Four Roses Yellow Label Bourbon Whiskey 750ml
Four Roses Yellow Label comes from Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, now owned by Japan's Kirin Brewery Company and one of the state's largest producers by volume. This expression serves as the brand's flagship and best-selling bourbon, though for decades it was sold only overseas while a different blended whiskey occupied American shelves. Master distiller Ova Haney helped persuade Seagram to bring the brand back to Kentucky in the early 1990s, and it has anchored the domestic lineup ever since.
Unlike Small Batch or Single Barrel, Yellow Label draws on all ten of Four Roses' proprietary recipes, combining both mashbills and all five yeast strains into a single blend of up to two hundred barrels. The whiskey ages roughly five and a half to six years before bottling at a gentler 80 proof, making it lighter and more approachable than its siblings.
The nose is delicate, offering vanilla, oaky woodiness, sweet cereal grain, and a citrus lift. On the palate, vanilla and fresh coconut lead, joined by a clear, honeyed sweetness. The finish is short, closing on a woody bitterness that keeps the whiskey well balanced.