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The Legend of Four Roses

It began when the beauty of a Southern belle smote Paul Jones, Jr., the founder of Four Roses Bourbon. It is said that he sent a proposal to her, and she replied that if her answer were “Yes,” she would wear a corsage of roses on her gown to the upcoming grand ball.

Paul Jones waited for her answer excitedly on that night of the grand ball…when she showed up in her beautiful gown; she wore a corsage of four red roses. He later named his Bourbon “Four Roses” as a symbol of his devout passion for the lovely belle, a passion he thereafter transferred to making his beloved Four Roses Bourbon.

Years of Growth

In1884 Paul Jones. moved his thriving business to Louisville, Kentucky, where he opened an office in a section of historic Main Street called, “Whiskey Row.” Four years later, he trademarked the name Four Roses, claiming production and sales back to the 1860s.

In 1922, the Paul Jones Company purchased the Frankfort Distilling Company, one of only six distilleries granted permission to operate through prohibition to produce Bourbon for medicinal purposes.

Owing to Paul’s passionate direction and astute business sense, sales of the Bourbon flourished and Four Roses grew to be a pre-eminent brand. Long after Paul Jones, Jr., passed away, the brand continued to grow in popularity, reaching its high point as the top-selling Bourbon in the US in the decades after prohibition.

Change of Ownership

In 1943, Seagram purchased the Frankfort Distilling Co. primarily to acquire the most noted and recognized name in the business at that time – Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

Seagram, preferred to focus on blended whiskies, and soon after the purchase of Frankfort Distilling Company, introduced Four Roses American, a blended whiskey. Despite Four Roses being the top selling Bourbon in the US, Seagram made the decision to discontinue the sale of Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon in the US and sell only the blended whiskey in the US market.

The Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon was moved to the rapidly growing European and Asian markets where it quickly became the top selling Bourbon.

New Owners

In February 2002, the Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd. purchased the Four Roses brand trademark, the production facilities, as well as the warehousing and bottling facilities, and named the new acquisition Four Roses Distillery LLC.

By continuing the devotion for product quality with which Paul Jones, Jr. created his original Bourbon, the Distillery has rekindled the popularity of Four Roses in key European and Japanese markets. Now back in the US after a lengthy absence, Four Roses is quickly earning a reputation as one of the finest names in the Bourbon world.

National Historic Distillery

The Four Roses distillery is located in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky on the banks of the Salt River in Anderson County. The distillery has a unique Spanish Mission-style architecture rarely seen in Kentucky and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Four Roses Distillery
1224 Bonds Mill Road - Hwy. 513W
Lawrenceburg, Ky. 40342
502-839-3436,