Four Roses Yellow Label vs Jim Beam: Discover the Better!

Discover the differences between Four Roses Yellow Label vs Jim Beam in this in-depth comparison and decide which bourbon is better for You!

Four Roses Yellow Label

Nose	Caramel, honey, pear
Palate	Caramel, apple, cinnamon, citrus, oak
Finish	Long, ripe fruit
Alcohol content	80 proof (40% ABV)
How to drink	Rocks, cocktails
Similar to	Evan Williams, Jack Daniel’s, Maker’s Mark

The nose is sweet with hints of honey and pear.

On the palate, the Four Roses is sweet at first giving way to a crisp apple flavor with hints of citrus, cinnamon and a tad of oak.

The finish in long, rich is fruity notes, with a bit of oak spice and very little warmth.

The body is lacking in texture, but offers very little heat and almost no oak spice making an easy sipper.

It drinks OK neat or rocks although the lack of proof does not make it a good mixer. As a general rule stick to high proof spirits if you want a tasty cocktail.

Four Roses is quite competent, it does not have any memorable or remarkable note but nothing off-putting in a price range in which bourbons tend to have rough edges.

This is the right bourbon for newbies as it offers a nice tasting profile along a price that makes it quite attractive.

Learn more about this brand by reading my post: Discover the Best Four Roses Whiskey where I rank every bottle.

Perfect pour to start the journey before tackling more complex releases.

There are a few facts worth knowing about the Four Roses:

• Bottled at 80 proof.

• This bourbon is made from a blend of ten different whiskies, all are distilled and aged at the Four Roses Distillery.

• Five of the bourbons are made from a mash bill of 75% corn, 20% rye and 5% malted barley, while the other five are made from a mash of 60% corn, 35% rye and 5% malted barley.

• The distillery utilizes five different proprietary yeast cultures to ferment the mash bills.

• The bourbons are aged individually in new, American oak casks in a single story warehouse minimizing weather variations providing a a more consistent aging process.

• The distillery was established in 1910 in Lawrenceburg, KY and is part of the National Register of Historic Places.

• Four Roses belongs to the Kirin Brewery Company of Japan.

Jim Beam

Nose	Caramel, vanilla, hay, corn
Palate	Toasty oak, peanut, vanilla, black pepper, oak spice
Finish	Short-lived, caramel, oak spice
Alcohol content	80 proof (40% ABV)
How to drink	Cocktails
Similar to	Wild Turkey, Jack Daniel’s, Buffalo Trace

The nose is rich in corn, vanilla and butterscotch with a slight whiff of ethanol coming behind.

On the palate, Jim Beam feels thin with very little body. Flavor has some of the same sweet corn, vanilla and butterscotch hints, along black pepper, followed by a hint of acetone.

You also get the traditional peanut note noticeable on every whiskey crafted at the Jim Beam Distillery (Booker’s, Knob Creek, Old Grand Dad, Old Crow, Basil Hayden’s).

The finish is short and warm, leaving some sweetness, a bitter note from the oak spice and black pepper behind.

Jim Beam (Review) is a serviceable whiskey that comes handy when looking for something cheap to make cocktails  but this is not something to drink either neat or use a sipper.

This bourbon is completely unremarkable, with no body, sweet at first but mostly warm and peppery. Jim Beam is not a good bourbon.

In summary, the Jim Beam Bourbon is a good mixer, but not good on its own. Just too harsh and peppery to make a decent sipper.

There are a few facts worth knowing about Jim Beam:

• Bottled at 80 proof (40% ABV).

• The mash bill is 75% corn, 13% rye and 12% malted barley.

• Jim Beam ages for 4 years in newly charred American white oak barrels.

• Jim Beam was founded by Jacob Beam a German immigrant in 1795 and is now property of Suntory Holdings, a Japanese conglomerate with an extensive portfolio in the drinks business.

• Suntory owns a zillion brands such as Sauza Tequila, Canadian Club Whisky, Laphroaig, Hibiki among many others.

Four Roses vs Jim Beam: Price comparison

Prices are approximate and stated in USD:

Whiskey	Price
Four Roses Yellow Label (750ml)	$25
Jim Beam White Label* (1L)	$24

Four Roses vs Jim Beam: Which is better?

Four Roses is a better tasting bourbon than Jim Beam

Whiskey	Four Roses	Jim Beam
Nose	✅
Body
Palate	✅
Finish	✅
Value	✅

• Four Roses doesn’t have any off-putting notes which in this category is a major win as most bottom-dwellers tend to have a bit of roughness.

• This is a sweet, easy drinking bourbon ideal for newbies looking to get baptized into bourbons or for people looking for an affordable non-challenging night cap.

• Jim Beam has some weird notes making it harsh.