Head to head · same category, comparable price
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon vs Four Roses Small Batch
No flavour axis separates these two, so the choice is price and occasion.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Four Roses Small Batch | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Bourbon | Bourbon |
| Origin | Kentucky, United States | Kentucky, United States |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | 45% ABV | 45% ABV |
| Cask | New charred American oak | New charred oak barrel |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £32 | £34 |
| Per 10cl | £4.57 | £4.86 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £102 | £108 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both Kentucky whiskies, from different distilleries.
Neither carries an age statement, so neither discloses its youngest spirit.
Cask as each producer describes it: Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon in new charred american oak, Four Roses Small Batch in new charred oak barrel.
Neither states chill filtration.
Colour: Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon silent, Four Roses Small Batch natural colour.
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Four Roses Small Batch is £2.00 dearer a bottle than Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
Strength keeps that ordering: £102 a litre of pure alcohol for Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon against £108.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon is 5th cheapest and Four Roses Small Batch 7th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Four Roses Small Batch |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet | 7 | 6 |
| Fruity | 5 | 5 |
| Spicy | 6 | 7 |
| Woody | 6 | 6 |
| Sherried | 1 | 1 |
| Cereal | 4 | 4 |
| Oily | 6 | 6 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is sweet, 7 against 6.
Identical on peaty, fruity, woody, sherried, cereal and oily.
Each bottle in its own right
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Brown sugar, vanilla and a clean pepper finish. The bourbon benchmark for the money.
Full record →Four Roses Small Batch
Red fruit and rye spice, cleanly made. One of the few bourbons that tells you its recipe.
Four Roses is one of the very few American distillers to publish actual mash bills: this blends recipes B (60% corn / 35% rye / 5% barley) and E (75% / 20% / 5%). Its single-storey rack warehouses vary only about 8°F from top rack to bottom.
Full record →Both listed for value; only Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon for old fashioned and first bourbon; only Four Roses Small Batch for cocktails and transparency.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon and Four Roses Small Batch: buffalotracedistillery.com, fourrosesbourbon.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.