Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2013 / 125th Anniversary Bourbon 750ml

Four Roses Barrel Strength Small Batch 2013 / 125th Anniversary Bourbon

The 2013 Small Batch offers a blend of three Bourbons: an 18-year-old OBSV, a 13-year-old OBSK, and a 13-year-old OESK. The two “OB” whiskeys are from the high-rye mashbill Four Roses uses, the “OE” from the lower rye one.

The 125th Anniversary bottle is especially sought after for its connection to what you might call the “Tale of the Mutated Yeast.” While fermenting a mash in the late 1990s, Rutledge and his team noticed that one of the yeasts had mutated. Rather than bear the cost of starting over – this was, after all, before Four Roses hit it big – they decided to take a risk. The result went beyond Rutledge’s expectations. He has said repeatedly that it is his single favorite whiskey he ever; even the unaged distillate, he said, was unmatched in flavor. The resulting whiskey, including the 125th Anniversary, were the perfect storm, a happy accident, and since Rutledge did not keep samples, they can never to be replicated.