Legendary Four Roses Distillery Manger, Al Young treated the Beast Masters to an incredible Kentucky bourbon barrel picking session.
When we arrived at Four Roses on a sunny morning in March, Al had a number of casks laid out for our day’s picking endeavor. Under Al’s expert guidance we tasted through six barrels pulled from a variety of Four Roses’ rickhouses and spanning a nice cross section of their different recipes. When all was said and done, our crack team of Hot Pickle Society inductees landed on the High Rye OBSV BEAST of a bourbon that has been dubbed, “It Must Have Been The Roses.” This 121 proof bad boy stuck out immediately in the tasting as a deep, rich, spicy, flavorful bourbon with a gorgeous finish that goes on for days.
We sat down to chat with Al following our epic barrel picking session to review the barrel pick and get a bit of Al’s perspective on the world of whiskey and how we’ve come to where we are now in the industry. We also discussed Al’s special limited edition 50th Anniversary bottling and how they came to formulate the blend of Four Roses selections that went into it. We hope you enjoy cracking open a bottle of It Must Have Been The Roses and sipping along with us. We’re very glad to be able to share this with you all.
