Four Roses Small Batch
Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
A blend of four of Four Roses' ten recipes, entered into the barrel at 120 proof rather than the industry-common 125.
- Barrel entry proof
- 120
- Aging
- New charred oak, no age statement
- Congeners
- High
- Histamines
- Moderate
- Polyphenols
- Moderate
- Sulfites
- Very Low
- Tannins
- Moderate
- Sugar
- Low
- Additives
- Very Low
- Calories
- 110
- Sugar
- 0g
15.8g ethanol at 45% ABV. No sugar, so every calorie here is alcohol.
In its favor
- ✓Lower barrel entry proof than most Kentucky bourbon
- ✓No additives permitted under US law
What to watch
- !Component mashbills are not individually disclosed for this bottling
- !90 proof
Factor by factor
Congeners High ▾
Byproducts of fermentation (methanol, acetaldehyde, fusel alcohols). Strongly linked to hangover severity; darker, less-distilled spirits carry more.
Histamines Moderate ▾
Produced by bacteria during fermentation/aging. Trigger flushing, headaches, congestion in sensitive drinkers. High in red wine, beer, aged spirits.
Polyphenols Moderate ▾
Plant compounds with antioxidant activity. Slightly protective at low doses but at high concentrations may worsen hangover via tannin/quercetin reactions.
Sulfites Very Low ▾
Preservatives (SO₂) added to wine and some beers. Common trigger of headaches, asthma, and allergic-type reactions.
Tannins Moderate ▾
Astringent polyphenols from skins, seeds, barrels. Bind proteins, slow alcohol clearance, and aggravate dehydration-style symptoms.
Sugar Low ▾
Residual sugar amplifies hangover via blood-sugar swings and dehydration. Liqueurs and cocktails are the main offenders.
Additives Very Low ▾
Colorants, flavorings, glycerin, propylene glycol, sorbates. Cheap spirits and ready-to-drinks often hide these in trade-secret formulas.
Four Roses runs ten distinct recipes, built from two mashbills and five proprietary yeast strains, and the Small Batch is a marriage of four of them. That makes a single published mashbill figure impossible for this bottling, which is why the field is left empty here rather than filled with an average that would not describe any actual whiskey in the bottle.
What is worth recording is the barrel entry proof. Four Roses enters at 120, below the 125 that is common across Kentucky and well below the legal ceiling. Entry proof governs how aggressively the spirit strips the wood, so it is a better predictor of extract load than bottling proof is.