Overview: Four Roses is one of the more unusual operations in Kentucky bourbon. While most distilleries work with one or maybe two mashbills, Four Roses runs two mashbills across five proprietary yeast strains — giving them ten distinct bourbon recipes in active production at any time. They put the recipe code right on the label, which is the kind of transparency that’s rare in an industry that treats production details like trade secrets. The flagship Single Barrel expression is always the OBSV recipe: their high-rye “B” mashbill combined with the “V” yeast strain, known for delicate fruit character. Every bottle is a single barrel. Every bottle is a little different.

This one — Warehouse JE, Barrel 64-3R — turned up at Costco at a price that made it an easy grab. If you haven’t thought to check your local Costco for bourbon, start. They occasionally source single barrel picks at prices that undercut most retail shops, and this was one of those finds.

The Recipe

Four Roses labels encode the production details directly. OBSV breaks down as:

Code	Meaning
O	Distilled at Four Roses Distillery
B	”B” Mashbill — 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley
S	Straight Bourbon
V	”V” Yeast Strain — delicate fruit character

The B mashbill is the interesting one here. At 35% rye, it sits near the upper limit of what can still legally be called bourbon rather than rye whiskey. That grain percentage shapes everything about how this drinks — more on that below.

Age: NAS (typically 7–9 years)

Proof: 100 (50% ABV)

Mashbill: 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley

Barrel: Warehouse JE, No. 64-3R

Nose: The V yeast does its thing immediately — bright orchard fruit up front, ripe pears and green apple with sweet cherries behind them. It’s a livelier, more aromatic nose than you expect from a 100-proof bourbon. Underneath the fruit there’s maple syrup, vanilla bean, and a touch of cocoa powder. What keeps it from feeling thin or simple is a layer of floral and herbal character that grounds the sweetness without turning herbaceous. Clean and genuinely inviting.

Palate: The delicate nose is a bit of a feint — the palate has real presence. Entry is oily and coating with rich caramel, dark plum, and brown sugar. Then the 35% rye asserts itself mid-palate: cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg push back against the initial sweetness in a way that keeps things lively all the way through the sip. Toasted oak and dark chocolate show up toward the back and give it some structure. Nothing about this palate feels young or thin. For what it costs, the depth here is legitimately surprising.

Finish: Long, dry, and clean. The orchard fruit fades and rye spice takes over — black pepper and a little warmth that lingers for a solid minute or two. It dries the palate out just enough to pull you back for another sip, which is the right kind of finish. No harshness, no heat for its own sake. Just a clean, spicy exit.

Old Fashioned Note: Worth mentioning because this bottle earns it — the 35% rye is exactly what you want behind a cocktail. Bourbons with 10–12% rye tend to get swamped by simple syrup or demerara; the sweetness of the mixer takes over and the whiskey disappears. The OBSV doesn’t have that problem. The spice holds its ground through ice melt and sweet mixers and keeps the bourbon the point of the drink. If you’re building a house Old Fashioned and want something that performs as well as it sips neat, this is a strong answer.

Final Thoughts: At $35–45 this is one of the better value single barrels on the shelf. The combination of high-rye character, solid age, and the V yeast’s fruit contribution gives it a complexity that reads more expensive than it is. It’s also genuinely easy to find — Four Roses Single Barrel shows up at most well-stocked retailers, and apparently at Costco when the timing is right. If the Rare Breed is the barrel-proof daily driver, this is what you reach for when you want that same “no brainer” reliability with more fruit and less fire.

If You Liked This, Try…

• Wild Turkey Rare Breed Barrel Proof — Trades the fruit-forward V yeast character for more oak and spice at considerably higher proof. A natural next step if you want to see what the same high-rye instinct sounds like with the volume turned up.
• Rock Hill Farms Single Barrel — Another high-rye Kentucky single barrel at 100 proof with a beautiful nose. Better bottle, harder to find, more money. Worth the comparison if you can track one down.

Rating: Top Shelf — Rating system explained