Brent Elliott

“Successfully Filling Enormous Shoes”

Brent Elliott was born and raised in western Kentucky. The Owensboro native graduated from Daviess County High School and, in 1992, entered the University of Kentucky to study chemical engineering. After finishing his degree, his first job was in the adhesives industry, working on the fixatives for plastic and PVC that are used in credit cards. A few years later, while visiting family in Bardstown, Elliott casually popped into a tour of Woodford Reserve distillery. That experience stirred something in him, and he realized that with his background in chemistry and analytical work, there might be a path into the whiskey trade. Back at home, he began exploring job openings in the bourbon world, and, discovering an open role at Four Roses Distillery, he applied.

In college, Brent and his buddies had often mixed bourbon with cola. Still, even though he was a son of Kentucky, he had never previously tried Four Roses (which, in fairness, had been unavailable in the United States until 2002). However, the night before his interview, Elliott bought a bottle, went back to his hotel room, and sampled a dram of the high-rye spirit for the first time. “It was absolute love at first sip,” Elliott confesses. The next day, he got the job.

At Four Roses Distillery, Elliott’s chemical engineering degree first placed him as a quality analyst. Over the next decade, he worked closely with then‑Master Distiller Jim Rutledge, eventually becoming Director of Quality and helping participate in barrel selection, blending work, and lab analysis in the tasting lab. Then, in 2015, when Jim Rutledge announced his retirement after nearly 49 years, Brent Elliott was quickly chosen to succeed him as Master Distiller.

As Master Distiller at Four Roses, Elliott inherited responsibility for all aspects of the bourbon, overseeing fermentation, distillation, maturation, blending, barrel selection, and quality control. The brand is known for a distinctive strategy of using two mash bills (often characterized as a lower-rye and a higher-rye mash) together with five proprietary yeast strains, giving ten “recipes” from which it draws to blend or bottle. Because of this structure, the role of blending and selection at Four Roses is especially crucial. But Elliott showed aptitude and foresight, and, in 2016, he released Elliott’s Select, a limited‑edition, 14-year-old single-barrel “OESK” bourbon. He hand‑selected the barrel and released it at barrel strength. The bottle was an immediate hit, and bottles on store shelf stock evaporated almost immediately.

In 2019, Elliott introduced Small Batch Select, a non-chill-filtered expression blended from six of the ten recipes and bottled at 104 proof. This was the first permanent line extension for Four Roses since 2006. Small Batch Select achieved acclaim quickly, ranking No. 3 in Whisky Advocate’s Top 20 Whiskies of 2019 and earning a silver medal in the Kentucky Bourbon category at the 2020 World Whiskies Awards.

Over his tenure, Elliott has also overseen a major expansion of the physical distillery and over capacity upgrades. In 2015, Four Roses began a $55 million capital investment project to increase capacity and update facilities in both Lawrenceburg (distillery) and Cox’s Creek (warehousing and bottling). The distillery side investment included duplicate stills, new fermenters, and buildings designed to match the beautiful and historic Spanish mission style architecture seen on the grounds. This expansion enabled the distillery to roughly double its production capacity from about 4 million to 8 million proof gallons annually.

Though much of Brent Elliott’s time now is spent in seminars on podcasts, the affable bourbon maven has continued to center his life around his small family. Brent is married to his wife Amy, and they share two teenage children. The Elliotts reside outside Frankfort, Kentucky, where Brent enjoys swimming, running, and cycling to relieve stress in his small amount of spare time. Meanwhile, Four Roses and Elliott continue to win recognition. In 2020, Brent was named Master Distiller/Blender of the Year by Whisky Magazine at the Icons of Whisky America awards. In 2024, the distillery won “World’s Best Single Barrel Bourbon,” “Best Kentucky Single Barrel,” and “Best Kentucky Small Batch” at the World Whiskies Awards.

After a decade at the helm, Elliott has now firmly established himself as a leading figure in the whiskey world, having seamlessly stepped into the role once held by a whiskey legend. Under his leadership, Four Roses Distillery has maintained its hallmark quality while introducing innovative expressions that have garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards. Brent Elliott’s masterful expertise in balancing tradition with evolution continues to position Four Roses as both timeless and relevant, ensuring continued success for both Brent and his brand.

Sources:

Four Roses homepage (blog), “Brent Elliott Named Master Distiller of the Year”, fourrosesbourbon.com, February 14, 2020
Kentucky Distillers’ Association, “Four Roses’ Brent Elliott Named Master Distiller of the Year”, February 14, 2020
Distiller, “Brent Elliott… Best KY Bourbon”, distiller.com, Tim Knittel, April 12, 2018
Breaking Bourbon, “Who is Brent Elliott?”, breakingbourbon.com, Nick Beiter, June 9, 2016
Owensboro Times (Owensboro, Kentucky), “Owensboro native wins Distiller of the Year”, Katie Pickens, February 13, 2020
2019 New Orleans Bourbon Festival, Brent Elliott biography
Fatherly, “How (Elliott) Stays Balanced”, Lizzy Francis, www.fatherly.com, March 12, 2019
WhiskyCast (podcast): “Brent Elliott Has Big Shoes to Fill”, September 24, 2015

Contributed by Tracy McLemore, Fairview, Tennessee