Published on August 26, 2026
Four Roses
For about a quarter century, Kentucky distillery Four Roses has been making bourbon using a combination of 10 different recipes, derived from the use of two mashbills and five unique yeast strains. But this past spring, it released its very first cask-finished bourbon, a spirit that was partially aged in Japanese mizunara oak. That series continues with this week’s launch of Experimental Series No. 002 Honey Cask Finish, a bourbon that spent some time in honey barrels that were previously used by the distillery.
Cask-finished whiskey has been released by many other distilleries, but as mentioned above, this year marks the first time that Four Roses has entered the category, to the delight of some whiskey drinkers and the chagrin of others. The new Experimental Series No. 002 combines bourbon aged from six to eight years that was made from the distillery’s OESQ and OBSK recipes. Those codes refer to the Four Roses distillery (O), specific mashbill (E is low rye, B is high rye), straight bourbon (S), and yeast strain (Q and K). After initial maturation, the whiskey was put into honey-seasoned barrels for three to nine months. These barrels came from local honey producer Bohman Bee Company, which previously used them to age its honey after they had already been used to mature bourbon (that makes them second-fill bourbon barrels when used for the finish).
