California-based Gallo acquires major bourbon brand, bringing ownership back to U.S.
Modesto-based E.&J. Gallo Winery has purchased a major bourbon brand, bringing it back under U.S. family ownership for the first time in 83 years, according to a news release.
The agreement to acquire Four Roses Bourbon has been completed with Kirin Holdings, one of the leading food and beverage manufacturers in Asia and Oceania. Four Roses was established in 1888 and has 10 bourbon recipes.
The acquisition “strengthens Gallo’s global presence in the premium spirits category and increases the company’s footprint in Europe and Japan,” the release says. Four Roses’ existing team will remain in place.
“This is an incredibly exciting chapter for Four Roses and a meaningful milestone in our 138-year history,” Brent Elliott, Four Roses master distiller, said in a statement. “With (Gallo’s) support, we’re well positioned to build on our momentum while staying true to the quality and character that have guided us for generations.”
The deal for up to $775 million set a new record price for a Kentucky bourbon distillery, according to reporting by the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The brand’s distilling operations are in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and its warehousing operations are in Cox’s Creek, Kentucky, according to the release. Four Roses is available in over 83 countries.
Four Roses Bourbon began with a love story
In 1884, Four Roses Bourbon founder Paul Jones Jr. moved his grocery business to an office on Louisville, Kentucky’s, “Whiskey Row.” Though he claimed he began producing and selling Four Roses in the 1860s, the brand was not trademarked until 1888.
The Four Roses website says Jones Jr. became smitten by the beauty of a Southern belle and sent a proposal to her. Apparently, she replied that if her answer were “Yes,” she would wear a corsage of roses on her gown to an upcoming grand ball.
Others — including the late Four Roses brand ambassador, historian and distillery manager Al Young — say it was actually Jones Jr.’s nephew and successor Lawrence Jones who made a proposal to a woman named Mary Peabody.
“Considering Paul never married while Lawrence married Mary Peabody, I want to think it was Lawrence whose heart skipped a beat by seeing four roses on a corsage,” Bourbon Society of Baton Rouge founder David Steele wrote on a blog.
When Jones Jr. died in 1895, his nephews took over and later created the Paul Jones Company. In 1922, said company purchased one of six distilleries with a permit to sell medicinal whiskey during Prohibition, the Frankfort Distilling Company.
A major Canadian distilling company, Seagram, purchased the Frankfort Distilling Company (and Four Roses) in 1943 — a couple of years after Lawrence Jones’ death, according to the Four Roses website.
“Even though Four Roses was one of the top-selling bourbons in the U.S. during the 30s, 40s, and 50s, Seagram decided to discontinue the sale of Four Roses’ Kentucky Straight Bourbon in the United States,” the website says. “Four Roses was moved to the rapidly growing European and Asian markets, where it quickly became, and still is, a top-selling bourbon in both Europe and Japan.”
In 2002, the then-called Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd. purchased the Four Roses Bourbon brand and its production facilities. Though Kirin is based overseas, it began selling Four Roses Bourbon in the U.S. again.
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 4:59 PM with the headline "California-based Gallo acquires major bourbon brand, bringing ownership back to U.S.."
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