Four Roses Founders
(NOTE: FOUNDERS ARE LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
Four Roses is the seventh most popular a brand of bourbon whiskey in the world and the second most popular brand in Japan behind only Jim Beam. The Four Roses Distillery is located in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky and produces 6 brands, labels and variations of Bourbon. Four Roses is owned by Kirin Brewing Company which is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
The Four Roses Distillery's history starts with how the company found its name. The company's founder, Paul Jones, Jr. was born in 1840 in Lynchburg, Virginia in a very affluent family. In a romantic story for the ages, he really threw his heart out on a limb after he fell in love with a beautiful southern girl and later named his bourbon after something extraordinary that happen with her during their courtship.
1
Charles L. Beam
. Invented Eagle Rare
Charles L. Beam (1922-2007), grand-nephew of Jim Beam, was hired at Four Roses in 1962 and named only the fourth Master Distiller at Four Roses in 1968. Under Beam's tenure as Master Distiller, Four Roses introduced the popular bourbon brands of Benchmark Bourbon in 1969 and Eagle Rare in 1975 which were later sold.
2
Brent Elliott
In 2015, when Jim Rutledge announced his retirement after nearly 49 years, Brent Elliott was quickly chosen to succeed him as Master Distiller and Director of Quality. In those roles, Elliott inherited responsibility for all aspects of the bourbon, overseeing fermentation, distillation, maturation, blending, barrel selection, and quality control.
3
Ova Haney
The distillery would have its challenges over the years and after 23 years of career ladder growth, the role of Master Distiller was given to Ova Haney after the retirement of Charles Beam in 1984. The bourbon industry was in a tailspin throughout Haney’s first year, but Haney would not let these challenges derail the Four Roses brand.
4
Paul Jones, Jr.
“The Romantic Founder”
Jones wanted to move his company and distillery to "Whiskey Row" in Louisville in 1884, but could not find a building to his liking. In 1889, he bought the J. G. Mattingly distillery for $125,000 at auction ($3.5 million in today's dollars). Included in the purchase were a mill, a fermenting house, a boiler house, a distillery building, and a cattle barn.
5
John Rhea
Over the years, Rhea’s commitment and expertise propelled him up the ranks at Four Roses, where he became Chief Operating Officer. His responsibilities spanned every aspect of distillery operations, including quality control, maturation, and product blending. Under his leadership, Four Roses flourished, regaining its status as one of the world’s most sought-after bourbon brands.
6
Jim Rutledge
Brought Four Roses back to U.S.
Jim Rutledge begged new Four Roses owner Kirin to "Let us go back to bourbon and bring Four Roses back to the U.S. again!"
Kirin finally agreed and began the process of recalling and destroying all the bottles of bargain-basement blended whiskey. The distillery reintroduced a Four Roses Bourbon in 2002 and released its first Four Roses Single-barrel Bourbon in 2004..
7
Al Young
Al joined Four Roses in 1967 working different jobs over the years in the distillery. In 1990, he became distillery manager and 2007 became the brand ambassador. As ambassador he would travel the world and spread the word about Four Roses. Al wrote a book on the history of Four Roses, “Four Roses: The Return of a Whiskey Legend” which came out in 2010. In 2015, Al was inducted into the Whiskey Magazine Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was inducted as a member of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame.