Interestingly enough, the company was also bottling and selling hand sanitizer during the pandemic. If these famous individuals had more options, would they have still picked Old Crow? Thirty One Whiskey writes that the name is supposed to represent the two stars on the Louisville city flag. They usually disappear into cocktails or mixed drinks. Redditors don't recommend it. But remember, taste is subjective, and at the end of the day, your rankings are the only ones that count. For more than 50 years, bourbon has been recognized as a reward for hard work and a celebration of individuality. In fact, it's just the opposite. The whiskey spends around four to five years mellowing before its blended, proofed down, and bottled. Sounds like this bourbon is stuck up a creek without a paddle. This is one of the best skippable whiskeys on this list. You would think this spirit would be big, bold, and, live up to the hype. So they blend it out into the cheap stuff. I know that sounds flippant, but every major distillery has a few expressions that lurk on the bottom shelf in plastic bottles with screwtop caps. Somehow, you'll get everything from cherry to ginger to wasabi to brown butter, with a hint of grassiness. Despite its roots in Kentucky, Four Roses was not sold in the United States for some time, but instead became popular in Europe and Asia, according toThe Spruce Eats. One Reddit usersums it up nicely by saying "There's nothing 'gentlemanly' about it." While whiskey can be made anywhere, bourbon can only be made in the United States, according to Distiller, and its mash bill (grain composition) must contain at least 51% corn, a grain native to the Americas. Maybe it's a sign that this bourbon needs to be locked away. The Willet family lineage and distilling experience extend back multiple centuries, but it was only in 1936 that theWillet Distillery was established on the family's property, three years after the end of prohibition. Its balance and wide appeal are what puts Knob Creek near the top of our list. It's a mainstream list, for sure. While experimenting is cool and all, it's not cool to try and act like the bourbon that has been aging for 24 hours is going to taste just as good as the whiskey that's been aging for five or more years. Paying homage to Kentucky is a good start. And you're also going to want a nice, greasy meal the next morning to help you with that hangover. Until then, it was famed for being the drink of choice of President Grant, back in the 1870s which gave it a lot to hang its hat on as a brand. It's also known for its distinctive flavor, due to its unusual mash bill. 9. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, Angel's Envy takes pride in creating small-batch spirits that are finished in one of four different casks: port, rum, sherry, and tawny. Graham Files, veteran bartender and co-owner of Someday in Portland, stocks Jim Beam in his well and recommends it for the home bar, praising its . As noted byThe Whiskey Wash, their flagship expression, Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon, offers vanilla and spice on the nose and palate without being overly sweet or cloying. And given the other options at this price point, there are definitely better spirits available to scratch your rye whiskey itch.". Ultimately, the whiskeys produced at this distillery tend to taste incredibly young or like "chewing on a yew branch" (via YouTube). To start, Jim Beam is not bad. No, Widow Jane is not Basil Hayden's elderly aunt. Its like its in an entirely different spirits category than Old Crow. Perhaps not being able to previously practice the fine art of distilling is what the tasters pick up. It's cringe-worthy no matter how you look at it. As The Bourbon Bard noted, "It's versatile with the fruit notes lending themselves to summer drinking and the spice coming through for colder winter nights." The Whiskey Shelf noted that it "has some of the quintessential bourbon flavors, but overall there's not a lot going on," and Breaking Bourbon said its "straightforward and approachable flavor profile" makes it a "good base for cocktails.". This delicious and smooth bourbon has slight aromas of dark honey and brown butter. Wild Turkey Rare Breed. Because theyre not going to just dump a barrel of whiskey into the gutter, right? Today, the brand produces numerous expressions of bourbon, from its young, sweet Original Bourbon to its Green Label, Black Label, Rye, and other varieties. Best Budget Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Koval Bourbon Best Splurge Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon Whiskey Best Bourbon and Rye Whiskey Hybrid: Redemption Straight. "It's fun to throw into blind tastings," another user adds. Its versatile, cheap, and damn good for what it is. Here's the thing. It goes without saying when a bourbon provokes a description like "vomit inducing turpentine," you should probably think twice before investing $50 for a bottle. As 31 Whiskey noted, "Basil Hayden's is to Old Grand-Dad as Acura is to Honda." Price: ~$10. Theres soooooooo much bourbon out there right now that it cant all be great, the best, or even very good. To put a finer point on it, Id be lying if I said I loved every bourbon I tasted. Getty Images for Bulleit Frontier Whiskey 1. The end is warm but not hot. When someone says that the "cherry flavor is way too loud. And despite its eyebrow-raising alcohol content (100 proof, or 50% ABV), it feels warm on the tongue, not abrasively hot. On the nose, it provides immersive caramel corn and toasted wood notes with a hint of buttery toffee. Named for an 18th-century Kentucky settler who was allegedly Kentucky's first distiller (an impossible claim to prove, according toThe Whiskey Jug), Evan Williams in reality has no relationship to its namesake. 1. Don Lockwood Whiskey Cocktail. The palate follows suit with simple notes of vanilla, caramel, and dried corn dominating the palate. I think you can skip Old Forester 100 (which is fine for cocktails) and go straight to Old Forester 1897 Bottled-in-Bond. In response to a question about some serious shade being thrown at the company, bourbon fanatics on Reddit chimed in with their two cents. This 92 proof straight bourbon whiskey hails from Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery, located in a little town in Hudson Valley, New York. #7. The Whiskey Shelf even compared it to Larceny. This Heaven Hill bourbon is standard bourbon made with its iconic mash bill of 78 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley, and ten percent rye (the same as Evan Williams and Elijah Craig). This delayed batch proved to have a winning flavor, which the current distillers reproduced via a secondary six-to-nine-month maturation in heavily charred barrels. The Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company makes beers, hard teas, and canned cocktails in addition to its bourbon line. And according toBreaking Bourbon, the even higher-proof (120 proof) Knob Creek Single Barrel Bourbon "is really easy to love," offering a similarly well-balanced profile, smooth with a long-lasting complex finish of cinnamon, oak, and leather. Shipping is a great deal: $15 flat rate under $200; free shipping for orders over $200. And while some bourbon fans love this rough-and-ready style (Lynyrd Skynyrd gave the brand a shout-out in on of their songs, as noted byWhiskey Reviewer), it's definitely not for everyone, which is why we're putting it low on our list. Reviewers on Flaviar state that the juice is weak with little flavor, with a hint of mud in the background. Best Expression of the Category: New Southern Revival Brand Jimmy Red Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Jim Beam is not only one of the biggest-selling bourbon brands, but it is one of the oldest. At least it's only around $15, so you're not killing your wallet. 3 Might Make You An Emotional Wreck, How Bail Bag Helps The Formerly Incarcerated Get Back On Their Feet, Advice From A Finance Pro For How To Survive (And Thrive) In This Economy, Why We Shouldnt Forget About The Game Stop Short Squeeze, Five Cities Where Latinx Street Art Is Alive And Well, Travel Budgeting Pro Gabby Beckford Shares Her Best Financial Advice For 2023 Adventures, We Blind Tested Our Favorite Fast Food Double Cheeseburgers & Crowned A New Champ, How To Actually, Truly Buy Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon For Real, Were Picking The Very Best Air Jordan IIIs Of All Time, In Control: Quentin Grimes Is Writing His Own Story With The Knicks, Amanda Renner On Getting To Dig Deeper With Player Interviews At The Masters, Charlotte Flair Continues To Carve Out My Own Path Ahead Of WrestleMania 39, Maxo Decries The Face Of Stone Portrayed By A Fake Friend For UPROXX Sessions, Talib Kweli & Cormega On The Realness II, Nas, The Firm, Large Pro, Queens, Luh Tyler Goes Behind The Video For His Law & Order Visual, Sandra Mejia Is Bringing The Healing Power Of Plants To The Green Desert Of South Central Los Angeles, The 50 Best Bourbon Whiskeys Of 2021, Ranked, Every Winning Bourbon From Our 2021 Taste Tests, Blind Tasted And Re-Ranked, The 100 Best Whiskeys Our Head Drinks Writer Tasted In 2021, We Blind Tasted A Whole Bunch Of $30-60 Bourbons To See If Any Could Beat Weller, The Best Ten-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskeys, Tasted Blind And Ranked. It allows them to customize their mash bill to fit their taste, since different grains produce different flavors. It's most definitely a science and craft that takes extensive knowledge, time, practice, and patience to master. Micher's 10-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon The 10 years in the barrel were more than enough for Micher's to mature and develop a rich flavor profile. Art of the Spirits Whiskey Cask Strength "Frogman" Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The nose is sweet, with notes of honey, caramel, vanilla and just a whiff of ethanol. Just get an Evan Williams White Label. Named for a prominent 18th century distiller (the same one pictured on the label of Old Grand-Dad, according to Malt Review), Basil Hayden's is produced in the same production distillery as Old Grand-Dad and Jim Beam, according to 31 Whiskey. Wow, this is thin on the nose. The distillery's website states that this bourbon is aged a minimum of three years and has a mash bill consisting of 95% corn (100% from New York) and 5% malted barley. It's not memorable. Perhaps being the first at something isn't always a good thing. The nose is a mix of yellow masa, damp cedar, wildflowers, and a hint of vanilla extract next to fresh mint leaves. Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months. If you have even a passing familiarity with bourbon, you'd probably recognize its distinctive square bottle and red wax-dipped cap from across the room. Four Roses Single Barrel: Overall best bourbon of 2023 Knob Creek 9 Year Old: Best bourbon under $50 Pappy Van Winkle's 23 Year Family Reserve: Best high-end bottle of bourbon Elijah Craig Small Batch: Smoothest Bourbon Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon: Best Bourbon for beginners Old Forester Classic 86 Proof: Best value Bourbon 11 min read. Produced and distilled at Beam Distillery, Old Crow Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the least expensive option on this list, available at around $10 for a 1.75-liter bottle with a discount (via BevMo.com ). Check out GAYOT's 10 Top Bourbons from the least expensive offerings to the priciest bottles. Purchase: $65 Style: Cask-strength high-rye ABV: 61.7% Tasting Notes: Vanilla, orange peel, maple, nutmeg, rye spice Barrell Bourbon Vantage The barrels are a minimum of five years old when theyre plucked from the warehouses, blended, brought down to 80 proof, and bottled. Apparently, to oneRedditor, it's Willet Pot Still. So how does it taste? And while not as well-known as reputable mid-range brands like Maker's Mark, it's still worth investigating. The nose is all about the nuts and fruit with a trail mix vibe next to more standard notes of vanilla, caramel, and oak. This whiskey is aged for four and a half years in new American charred oak barrels. Nikka Whiskey from the Barrel - Never mind that all whiskey comes from a barrel, this complex Japanese blend is a delightful exploration of fruit, wood, and sweet vanilla. This is light but also simple. Reddit users say point-blank that Garrison Brothers is stupidly overpriced. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire 14 days after. Like a stranger in the night, it's best to just stay away from this one. It's a balanced, austere bourbon, with a sophisticated nose that Malt described as "ferric, green and vegetal notes balanced against warm, very subtly woody vanilla." Im not mad at it but dont really see the point either. Hudson Bright Lights, Big Bourbon Whiskey FAQs Final Thoughts Top 13 Worst Cheap Bourbons 13. Thats just math. Unfortunately, you can't make a wish and ask for your $50 back. Weller's 12-Year-Old Bourbon is one of the best money and time can buy. Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. It mixes well, and it's a decent sipper. Bourbon aficionados will tell you that when purchasing a worthwhile whiskey, you should never be swayed by appearance and you should alwaysdo your research. Meanwhile, customers vent their frustration for succumbing to shiny object syndrome the bottle looked cool. It's sad but true. As a wheater, it tastes similar to Maker's or W. L. Weller: mellow, with hints of citrus and tree fruit. But unfortunately, this spirit doesn't seem to live up to its trademark slogan: "You never forget your first sip of Basil Hayden." Its aged two more years and only proofed down to 100 proof. It's called common sense. One Distiller reviewer says, "nose isethanol and nail-polish remover." 1792 Sweet Wheat - $35. Don't fall prey to the fancy packaging. So what makes Old Grand-Dad distinctive? Whiskey Thief Uncut Unfiltered is described by the brand as having caramel and honey notes, a woody edge, and a hint of white pepper. The bourbon is made from a mash bill of four grainscorn, wheat, rye, and barleyall grown locally. Brought to you by the Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company (not to be confused with Lexington Bourbon, the ones who brought you the bottle with a horse on it), Town Branch Kentucky Straight can only be described as a waste of money. Every other aspect nose, palate, and finish was horrible because the bourbon had an "overwhelming taste of leather and tobacco and a lot of bitterness." Its stellar whiskey, albeit from Tennessee and not Kentucky. What tastes like creamed corn blended with scorched plastic, but comes in a really cool genie bottle? One Redditor said Town Branch's unpleasant flavor earned it the nickname "hand cleaner." Whether or not this is worth your while depends on your fondness for Old Grand-Dad. This whiskey was also rated 95 points in 2012 by The Tasting Paneland won a silver medalat the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2016. Tasting Notes: Spice, sweet tobacco, orange, mint. They claimed that the bourbon is poor quality for the price you pay and that it "doesn't even come close to holding its own against cheaper competition." This makes perfect sense because the bourbon is named after Dr. James Crow, a Scottish physician and chemist who invented the sour mash process, an important step in distillation (via Whiskey Raw). It has a lush toffee sweetness and dark chocolate with hints of vanilla, fudge, nougat, and molasses. To get here, it is a gorgeous drive through horse farms and rolling, bluegrass Kentucky hills. As one commenter on The Whiskey Jug says, it "tastes like someone spilled vinegar in sweet whiskey." For $13, you can get some Very Old Barton from the same distillery. 5) Best Single Barrel Bourbon - Henry McKenna. This suggests their tried-and-true middle-shelf expressions may be a safer bet for most tastes than their limited-edition experiments. The brand has even purchased its first warehouse for storage and is well on their way to filling it all up. Per Saucey, back in the 1920s, physicians could legally prescribe it for conditions like high blood pressure and pneumonia, and this bourbon tastes about as good as medicine. When it comes to this bourbon, save yourself a trip to the dentist. It sounds comparable to taking a mouthful of whiskey mixed with Listerine (At least you'll kill all the germs, right?). Health & Fitness. Barton doesnt disclose the mash bill but it is aged at least four years. The juice in this bottle is from Buffalo Traces Mash #1, which has a scant amount of barley and rye next to mostly corn. George T. Stagg comes in dense and robust-bodied texture. Bourbon, by definition, has to be at least 51% corn and most distillers we've seen hug that fairly closely. Best Overall Bourbon: Knob Creek 12 Best Wheated Bourbon: Garrison Brothers Small Batch Best Barrel-Proof Bourbon: Larceny Barrel Proof Best Cask-Finished Bourbon: Bardstown Bourbon. Courtesy. Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The juice is a bourbon blend thats a minimum of four years old. The whiskey is made from 60% corn, 20% heirloom wheat, 10% heirloom rye, and 10% heirloom malted . The company has been distilling for 200 years, so it has really racked up quite an impressive reputation, with its Cask Strength release in 2013 dubbed Best Spirit in the World. Old Thompson American. Produced and distilled at Beam Distillery, Old Crow Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the least expensive option on this list, available at around $10 for a 1.75-liter bottle with a discount (via BevMo.com). It's from the land of frigid cold and really big lakes (Minnesota). Clyde May's Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Colonel EH Taylor Old Fashioned Sour Mash - $24,719. The juice in the bottle is a year younger than a typical Jim Beam bourbon so three-ish years and it is cut way down to 80 proof for bottling. But maybe consumers' expectations are simply too high? Its also a pretty good shooter without too much burn but not much else. It was intended from the start to be a premium brand a radical idea at the time when bourbon was seen as a working person's drink. Given Bulleits dismal history with the LGBTQ and BIPOC communities, Im not going to recommend any other expression from the brand. It's made by Buffalo Trace using the same mash as their namesake bourbon, yet aged for 10 years. You're better than that. Despite whatever institutional turmoil it has endured, Barton 1792 produces low-key, understated expressions. Whoever Old Grand-Dad was, he didn't pull his punches. PerBreaking Bourbon, it features the expected caramel, toffee, and vanilla notes on the nose, followed by a hit of spice, oak, and butterscotch. Over two centuries, the icon has churned out incredible releases, been named the best distillery in the world and even managed to create its own line of cigars.Sure, the distillery is known for producing legendary drams like Pappy Van Winkle and WL Weller, the stock standard release is . The whisky is then blended and proofed down to a very manageable 86 proof. Imagine Kentucky Chewing on that. Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Four Roses Four Roses Four in the title, but the magic number here is 10. Over on Ranker folks cast a whopping 54,000 votes, and a clear top ten bourbons emerged. Meanwhile,Thirty One Whiskey explains that Jefferson doesn't distill anything the company just receives bourbon from other sources, then labels and sells it. Flavor is sweet at first, with a hint of old leather although it has some oak char bitterness, but nothing too severe. Well, think again this venerable bottom-shelf brand deserves a lot more respect than it's been getting. It's also flavorful, for the most part. The palate is largely the same with a sense of watered-down apple juice, a hint more of that vanilla, some alcohol burn (almost inexplicably), and a touch of chocolate-covered cherries dipped in water. Another chimed in that it was like drinking straight maple syrup. A Look at Today's Top 10 By Josh Jackson April 17 . It's a mainstream list, for sure. Arguably the world's best bourbon whiskey, Buffalo Trace is serious value for money. It's one of the most complex bourbons on this list, so it makes for a great buy if you like high-rye bourbons. It actually dates back to 1879, after which a series of ownership changes resulted in its current name and product line. Ranking The Big Bourbon Brands, From Worst To Best. Best for Cocktails: Four Roses Bourbon Yellow Label or . 10. Literally tastes like dirt." SLB Basement Bourbon Bar goes into detail about this regrettable purchase, saying that it is very grainy, bitter, thin, and young, and the alcohol burn isn't anything to joke about.

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