Four Roses just dropped a honey cask-finished bourbon
Four Roses just dropped Experimental Series No. 002 Honey Cask Finish, a bourbon aged six to eight years then finished three to nine months in honey-seasoned barrels from Bohman Bee Company. The 104-proof release hits Four Roses Distillery and Cox's Creek Visitor Centers on September 18 in 375 ml bottles for $55 SRP.
Key Takeaways
- Four Roses just dropped its second Experimental Series bottling: Honey Cask Finish bourbon.
- The whiskey blends OESQ and OBSK recipes, aged six to eight years before a honey-barrel finish of three to nine months.
- Barrels came from Bohman Bee Company after aging honey in former bourbon casks.
- At 104 proof, it launches September 18 in 375 ml bottles (SRP $55) at the distillery and Cox's Creek.
- Master distiller Brent Elliott says the honey note is natural, never artificial or overpowering.
What did Four Roses just drop, and why does it matter?
Kentucky's Four Roses has spent roughly a quarter century building bourbon from 10 recipes—two mashbills and five yeast strains. Until this year, it had never released a cask-finished bourbon. That changed in spring with a Japanese mizunara oak finish, and the series continues this week with Experimental Series No. 002 Honey Cask Finish.
According to Robb Report, cask finishes are common elsewhere, but this is Four Roses' first year in the category—welcome news for some drinkers and a sore point for others who prefer the house style untouched.
How was the honey cask finish made?
The new bottling combines bourbon aged six to eight years from the OESQ and OBSK recipes. In Four Roses shorthand, O marks the distillery, E is low rye and B is high rye, S means straight bourbon, and Q and K name the yeast strains.
After that first maturation, the spirit rested three to nine months in honey-seasoned barrels supplied by local producer Bohman Bee Company. Those casks had already matured bourbon, then aged Bohman's honey, so the finish uses second-fill bourbon barrels with a honey character baked in.
“One of the things I love most about this release is how naturally it came together,” master distiller Brent Elliott said in a statement. “It simply started with barrels that had already taken on a unique character. The honey is there from the moment you bring the glass to your nose, but it's never artificial or overpowering.”
How does it taste, and where can you buy it?
Robb Report's tasting notes put honey front and center without drowning the glass. Expect floral tones plus classic Four Roses cues: vanilla, maple, brown sugar, stone fruit, oak, and black pepper, with a touch of heat at 104 proof.
Experimental Series No. 002 goes on sale September 18 at the Four Roses Distillery and Cox's Creek Visitor Centers in small 375 ml bottles at a suggested retail price of $55. Elliott also tips drinkers to try it beside Four Roses Bourbon Barrel Aged Honey to taste how the same barrels shaped both products.
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