The Release
Four Roses Distillery is extending its limited-edition Experimental Series with No. 002 Honey Cask Finish, a 375ml expression priced at $55 that goes on sale exclusively at the distillery's Lawrenceburg and Cox's Creek visitor centers on September 18. The release follows Experimental Series No. 001 Mizunara Cask Finish and marks the Kentucky producer's second deliberate departure from its established ten-recipe framework.
How It Was Made
The liquid blends six-, seven-, and eight-year-old bourbons drawn from the OESQ and OBSK mashbill-and-yeast combinations before finishing in barrels previously used by Bohman Bee Company, a local honey producer that collaborated with Four Roses to age its Bourbon Barrel Aged Honey. Once the honey was extracted, those seasoned casks returned to the distillery for a secondary bourbon fill lasting three to nine months. The resulting spirit was bottled at 104 proof — a deliberate choice, according to the distillery, to hold the tension between Four Roses' characteristic spice and the incoming honey influence without letting either dominate.
Master Distiller Brent Elliott described the project as an exercise in reading what the barrels already offered. "The honey is there from the moment you bring the glass to your nose, but it's never artificial or overpowering," Elliott said. "If you have the chance to taste it alongside our Bourbon Barrel Aged Honey, you can really appreciate the journey those barrels have taken and the role they've played in both products." The tasting profile includes natural honey, floral undertones, warm baking spice, and a lingering finish.
Market Context
The release lands at a moment of sustained commercial appetite for finished and limited-release bourbons, a segment that has become a reliable traffic driver for distillery retail operations across Kentucky. Cask-finishing — borrowing a technique long associated with Scotch whisky — has accelerated among American craft and heritage producers seeking to differentiate premium tier SKUs without altering core production processes. For Four Roses, a brand established in 1888 that built its identity around consistency and its proprietary ten-recipe system, the Experimental Series represents a calculated risk: using unconventional finishing to attract collectors and enthusiasts while preserving the underlying blending DNA.
Distillery-exclusive distribution also serves a specific commercial function in Kentucky's spirits tourism economy. By confining No. 002 to the Lawrenceburg and Cox's Creek visitor centers, Four Roses creates a destination purchase that incentivizes on-site visitation — a model that has proven effective for generating ancillary revenue from tours, tastings, and branded merchandise. At $55 for a 375ml format, the per-milliliter price point is notably elevated relative to the distillery's standard lineup, consistent with the premium commanded by scarcity-driven releases in the super-premium bourbon category.
The distillery has not disclosed the total number of bottles available or the number of barrels selected for the blend, leaving the effective ceiling on sell-through volume undefined ahead of the September 18 launch.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
