#25: Four Roses Barrel Picking with Al Young

Beast Masters Club

Legendary Four Roses Distillery Manger Al Young treated the Beast Masters to an incredible Kentucky bourbon barrel picking session that produced the OBSV awesomeness now known as, “It Must Have Been The Roses”.

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 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 50th Anniversary bottling and the formulation the special blend of Four Roses selections picked for this special commemorative limited edition. 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.