Cinnamon apple | Baking spices | Fruit salad | Light oak | Cinnamon powder | Nutmeg

Cinnamon | Pie crust | Caramel | Oak | Gentle rye spice | Faint vanilla | Baking spices

Baking spices | Light caramel | Oak | Hint of leather | Gentle rye spice | Short

Building on its 138 year history, originally trademarked by Paul Jones Jr. in 1888, Four Roses recently changed hands from Kirin Holdings to Gallo in a deal that closed in April 2026 for $775 million.

Four Roses’ standard 100 proof single barrel has traditionally always been their OBSV recipe, which is one of ten recipes the distillery produces. However, at the end of 2024, the company announced that it would be releasing a new Single Barrel Collection to coincide with its 20th anniversary. Their intention is to expand on their current single barrel products. In addition to the standard OBSV, Four Roses also released OESO, OBSF, and OESK variations in 2025. Fast forward to 2026, and the company is highlighting three more recipes in addition to their standard offering: OESF, OESQ, and OBSK.  

These releases are differentiated by Four Roses’ two mashbills and five proprietary yeast strains that, when combined, create ten unique recipes with the components designated as follows:

Mashbills:

B: 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley
E: 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley

Yeast Strains:

V: Delicate fruit
K: Slight spice
O: Rich fruit
Q: Floral essence
F: Herbal notes

‍Four Roses Bourbon, which is the company’s flagship product, utilizes up to all ten of the recipes blended together in an effort to create consistency from batch to batch, with some components making up a large portion of the blend and others added in smaller percentages in an effort to add accents of flavor and create consistency. Until recently, these individual recipes could only be tasted via the distillery’s single barrel program or their 10 recipe sample kit. Starting in 2024, Four Roses rolled out dedicated releases of each of the recipes in single barrel format.

Each Four Roses recipe brings a slight twist to the experience the distillery’s bourbon delivers, and OBSK is no exception. The bourbon starts off slightly fruity, with a focus on spices that create a very pleasing aroma. The midpoint is classic and balances its flavor notes so that none outweighs the others. Finishing on a nice combination of spices, caramel, and oak, the flavors end more quickly than you would like, ultimately holding the bourbon back. Overall, though, this is a great showcase for Four Roses, and while everyone will have their own recipe preference, and single variation will always occur, OBSK bubbles to the top of this year’s Single Barrel Collection.