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Four Roses Small Batch Select vs Maker's Mark
Four Roses Small Batch Select and Maker's Mark sit on opposite sides of a familiar divide: an old-guard, rye-forward classic versus an old-guard, wheat-forward classic.
Key Specifications
| Feature | Four Roses Small Batch Select | Maker's Mark |
|---|---|---|
| Type / Style | High-Rye Bourbon | Wheated Bourbon |
| Mash Bill | 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley | 70% corn, 16% wheat, 14% malted barley |
| Age | 6 years | No age statement |
| Proof | 104 proof (52% ABV) +14 proof | 90 proof (45% ABV) |
| Approx. Price 1 | ~$55 – $65 | ~$25 – $32 ~$32 less |
- US shelf prices as of 2026-08; they vary widely by market.
AG’s Rating and AG’s Notes
Four Roses Small Batch Select
Not rated yetNo notes yet.
Maker's Mark
Not rated yetNo notes yet.
Flavor Profile
Four Roses Small Batch Select Maker's Mark
Axis by axis, biggest gap first
spice 7/2 spice: Four Roses Small Batch Select 7 out of 10, Maker's Mark 2 out of 10
fruit 8/4 fruit: Four Roses Small Batch Select 8 out of 10, Maker's Mark 4 out of 10
heat 6/3 heat: Four Roses Small Batch Select 6 out of 10, Maker's Mark 3 out of 10
sweetness 6/8 sweetness: Four Roses Small Batch Select 6 out of 10, Maker's Mark 8 out of 10
oak 6/4 oak: Four Roses Small Batch Select 6 out of 10, Maker's Mark 4 out of 10
nuttiness 3/3 nuttiness: Four Roses Small Batch Select 3 out of 10, Maker's Mark 3 out of 10
Flavor Profile Differences
Rye spice is the dividing line here.
- Four Roses Small Batch Select: Six recipes, non-chill-filtered, at 104 proof, and the most complete thing Four Roses makes at a normal price. The house fruit character with enough proof and texture to carry it.
- Maker's Mark: The bottle that made wheated bourbon mainstream. Soft, sweet, and deliberately low on spice and oak, with baked bread and honey doing most of the work. Consistency is its real feature.
Which One Should You Choose?
- Go with Four Roses Small Batch Select if you want the fullest expression of the Four Roses fruit-forward style without chasing an allocated bottle with more proof behind it.
- Go with Maker's Mark if you want a reliably sweet, low-spice wheater that is easy to find and easy to drink at a significantly lower price point.
Best enjoyed neat, rocks (Four Roses Small Batch Select); neat, rocks, cocktails, highball (Maker's Mark).