q yeast and a mash bill of 75% corn, 20% rye, and 5% malted barley; OESF, which features the F yeast and the same mash bill; and OBSK, which features the spicy K yeast and the higher-rye mash bill of 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malted barley. They also sent a “control” sample of the standard OBSV Single Barrel. It features the fruity V yeast and the same high-rye mash bill as the OBSK. These are all bottled at 100 proof and were aged between seven and nine years. The suggested retail price is $49.99 per 750 mL bottle.

So let’s dig in..

Four Roses Single Barrel Collection, 2026

Purchase Info: These samples were sent to me at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price for each bottle is $49.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: Each recipe is aged 7 to 9 years and bottled at 50% ABV.

OBSK:

Nose: Juicy fruit gum, cinnamon candies, stone fruits, and mint.

Mouth: Cinnamon, oak, stone fruits, and mint.

Finish: Medium in warmth and length. Lingering notes of fruit, mint, cinnamon, and toffee.

OESF:

Nose: Fresh garden herbs, strong caramel, vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon.

Mouth: Herbal, with notes of caramel, oak, vanilla, and cinnamon supporting it.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium length. Very herbal, with notes of cinnamon, black pepper, and oak.

OESQ:

Nose: Floral vanilla, brown sugar, and a hint of baking spices. Basically, this smells like a delicious fresh-baked sugar cookie.

Mouth: Cinnamon spice, floral vanilla, mint, and oak.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of sugar cookie (floral vanilla, a hint of cinnamon, and brown sugar) and wintergreen.

Thoughts: I'm going to guess that the folks at Four Roses were searching for the barrels that fulfilled the stereotype for each of these recipes, because what is the point of showing the differences off, if the barrel is just going to take over and obscure them? In this case, OESQ sample was very floral and the Q yeast is the floral one. Same with the herbal F and the sample of OESF: very herbal. Same with K and the spiciness. I love that. It's extremely fun to taste these side-by-side, and I hope each of you has that opportunity. If not, if I had to rank them, I'd say:

1. OESQ

2. OESF

3. OBSK

4. OBSV (the standard single barrel release)

My wife on the other hand had her ranking as:

1. OBSK

2. OESQ

3. OBSV (the standard single barrel release)

4. OESF

I'm usually a big fan of F and Q, whereas she is more of a K, O, and V girl, just so you know our biases. But all are very good, and I'm guessing that for a second year in a row I'll be spending more on these releases than all other bourbon combined. They are both delicious and relatively affordable when compared to the rest of today’s bourbon market. I really like these and cannot wait for them to hit shelves.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

13th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: The Championships

Welcome back, folks! We are now at the end of the 2026 contest. Eight whiskeys entered the arena. Four have fallen by the wayside. There have been some delicious treats, with not a single stinker in the bunch. Let’s see how it all ends and if we’ve learned anything along the way. First, we have the Round Two matchups.

Division 2: Crooked Meteor (Maker’s 46) vs. Wobbly Parachute (Benchmark Single Barrel)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: On the mouth Wobbly Parachute is giving me a little more cherry and baking spice. Crooked Meteor also gives some fruit and baking spice, but tosses a little bubblegum in there too. Crooked Meteor has a softer mouthfeel, being almost velvety by comparison. Wobbly Parachute is sweeter on the nose showing more toffee-This is so close that I'm going to hazard a guess that the winner here goes on to take the whole thing. I like Crooked Meteor's nose better. Wobbly Parachute has a nicer finish. At the end of the day though the mouthfeel of Crooked Meteor gives this just the slightest edge.

Winner: Crooked Meteor (Maker’s 46) moves on to the Championship Round on the strength of the wonderful, softer mouthfeel.

Division 1: Gilded Thunder (Redemption) vs. Marble Iguana (1792)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Gilded Thunder has a nicer nose. In a head-to-head comparison there is something a little bitter on Marble Iguana's nose that Gilded Thunder doesn't have. Marble Iguana has a nicer finish. There is more oak, more warmth and even a hint of smoke on it. Gilded Thunder is more gentle and has less complexity to it. The mouth is where this will be decided though. Unfortunately both of the mouth's are fairly gentle and unassuming. All things considered Marble Iguana has a bit more complexity on the mouth and since both are tasty, that will be enough to take the contest.

Winner: Marble Iguana (1792) moves on to the Championship Round on the basis the added complexity of the palate.

Championship Round: Crooked Meteor (Maker’s 46) vs. Marble Iguana (1792)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: The noses of these two are fairly similar with Marble Iguana being a little more "perfumy" than Crooked Meteor. Crooked Meteor has a nicer finish showing more baking spices. Crooked Meteor is sweet, fruity, floral, and spicy on the mouth. Marble Iguana is showing more mint, oak, and baking spice. This is really hard. Both of these are delicious bourbons.

Winner: Crooked Meteor (Maker’s 46)

Congrats to Maker’s 46, the 2026 BourbonGuy.com Bracket Champion!

So, what did I learn about each of these?

Well, starting with the winner? It was no surprise to me that Maker’s 46 took the contest. My wife and I did a draft before hand to see who would win. She went first, I won’t tell her pick to win yet, but mine was Maker’s 46. It was the first one I drafted for my “team.” Even though wheated bourbons are known for being softer (and as such don’t always fair well in the head to head format of a bracket), to me, it had the best shot because it has a full and rich flavor and enough spice to stand up the bourbons made with rye as a flavoring grain, while maintaining the soft mouthfeel that wheated bourbons are known for.

Moving over to the other finalist, 1792 was my wife’s first draft pick to win it all. And it nearly did. We had a very difficult time picking the winner this year. It came down to mouthfeel and that’s where 1792 fell behind. Both are delicious bourbons and I’d be happy to have either of them on my shelf (and lucky me, I have both).

I’m going to talk about Early Times Bottled-in-Bond and Redemption together here. Sometimes you end up with a matchup that you just kinda know isn’t going to matter in the final results. And that was this one. While I liked both of them, I knew going in that the last time I’d had Early Times Bottled in Bond, I wasn’t impressed. I felt that it had gone downhill from previous times I’d purchased it. And honestly with Redemption, at only 88 proof and two years old, I didn’t expect that it would even make it out of the first round. As I mentioned in the competition post that featured them, these are both brands in transition though. One to a new owner, and the other to a new proof level. So whatever we learned here won’t make much difference to the future.

Let’s finish off Division 1 by talking about Yellowstone Select. This was my number two draft pick. I honestly thought it might have a chance to at least leave the first round, but I chose it before the seeding matchups were finalized so I had no idea who it would be going against. In this case, it was a good bourbon going up against a great one.

Moving over to Division 2, we start with Benchmark Single Barrel and Four Roses Small Batch. This was one that I really didn’t know what to think. And in the end, Benchmark beat Four Roses Small Batch, the Four Roses expression that used to be my favorite of their core lineup. In the end, it was the proof that held Four Roses back since both are delightful bourbons.

And finally we get to Woodford Reserve. This was a dark horse pick for me, knowing that it would depend on the seeding matchups to see if it would make it to the second round. Like all of the bourbons in the competition, it is delicious (I love it when that happens in a bracket). It just didn’t have the complexity to top the eventual winner.

Now that we are done, it’s time to turn the page to the future. Next week, we will start to look at the samples that have been stacking up while the contest was going on. As much fun as this was, it’s fun to try new bourbons too.

Once again, congrats to Maker’s 46 on their 2026 Championship!

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

13th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: Round 1a: Benchmark Single Barrel vs. Four Roses Small Batch

Here we go! Let’s get down to the competitions. I hope that you guys are as excited about this as I am. These were tasted in an order only known to my wife as another bit of obfuscation to hide what was being tasted. So Round 1 of the 2026 BourbonGuy.com Brackets starts with Division 2’s Number 4 seed, Four Roses Small Batch taking on Number 1 seed, Benchmark Single Barrel Bourbon.

Four Roses Small Batch, produced by the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY, used to be this Four Roses Fanboy’s favorite pour from them. I really enjoyed the mellow, nuanced flavor. Of course, as I grew accustomed to higher proof bourbons, it soon felt a little…weak. I still enjoy a pour of it now and then, because it is delicious, but I don’t buy it nearly as often as I used to and that makes me just a little sad. This bottle was purchased at Total Wine in Burnsville, MN for $26.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.80 per pour.

Their opponent is a bourbon that I don’t think I’ve ever had before, though it’s Bottled-in-Bond cousin was in the competition last year. Benchmark Single Barrel was produced by Buffalo Trace at their Frankfort, KY distillery. This bottle was purchased at Viking Liquor Barrel in Prior Lake, MN, for $23.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.60 per pour.

All of the competitions this year were tasted blind, and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all recorded before we knew which bourbon was which. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were tasted side by side and will have influenced the perception of one another.

Wobbly Parachute (Benchmark Single Barrel)

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.60

Details: 47.5% ABV

Nose: Strong toffee note initially followed by cinnamon candies and brown sugar after a bit.

Mouth: Cinnamon, toffee, vanilla, and oak

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium length. Lingering notes of vanilla, cinnamon, and oak.

Drowsy Lantern (Four Roses Small Batch)

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.80

Details: 45% ABV

Nose: Cinnamon, mint, and caramel rolls.

Mouth: Cinnamon gum, mint, smoke, and caramel.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of oak, baking spice, and mint.

Thoughts:

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Wobbly Parachute is much sweeter. Drowsy Lantern feels dry by comparison. Wobbly Parachute has a thicker mouthfeel. Drowsy Lantern seems a little more complex and nuanced. Wobbly Parachute is a more pleasant pour when directly comparing them head to head.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: I’m a bit surprised by this one. Not because of an upset or anything—I mean, usually, proof beats price in these matchups, and that happened again. It’s just that I tend to personally like Four Roses’s bourbon more than Buffalo Trace’s. But hey, that’s why these are done blind, right?

Winner: Benchmark Single Barrel is advancing to round 2.

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13th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: The “inflation is Weird” edition.

You know what time it is! The NCAA basketball and hockey tournaments are getting started here soon, which means everyone is in bracket mode. It really is a wonderful time of year. Up here in the northernmost state in the contiguous U.S., the snow is still trying to fall—we got over a foot at my house this weekend. Though, thankfully, the end is in sight. Gardeners have started their seeds, there are days when the windows can be opened, and, of course, there are brackets to be filled out—and busted.

No, not those silly basketball or hockey brackets. We’re talking bourbon brackets. And let me tell you, this really is my favorite time of year. In fact, I enjoy it so much that next year, when I may decide to hang up the ol’ keyboard, I already know what my last series of posts will be: brackets. But don’t worry—that’ll be 2027 at the earliest, since I want to make it to 15 years of publishing before I make a decision.

I’m calling this round the “The Inflation Is Weird” edition. Mostly because I had to raise the price requirements yet again. As I mentioned last year, it was getting really hard to find enough entrants that haven’t been here over and over for under $25. Well, this year, I decided to take actual inflation numbers into account.

As an aside, inflation is super weird to me. Based on things that I don’t even want to try to understand, things just cost more than they used to. And if it’s a little bit, that’s somehow a good thing, but if it’s a lot (or, oddly, if it goes down), then that’s really bad. And it doesn’t hit everything the same, which my pattern-seeking mind finds overwhelming. And then the president always gets blamed for it, which is also weird since the last president to try directly setting price controls was Nixon. And while it had a bit of short-term success, Smart People™ seem to agree that it was a seriously bad idea. Probably why no one has tried it since. It’s just all-around weird, and I am glad that (under normal circumstances) people much smarter than I am are in charge of handling it.

So, like I said before I got sidetracked, I started this site in 2012. So I went to my favorite inflation calculator—the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator—to look at what the original bracket upper limit of $20 would be in 2026 money. I was a bit shocked to find out that it was almost $29. So I rounded up and made the upper limit $30 just to keep things nice and easy.

One thing I noticed while doing the research is that while it feels like the bourbon market has gotten more expensive, and in many ways it has, the reality is a bit more nuanced. I went back through every whiskey featured in this series over the last 13 years, and most of the true bottom-shelf brands have disappeared from shelves, at least near me. And the ones that remain haven’t increased in price as quickly as inflation. In terms of purchasing power, many have effectively gotten cheaper. That’s how bottles like Maker’s 46, Four Roses Small Batch, and Woodford Reserve ended up in this year’s competition when they were far out of range for those original Bottom-Shelf Brackets. Of course with newer, higher-priced labels hitting the shelves, the category as a whole feels more expensive when you’re standing in the bourbon aisle, even though individual bourbons are effectively cheaper now. Like I said— inflation is weird.

Let’s get into the actual contest, though.

The Selection Rules

This year’s selection process was simple:

• It had to be bourbon.

• The bottle size had to be at least 750 mL.

• It had to cost under $30.

That’s it!

For seeding, I usually start by sorting by proof first, followed by stated age (if applicable), and then use price as the final tiebreaker. But this year, every entrant had a different proof, so we just went down the line, with the highest proof being the number one seed and the lowest proof being the lowest seed. The idea being that, often with inexpensive bourbons, proof will beat age in a head-to-head competition—or so it has played out over the previous 12 editions. To avoid stacking the deck against the second division, I alternated which division received the higher seed. So Division 1 got the overall number one, but Division 2 got the higher-proof of the number two seeds. Here’s what that got us:

Division 1

• Seed 1: Early Times Bottled-in-Bond

  • The only 100 proof bottle in this competition. It is also the least expensive per 50 mL pour. The brand is currently owned by Sazerac, though the distillery of distillation on the label is still the old Brown-Forman DSP-KY-354. Barton 1792 (DSP-KY-12) is also listed as a production site, likely for bottling.

  • Purchased at Viking Liquor Barrel (Prior Lake, MN) for $23.99 for a one-liter bottle.

  • Nonsense name: Velvet Turnip

• Seed 2: 1792

  • Flagship product of Sazerac’s Barton 1792 distillery in Bardstown, KY, bottled at 93.7 proof.

  • Purchased at Total Wine (Burnsville, MN) for $25.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

  • Nonsense name: Marble Iguana

• Seed 3: Yellowstone Select

  • The base entry for the historic Yellowstone bourbon brand, bottled at 93 proof.

  • Purchased at Total Wine (Burnsville, MN) for $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

  • Nonsense name: Feral Teacup

• Seed 4: Redemption Bourbon

  • Sourced MGP bourbon bottled at 88 proof and age-stated at 2 years old. This was the lowest proof and, as such, the lowest seed in the contest.

  • Purchased at Total Wine (Burnsville, MN) for $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

  • Nonsense name: Gilded Thunder

Division 2

• Seed 1: Benchmark Single Barrel

  • A product of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, bottled at 95 proof.

  • Purchased at Viking Liquor Barrel (Prior Lake, MN) for $23.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

  • Nonsense name: Wobbly Parachute

• Seed 2: Maker’s Mark 46

  • The only wheated bourbon, bottled at 94 proof.

  • Purchased at Viking Liquor Barrel (Prior Lake, MN) for $29.97 for a 750 mL bottle.

  • Nonsense name: Crooked Meteor

• Seed 3: Woodford Reserve

  • A product of Brown-Forman, bottled at 90.4 proof.

  • Purchased at Total Wine (Burnsville, MN) for $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

  • Nonsense name: Jittery Compass

• Seed 4: Four Roses Small Batch

  • One of four core products in the Four Roses lineup. It was long my favorite of the bunch before its lower proof made their single barrel offering my go-to from them. It is bottled at 90 proof.

  • Purchased at Total Wine (Burnsville, MN) for $26.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

  • Nonsense name: Drowsy Lantern

Keeping It Blind: The Setup

Of course, that list doesn’t eliminate inherent bias, does it? So, as usual, we took a few extra steps to keep the tasting blind—while still keeping track of what advanced.

Here’s how we set it up (it’s an oh-so-simple process):

1. I seeded the whiskey in the bracket as listed above.

2. I poured 200 mL bottles of each bourbon and labeled them with their nonsense names.

3. I made a separate bracket using only the nonsense names and handed it, along with the bottles, to my wife.

From there, she takes over.

• She doesn’t know what’s in each bottle (thanks to the nonsense names).

• She pours and keeps track of the winners.

• All I have to do is taste, write, and pick my favorite. It’s a pretty slick system.

The empty bracket is below, and as usual, there were plenty of surprises along the way. But that’s for the future. In the meantime, who you got? Let us know down in the comments!

Fun fact, using that same BLS Inflation Calculator, I checked on the state of the Federal Excise Tax on distilled spirits. If you want to make a bourbon producer mad, mention that if the excise tax, which was last adjusted in 1991 to $13.50 per proof gallon, had kept up with inflation, it would currently be at $32.78. In fact the opposite happened and we are currently in a tiered system where the first so many proof gallons are severely discounted. This was what funded much of the Federal Government prior to the income tax so it is fun to look at. Though I am seriously not advocating for higher bourbon prices…

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.