For Bourbon drinkers one of the great come-back stories of an American institution is the tale of how a once great brand of the 30s and 40s climbed out of near obscurity in the mid to late 90’s, back to a place of prominence in the U.S. as a well respected and high quality range of whiskies.

In the new book, Four Roses, The Return Of A Whiskey Legend, by historian and brand ambassador, Al Young, we learn all the trials and tribulations of the Four Roses story from its beginnings in the mid 1800s to the present.

This coffee table size book, full of iconic advertising and brand photos is a quick read that follows the brand throughout the years.  For those familiar with the Four Roses story this is a reminder of what made and makes this whisky great, but for those new to the Four Roses story, let me mention a few highlights, perhaps as you pour yourself a wee nip.

(I’d recommend the Four Roses Single Barrel, winner of the Double Gold Medal in 2010, at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, available for about $40, a bargain for fine sipping whiskey.)

Although the beginnings of the company are in the mid to late 1800’s, it did not receive its iconic name until about 1880.

Lawrence Lavalle Jones, who was one of three brothers, and one of the founders of the company, (which originated as a grocery business, then became a whisky blender and retailer and only later a distilling company), courted Mary Peabody for about 5 years and had asked her to marry him on many occasions.  He decided to ask one last time. He sent her a dozen roses accompanied by a card that said, “For over five years I have asked you to marry me. Tonight I ask you for the last time. If the answer is yes, wear a corsage of four rose, if it is no, don’t wear any.” Well as you can guess, she wore the four roses corsage, and soon afterward one of the most popular brands of whiskey they sold was renamed, Four Roses. It became a registered trademark in 1888.

In 1906, what was then called the Paul Jones Company ran afoul of the government when the government enacted the Pure Food and Drug Act.  “What is Whiskey” became a huge question of the day. It came down to President Taft to make the final decision. The sticking point was that rectifiers, such as the Jones’ (buyers of whiskey which they blended to their liking) added neutral grain spirits and other things to achieve their flavor profile. Eventually the decision was that “whiskey” called “straight whiskey” was by definition, “distilled from fermented grain mash that has been aged in charred oak barrels using only pure water to adjust for proof.” What the Jones’ sold had to be called Blended Whiskey and could not contain anything other than grain, such as molasses, which was widely used at that time.

Another trying period for the Jones family and all whiskey producers came with Amendment 18 to the Constitution of the United States or Prohibition.

When “intoxicating liquors” were banned in 1919, panic in the Bourbon Whiskey industry was rampant. Although many producers simply threw in the towel, many latched onto a provision that allowed distillers to apply for licenses that allowed them to sell whiskey for “Medicinal Purposes Only”. 

During the period of 1919-1933 distilleries were allowed to replenish stocks sold by prescription but the license to sell was only granted distillers, so the Paul Jones Company (a rectifier and not a distiller at that time) bought the Frankfort and Stitzell Distilleries under the direction of Paul Jones’ nephew, Lawrence Lavalle Jones. He died in 1941 – the last of the Jones family to run the distillery.

1943, was a turning point in the history of Four Roses, and some would say, the beginning of its decline. That year, Canadian, Sam Bronfman, owner of Seagram and Sons, bought Frankfort Distilleries and the trade names, Four Roses and Paul Jones.

Bronfman converted Four Roses from a straight whiskey to a blended whisky in the 1950s although curiously, he kept selling it as straight whiskey in European and Japanese markets. By 1948, Seagram owned Seven Crown, Calvert Reserve and Four Roses – 3 of the top 10 brands in the whiskey world. Seagram owned a network of five distilleries in Kentucky. To this day the five proprietary yeast strains from those distilleries are used to make Four Roses.

For history buffs, they were the Calvert, Old Lewis Hunter, Athertonville, Henry McKenna and Old Prentice Distilleries. Today the Four Roses Distillery occupies the Old Prentice facility.

For consistency and simplicity, Seagram’s dictated that all five distilleries use the same 2 mash bills:

1)60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley

2)75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley

Skip ahead to 2002. When Kirin bought Four Roses from Diageo, by contract, no other distiller could use the 5 yeast strains and 2 mash bills. Two recipes times 5 yeast strains makes up the 10 recipes that are used in various combinations to make up today’s Four Roses bottlings. Today’s bottlings are chill-filtered, except the barrel-strength bottlings.

2002 saw the rebirth of Four Roses as a straight whiskey in the US, no longer sold as a low-end blend.

Jim Rutledge, master distiller is heavily responsible for the rebirth of Four Roses in the US. He convinced the owners to experiment by reintroducing the Four Roses Straight Whiskey in Kentucky. When that was a success, they went national. Then under ownership of Kirin they launched the Single Barrel and Small Batch bottlings. In 2005 Single Barrel won Whisky Magazine’s “Best American Whiskey Under 10 Yrs Old.”

Although the narrative of this coffee table book is somewhat meandering in its style, it is a fun read for whisky fans and offers great insight into an iconic brand of Bourbon.

Enjoy.

Other Media on Four Roses: The Return of a Whiskey Legend

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1935497294/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1153608251&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0BVKS42SYHAPZRM1M3Q4

http://www.nightclub.com/spirits/bourbon/news/the-rise-removal-and-return-four-roses-bourbon-documented-new-book-2670

Interview with author: http://www.examiner.com/books-in-hartford/four-roses-the-return-of-a-whiskey-legend-author-al-young-conversation