Whiskey Review: Four Roses 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch
Note: This review of Four Roses 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch reflects the personal opinions of Editor Kyle Swartz. This bottle was sent to him as a media sample.
This marks the 18th edition in the annual series, featuring a unique blend of three bourbon recipes and four different batches, presented at barrel strength.
Non-chill filtered and bottled at 109 proof. The 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon is a blend composed of a 13-year-old bourbon from the OBSV recipe, a 13-year-old OBSK, a 13-year-old OESV and a 19-year-old OESV.
This year, Four Roses will release approximately 16,854 bottles of its 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch at a suggested retail price of $249 per 750-ml. bottle. They will be available at select retailers nationwide and through the distillery’s bottle drawing.
Nose
The nose leaps out of the glass and immediately lets you know you’re sipping Four Roses with its pronounced, balanced complexity. Buttery, stone fruits (especially apricots), baking spices, medium oak. Touch of tobacco and citrus.
Palate
Rich, rounded, and full-bodied. Loads more apricots, plus vanilla, burnt caramel, citrus, and old oak, all balanced by just the right amount of brown spice on the backend. Again, the classic Four Roses complexity, like fine German engineering, with everything in its precise place.
Finish
Darkly sweet flavors take over in a wonderfully warming finish. Medium-plus Kentucky hug, though the pronounced richness of this top-shelf whiskey is more than enough to leave you feeling satisfied after every sip.
Upshot
What more is there to say about one of the most anticipated annual releases? Four Roses has knocked it out of the park once again with their 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch. This is an impeccably made product, complex yet perfectly balanced, with a richness befitting its rarity. Finding and buying a bottle won’t be easy, but this is a unicorn worth tracking down and splurging on. Four Roses 2025 Limited Edition Small Batch absolutely belongs in the conversation for whiskey of the year.
Kyle Swartz is editor of Beverage Dynamics. Reach him at kswartz@epgacceleration.com. Read his recent pieces, 8 Beverage Alcohol Trends in 2025 and Whiskey Review: Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2025.
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