> You can also check out GAYOT's: - Best Bourbons under $40 for budget . Its palate is sweet with notes of berries and apricot with . Across the web, bourbon reviewers use almost identical adjectives to describe Basil Hayden's Kentucky Straight Bourbon. The mash bill is mid-range rye with 18 percent of the grain next to 72 percent corn and a final ten percent of malted barley (the same bill for all their bourbon). Overall, its fine if youre making a bourbon and Coke or any highball really. Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months. One Redditor said Town Branch's unpleasant flavor earned it the nickname "hand cleaner." According to the distillery's tasting notes,this 94 proof bourbon smells of "vanilla lemon cake" and tastes like caramel, vanilla, citrus, and spices. Thats just math. The end is warm but not hot. The juice in this bottle is from Buffalo Traces Mash #1, which has a scant amount of barley and rye next to mostly corn. It's a mainstream list, for sure. 31 Whiskey called their middle-shelf Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey "a smooth and delicious bourbon" with a balanced mouthfeel and finish. Those who aren't knowledgeable about bourbon might be led to believe that a whiskey thief is someone who breaks into a rackhouse and escapes into the night with a full barrel of juice. This cocktail mixes Scotch and/or Bourbon with maple syrup and bitters for a smoky-yet-sweet drink. 10. Human beings like to think that an inflated price and a striking bottle means it must be good, right? The Michter's range includes bourbon, rye, American whiskey, and sour mash whiskey. This is because of its popularity; the brand simply can't make enough of the stuff to satisfy its thirsty fans. So how are they? 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. Bourbon drinkers unanimously agree thatPaddleford Creekis pretty vanilla. 11 min read. Sounds like most of the finances for this experimental spirit were put to really good use in the marketing and branding department. Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. 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. The juice is aged in a fairly heavily charred oak barrel for an undisclosed amount of time (the youngest barrel is likely older than four years). Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Four Roses Four Roses Four in the title, but the magic number here is 10. Baby Bourbon (version 1.0) was groundbreaking in that it was the first legal whiskey made in New York since prohibition (via DrinkUpNY). I think my wife's comments sum it up perfectly: "You can't make me put more in my mouth.". 9. The term "Bottled-In-Bond" means that the liquor must be the product of one. The juice is a bourbon blend thats a minimum of four years old. This introductory juice from Four Roses is a blend of all ten of their whiskeys. 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. His friends loved it and kept begging him for more "wild turkey bourbon" and the rest is history. It mixes well, and it's a decent sipper. The taste is classic bourbon with watery hints of leather, spice, and cornmeal next to vanilla extract, caramel, and old buttered popcorn. That's what the folks at Jim Beam call it when you take a big gulp of bourbon and move it around your mouth to get all the flavor nuances (via The Bourbon Room). 10. To get here, it is a gorgeous drive through horse farms and rolling, bluegrass Kentucky hills. 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. One taster compared this bottle to "grass clippings and gasoline aged in turpentine barrels," which doesn't sound like anything we'd want to put in our mouths (via Distiller). It also explains why the label has a picture of a brown horse on the front. Rebelwill make you want to rebel against the Kentucky bourbon distillery that makes this juice (that's Lux Row Distillers if you were wondering). In bourbon's infancy (you know, its "Early Times"), it seemed to be completely permissible for whiskeys to be a little rough around the edges. However, SLB Basement Bourbon Bar (via YouTube) laments paying $80 for a bottle, claiming that it was a stupid waste of money to spend on a bottle with a good story. It absolutely nails the classic Wild Turkey flavor profile and perhaps more importantly, finds the perfect balance between its fruity and sweet notes against its aged oak flavors. Youve earned good whiskey, so lets get into which bottles to skip from the big Kentucky distilleries! A beguiling blend of straight bourbon whiskeys (5, 6, 7 and 10-year-old barrels) distilled and aged in TN, KY and IN, and bottled at cask strength (115.34 proof). Our Top Bourbon Picks Best Overall: Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon Best for Sipping: Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon Best for Whiskey Sour: Wild Turkey 101 Best for Manhattan: Breckenridge. 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. Bourbon can take a number of forms with vastly different personalities, but most critics and casual tasters agree that no matter what the brand or expression, a good bourbon should have a few fundamental characteristics: A caramel sweetness, a distinct taste of oak in the background, a flavor that matches and complements its initial aroma while balancing out the potentially overwhelming burn from the alcohol, and a pleasant mouthfeel and finish. Britannica writes that the art of distilling has been around since 800 BCE. The palate follows suit with simple notes of vanilla, caramel, and dried corn dominating the palate. Elijah Craig's Barrel Proof expressions are regularly in the running for best bottle of the year, according to The Bourbon Bard. A popular marketing strategy is for companies to offer product lines and brands at different price points. It was neither founded by anyone named Barton nor was it founded in 1792 (rather, that date refers to the year of Kentucky's statehood, according to Malt). Perhaps being the first at something isn't always a good thing. Meanwhile, customers vent their frustration for succumbing to shiny object syndrome the bottle looked cool. The grains are then cooked to form the mash. Bourbon, that caramel-colored brown liquor, with the unmistakable nose and palate of smoke, vanilla, caramel and molasses, is a bona fide crowd pleaser. The Worst Bourbon Whiskeys From All The Major Kentucky Distilleries, The Best Coachella 2023 Performances Were Reflections Of Pure Joy, My (Non-Anonymous) Ballot For The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, HBOs White House Plumbers Delivers An Absurd Historical Snapshot And A Knockout Performance From Justin Theroux, The Rundown: Ted Lasso Has Created A Delightful Little I Think You Should Leave Conundrum, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. The Bourbon Bard lauds it as "the bourbon that made me love the actual taste of bourbon," and Breaking Bourbon called it "instantly likeable and pleasant with notes of caramel, honey, orange, and vanilla" with a nose revealing "an underlying layer of oak and mint." Basil Hayden's is such a case. Was the technique of aging bourbon in charred oak barrels, the signature step responsible for bourbon's unique flavor, invented by Elijah Craig in 1789, the Tarascon brothers in 1807, or, more prosaically, the improvisation of numerous distillers who charred the interiors of used fish barrels to deodorize and sterilize them? While 95% of all bourbon is made in Kentucky, the spirit can be and is crafted elsewhere. The finish is pretty watery it kind of reminds me of hose water on a hot day with the same beats for vanilla-caramel-corn-and-wood barely peaking in over the proofing water. 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. The family's unusual longevity as owners is presumably due in part to its roots in pharmaceuticals, which enabled them to pivot to medicinal alcohol during Prohibition, keeping the distillery alive until better times returned. Perhaps this overwhelming scent would be permissible if it was marketed as such, but other reviews state that it's sadly just an average bottle of booze that's also extremely harsh and bitter. Which only made you want to hate her more. It's one of the most complex bourbons on this list, so it makes for a great buy if you like high-rye bourbons. Now in its 29th year of production, Knob Creek is an unapologetic, full-flavored bourbon long-aged and barreled up at 100 proof. Best bourbon for an old fashioned: Wild Turkey 101 Kentucky straight bourbon, 23.40 19.89 Best bourbon whisky with caramel notes: Wild Turkey Rare Breed Kentucky straight bourbon, 74.99 Best spicy bourbon: Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select Kentucky straight bourbon, 35.95 29.95 Its producer, Heaven Hill Distillery, wasn't founded until 1935, according toMalt. Apparently not, because it's also pretty thin. Old Fitzgerald Prime Bourbon 4. So how does it taste? 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. Hirsch The Horizon Bourbon. The first Booker's Bourbon batch of 2023, Charlie's Batch, is an intense and extra-caramelized delight, one of the best Booker's batches. In short, Barton 1792 is nothing to write home about, but it offers solidly made bourbon that hits the right notes for those with traditional tastes. This universality is achieved by letting the juice rest in deeply charred oak for six to seven years before its cut down to 81 proof for bottling. All that's known about this whiskey is that the liquid parties involved are aged for a minimum of four years, and that a proportion of the Stitzel-Weller bourbon distilled prior to 1992 is also mixed in. 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." Union Horse White Bourbon Whiskey 3. This 92 proof straight bourbon whiskey hails from Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery, located in a little town in Hudson Valley, New York. When you think of Wild Turkey, do you picture an unshaven guy sitting by himself in a bar, muttering at the TV and nursing a tumbler of the stuff before shuffling off to a depressing studio apartment somewhere? One Redditor said, "It's seriously the only bottle I've poured down a drain." But Whiskey Wash called their Yellow Label expression "the little black dress of bourbonappropriate for everything." 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. Celebrity Workouts Ab Workouts Leg Workouts Total-Body Workouts Arms Workouts Chest . Though KOVAL has received over 100 international awards, perhaps it should focus its energy on perfecting one spirit instead of tackling multiple products all at once. Produced by Western Spirits Beverage Company, a bottle of Lexington Bourbon will run you around $42, as sold on Caskers. The distillery's website describes aromas of subtle vanilla, raisins, maple syrup, and toasted nuts. Established in 1935, Heaven Hill Distillery is the creator of Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon, a small batch, wheated bourbon that comes out three times a year. No, Widow Jane is not Basil Hayden's elderly aunt. Its stellar whiskey, albeit from Tennessee and not Kentucky. Someone thought it was a good idea to hook up withTabasco brand hot sauce and bottle and sell the offspring for around $25. Simply because the goal of this distillery TerrePURE Spirits, alias Terreesentia is to reduce the aging time a whiskey needs from years to hours (via Thirty One Whiskey). There's also a sizeable ethanol burn, which ended up leaving some bourbon aficionados in gastric distress. Bourbon aficionados will tell you that when purchasing a worthwhile whiskey, you should never be swayed by appearance and you should alwaysdo your research. Don't expect to impress your friends by pouring from a bottle of Paddleford Creek (even though the label is pretty darn cool which is all it seems to have going for it), because, as one observer on Distiller states, it "just doesn't do much of anything." It has a lush toffee sweetness and dark chocolate with hints of vanilla, fudge, nougat, and molasses. 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." A1A Ale Works Restaurant & Taproom. "My new favorite sipper, and one of the best bourbons I have ever tasted, hands down," says Anthony Vitacca, an award-winning bartender based in California. And that something is offering up decent bottles at affordable prices. The List: Best Bourbon, According To The Experts. It'll be interesting to see how Widow Jane evolves once its own distilled products start to enter the picture. This bourbon is aged six to eight years and has won multiple awards, including Whiskey of the Year by Whiskey Advocate in 2020 (via Kentucky Bourbon Trail). And given the other options at this price point, there are definitely better spirits available to scratch your rye whiskey itch.". Naming your bourbon "Two Stars" doesn't seem like that great of a move. Aged not less than 15 years, George T. Stagg is a rare bottle found only in high-end whiskey bars. A Look at Today's Top 10 By Josh Jackson April 17 . That being said, looks and price tags can be deceiving, and making choices based on these elements can easily get you into trouble. Review Summary: Rare Breed is really spicy at first but has a sweet, long finish. Redditors don't recommend it. To that end, Im naming ten bottles of Kentucky bourbon that I think you should avoid. The Private Release program has exploded, there is now a Gold Label tier for premium bourbon and rye whiskey and the named releases keep on coming after the success of Dovetail in late 2018.. 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 . 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. They usually disappear into cocktails or mixed drinks. Despite whatever institutional turmoil it has endured, Barton 1792 produces low-key, understated expressions. The whiskey is made from 60% corn, 20% heirloom wheat, 10% heirloom rye, and 10% heirloom malted . The truth may be lost to time, but many of the original family-owned distilleries from the 1700s are still going strong, albeit under new corporate ownership in some cases. 10. It must be encoded somewhere in our DNA who doesn't like owning attractive and expensive items? Making a drink summery and wintery and pleasant to drink at the same time sounds like a fool's errand but Elijah Craig seems to have figured it out. 8 Brand Average Price: roughly $12 ABV: 40% The bottle is spectacular, with an intricately etched label that compliments the amber hue of the bourbon itself. It is a 10-year-old Bottled-in-Bond named after the Irish immigrant who worked with the grains found in Kentucky and adapted his family recipe to them. The perfectly balanced taste of our Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is composed of more than 200 detectable flavor notes, from bold grain and wood, to sweet aromatics, spice, and fruit & floral notes. The juice spends four years in barrels before its blended out into this expression and proofed way down to 80 proof. A "small-batch bourbon" is a bourbon that's an amalgamation of a number of barrels, anywhere from 10-100. Beyond these basics, the details of bourbon's history are murky. While Basil Hayden's tasted watered down and not worth the money, Old Grand-Dad pivots 180 degrees into the land of long-lasting acetone burn devoid of taste (via Distiller). This has a very classic and spicy bourbon nose with clear hints of vanilla, oak, spice, and wood. According to The Manual, it turns out the two whiskeys are one and the same. This bottle of 103-proof whiskey is affordable, retailing for around $20 for 750mL (so you're not really gambling your grocery money if you invest in a bottle). 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. Whether or not this is worth your while depends on your fondness for Old Grand-Dad. Sounds like this bourbon is stuck up a creek without a paddle. George Dickel Bourbon. Rather, Widow Jane currently sources its bourbons from several undisclosed distilleries in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana, then barrel-ages and blends them which is how a nine-year-old company has been able to sell 10-year-old bourbon since its inception. That's why we're sharing the following selection of regrettable bourbons, to save you from falling victim to shiny object syndrome because no one likes buyer's remorse. Zackariah Harris Kentucky Straight Bourbon. . 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 ). To put a finer point on it, Id be lying if I said I loved every bourbon I tasted. Now 52% Off. It's also known for its distinctive flavor, due to its unusual mash bill. The palate has a hint of alcohol burn from the jump with plenty of dark spices and dry peanut shells popping in before the burn takes over on the mid-palate. Here's the thing. Whiskey Thief Uncut Unfiltered may sound like it's coming to a theater near you, but it's actually a bourbon brought to you by Three Boys Farm Distillery.
