Can $50 Bourbon Beat $200+ Bourbon In A Blind Taste Test?

When it comes to bourbon, the blind taste test is the ultimate way of leveling the playing field.

That’s because, whether we’re conscious of it or not, we all carry biases with us when tasting things. Sometimes, the mere sight of a label can conjure memories (good and bad) that predispose you towards liking or disliking a certain whiskey. The more positive association you have with the label, the more likely you are to like it, almost regardless of the actual taste of the liquid inside the bottle. Humans are just wired weirdly like that.

Thus, the blind taste test is the great equalizer. Sure, you can still see the color of the whiskey, but by removing label bias (and all of the information the labels contain), you’re giving yourself as clean a slate as possible to judge the spirit objectively. With that in mind, we decided to challenge ourselves with a test that you’ve probably pondered yourself at home: can $50 bourbon really beat expensive ass bourbon in a blind tasting?

We took some of the best sub-$50 contenders that the bourbon world can offer and put them in a faceoff with a few recently released premium bottles, all of which carry a suggested retail price north of $200. The goal is simple: identify which affordable bottles punch above their weight and which high-price bottles are worth the cost. Incidentally, this test will also reveal which bottles are appropriately priced on the “value buy” side and which expensive contenders are overpriced. Those are the stakes.

With the battle lines drawn, let’s dive right in! Each bottle was poured and numbered, then nosed and tasted blindly. Once each sample was tasted, it was given a score, and then we ranked all the scores from lowest to highest. Sound good?

Here are the contenders in the “affordable bourbon” pool:

• 1792 Full Proof
• Bardstown Origin Series High Wheat Bourbon
• Ben Holladay Bottled in Bond Soft Red Wheat Bourbon
• Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Single Barrel Bourbon
• Four Roses Small Batch Select
• Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond Bourbon
• John J. Bowman Single Barrel Bourbon
• Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Bourbon
• Still Austin Cask Strength Bourbon
• Wild Turkey Rare Breed Bourbon

These are the contenders in the “expensive bourbon” pool:

• Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon
• Baker’s 13-Year-Old Bourbon
• Garrison Bros. Cowboy Bourbon
• Jefferson’s Marian McClain Bourbon
• Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon 2024
• Michter’s 10-Year Single Barrel Bourbon
• Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024
• Old Grand-Dad 16-Year Bourbon
• Willett 8-Year Small Batch Wheated Bourbon
• William Larue Weller Bourbon

Here we go!

• • The 50 Bourbons You Need To Try Before You Die, Ranked
  • The 20 Best Tasting Bourbons Under $100, Ranked For 2024
  • We Power Ranked The Best Barrel Proof Bourbons Of 2024
  • The Absolute Best Tasting Bourbons Under $50, Ranked For 2024
  • The Most Iconic Bourbon Drinkers In Film History (And The Bottles They Loved Best)

Part 1: The Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

We’re starting off strong…proof-wise, that is! On the nose, this immediately translates to heat with some mesquite notes, joining dark chocolate, cinnamon, and cotton candy, which is surprising. Some sandalwood and brown sugar can be found on the palate alongside Worcestershire sauce, clove, and vanilla extract.

This is a complex bourbon that doesn’t completely coagulate around a central theme besides “heat,” so it’ll be interesting to see how this intriguing pour shakes out against the competition!

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Wow, this is incredible stuff! Right off the bat, you’re bowled over by an abundance of fruit-forward notes, from bright red cherries to raspberries, while Manuka honey, creamy vanilla custard notes, and accents of cornbread and white pepper hang around on the edges of your tongue.

This perfectly proofed pour is poised to go a long way in these rankings despite being only our second taste of the day.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

That’s a spicy meatball! On the nose, you get a jab of ethanol that you might wish you had parried were it not for the fact that it packs a punch on the palate as well. Notes of blackberry jam, smoked honey, barrel char, and allspice make up the well-integrated flavor profile of this whiskey, but on the finish, there’s a harsh reintroduction of ethanol that curtails all of those tasty bits.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this were one of the expensive bourbons due to its densely packed flavors and readily apparent high proof.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

Right away, it’s clear we’re dealing with an earthy, nutty whiskey as the aroma of cooked apples, apricots, and pears is obfuscated only slightly by roasted almonds, clove, nutmeg, and oak.

This is a tasty, straightforward bourbon, to be sure, but it comes across a bit tame after the first three pours, which were much more dynamic.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

What we have here is a surprisingly tame, albeit tasty pour. Orange zest, vanilla malt notes, and some slightly burnt toffee and peanut butter are evident. There are also touches of ginger and maple candy hiding faintly in the background.

I have to say that this is a nice pour, but it doesn’t do anything to grab my attention. Frankly, it’s a bit of a snoozer, and it wouldn’t come as a shock if this were one of the whiskeys bringing up the rear, given how stiff the competition is in this bunch.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

Strong cola nut and cherry vibes come off the nose of this glass, and on the palate, there’s black tea, rosewater, and cherry pie with a healthy helping of black pepper spice and nutmeg to balance things out.

This is a sipping experience that rewards you at every step of the journey, with a fantastic nose leading to a savory palate and a lengthy finish. This is yet another incredibly strong contender in the early going.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

An interesting mix of milk chocolate and nougat leads the way on this whiskey’s nose, with fruit notes suddenly springing to life on the palate. The presence of tropical fruits meshes well with the pervasive milk chocolate, tobacco leaf, and seasoned oak notes on this bourbon.

Admittedly, it’s a bit top-heavy, with the texture leaving a little to be desired, but this is still a solid pour that should place well in this ranking.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

This whiskey begins pretty light with some corn pudding, bright cherry notes, and a bit of butterscotch to go with darker elements of oak and caramel. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say this is one of the more affordable bottles, not because it’s bad, but because it delivers all of the classic bourbon notes from vanilla to brown sugar without really elevating any of them.

This is tasty, albeit quotidian stuff, that has no rough edges to speak of.

Taste 9

Tasting Notes:

This whiskey opens with a simply intoxicating (no pun intended) nose, and that enchantment follows on the palate, where syrupy black cherry notes blend well with mature oak, brown sugar, cinnamon sablés, and a touch of black pepper-sprinkled blood orange.

From the color to the nose and palate, this bourbon has all the markings of a mature (and likely high-priced) pour, and it delivers in a major way.

Taste 10

Tasting Notes:

Citrus notes and sweetness are the most prominent features on the nose of this whiskey. After the first sip, that impression holds true with some crème brûlée, buttery croissants, and tropical fruit notes taking shape at midpalate for a juicy, well-rounded flavor wheel.

This is an eminently enjoyable pour that will likely creep into the top half of today’s test.

Taste 11

Tasting Notes:

The aroma of walnuts and oak prepares the palate for what winds up being a decidedly earthy yet surprisingly sweet pour. The amount of brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, and candied walnuts on the palate is a pleasant surprise, with some vanilla ice cream hanging out through the finish as well.

This is tasty stuff, and it hits on all of the classic bourbon notes we’re looking for.

Taste 12

Tasting Notes:

This glass opened up with some intriguing powdered chocolate, candied orange peel, and toasted coconut notes on the nose that followed through on the palate with the addition of some gooey caramel and ripe red cherry notes.

This is perhaps the most balanced whiskey of the bunch so far, and the fact that it also contains a ton of flavor bodes well for its final placement in this blind ranking.

Taste 13

Tasting Notes:

What a lovely nose! This whiskey opens with a bevy of brown sugar, boiled peanuts, and luscious caramel notes before black pepper and clove begin to creep in and balance things out. Overall, it’s a lovely bourbon that surprises most of all with its subtle depth of flavor.

This is unmistakably one of the better bourbons in the bunch so far.

Taste 14

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this whiskey is pretty timid, so I was anxious to move things into the mouth, and that’s where it comes alive with vanilla cone, bright red cherries, and even some white chocolate notes. That range of flavors works well together, but they still come across as too subdued to stand out against the field.

Whatever’s in this glass is tasty stuff, but this bourbon is a bit too simple to hold your attention for long.

Taste 15

Tasting Notes:

What a sugary pour! The nose of this whiskey opens with honey and powdered sugar pastries before subtler notes of dried strawberries and vanilla custard join the party on the palate.

This is a bourbon with tempered, but still impressive, richness, and it strikes the perfect balance of spicy and sweet with some black pepper notes serving to elevate the confectionary goodness that dominates the palate.

Taste 16

Tasting Notes:

This is an impressive whiskey from the get-go, with a densely packed set of aromas that translate to the palate. Cinnamon bark, cayenne pepper, apple chips, and black cherry notes feature most prominently here, and it transitions to a lengthy finish that introduces some oak and leather.

This fantastic middle-of-the-road bourbon left me wholly satisfied despite the fact there wasn’t really one category where it stood out.

Taste 17

Tasting Notes:

This whiskey opens with some earthy, spice-forward notes as cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and peanut shells rule the nose while sumptuous brown sugar, apricots, and almonds lay claim to the palate. It’s a well-balanced ride that takes you on unexpected twists, delivering a flavor profile that’s at once surprising and familiar.

This is a bourbon that has the legs to go far in this race.

Taste 18

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this bourbon opens with a medley of vanilla, light oak, plums, and raspberries, which is really pleasant despite being a bit restrained due to what I imagine is a low-proof point. On the palate, it’s more of the same, with a delightful range of flavors that are simply a bit muddled and muted, marring an otherwise perfectly fine pour.

After all of the interesting pours we’ve tried thus far, this one falls into the category of being forgettable.

Taste 19

Tasting Notes:

The heft of this whiskey is evident on the nose, where its heat hits you with accenting notes of dark chocolate and jammy red berries. On the palate, it becomes even more apparent that this is cask-strength whiskey, and it also strikes me as a safe bet to say this is one of the finished bourbons, given its sweetness and heavy, fruit-forward flavors.

Taste 20

Tasting Notes:

This is a beguiling bourbon in that it’s simultaneously approachable yet packed with flavor to the gills. The mouthfeel and depth of flavor are most impressive, and those two features (marked by an effervescent bright cherry and black-pepper-specked vanilla ice cream profile) lead the way to a supple, lingering honeyed finish.

Despite being the last entrant in the race, this is a formidable pour that I’m sure will land near the top of the list.

Part 2: The Ranking

20. Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Single Barrel Bourbon — Taste 5

ABV: 60%
Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Single Barrel Bourbon (yes, it’s a mouthful) is a relatively new product from Lux Row Distillers, which has long been pumping out the stellar small-batch variant but has more recently added this expression to their single barrel program.

Bottom Line:

Look, sometimes nice buys finish last. This is a really flavorful whiskey that offers a tremendous value at $60 — hell; it can often be had for half that! That said, it’s also a single-barrel product, and as we all know, the quality of single barrels can wax and wane depending on the group who made the selection and the rigorousness of the brand’s single-barrel program.

This particular bottle came up short, though we would generally still recommend giving Ezra Brooks single-barrel bourbon a shot.

19. 1792 Full Proof Bourbon — Taste 3

ABV: 62.5%
Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This Full Proof expression from the 1792 Barton Distillery is the pinnacle of their 1792 lineup, which also includes wheated bourbon, a bottled-in-bond offering, and its entry-level small batch. 1792 employs a unique filtration process for this expression, eschewing the typical chill filtration of its competitors and instead utilizing a plate and frame filter.

Bottom Line:

1792 Full Proof has a lot of fans who enjoy it’s high-octane intensity. But without the nuance to sand off the rough edges of this bourbon, it simply wasn’t able to score highly in this blind taste test.

There’s no doubt that this is a flavorful whiskey, but it’s one that could use a bit more finesse as well.

18. Jefferson’s Marian McClain Bourbon — Taste 18

ABV: 51%
Average Price: $340

The Whiskey:

Bottom Line:

Like every whiskey we tasted today, Jefferson’s Marian McClain Bourbon is tasty stuff! It has an interesting range of flavors, making it a treat to explore on the palate. But, on the other hand, it’s also so subdued and agreeable that it’s hard to give it any credit for just how different it is. With a higher proof point, perhaps this whiskey would stand out more, but in this showcase, it came across as a bit dull.

You’ll enjoy it if you try it, but there are undoubtedly far better values out there.

17. Willett 8-Year Small Batch Wheated Bourbon — Taste 14

ABV: 54%
Average Price: $260

The Whiskey:

Willett’s 8-Year Bourbon caught a lot of people off guard when it was first released in 2022, with a proprietary mash bill rumored to include the distillery’s famed wheated recipe and whiskey that was a year or two older than its stated age. With a barrel entry proof of 115 proof in Char# 4 American Oak, this expression was bottled without chill filtration.

Bottom Line:

While I was let down by the first batch of Willett’s 8-Year bourbon, subsequent releases have featured an uptick in quality even as the average age of the whiskey has crept closer to the 8-year mark. With that said, I’m surprised that this one wasn’t able to rise higher in the rankings, and its subdued flavor profile made it a pleasant but only slightly above-average sipping experience that doesn’t warrant the price.

16. Ben Holladay Bottled in Bond Soft Red Wheat Bourbon — Taste 4

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $52

The Whiskey:

Holladay Distillery in Weston, MO, is a beautiful destination where a new generation of bourbon makers are casting the dye for an incredible future. With Master Distiller Kyle Merklein steering the ship, Holladay is putting out two excellent 6-year bourbons from a rye-based and a wheat-based mash bill.

Bottom Line:

After an extensive hiatus, Holladay Distilling Co. has only been sending this impressive expression to market for two years now, and already it’s making a name for itself. This delicious bottled-in-bond bourbon might be properly placed towards the back of the pack in this blind tasting, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t formidable bourbon.

The fact that it was able to outpace two “expensive bourbons” in this race goes to show that this is a whiskey to be reckoned with.

15. Garrison Bros. Cowboy Bourbon — Taste 1

ABV: 70.1%
Average Price: $280

The Whiskey:

Garrison Brothers has been cranking out the best craft bourbon in Texas for a long time, and as one of the OGs, it’s only right that they have a premium cask-strength expression. That expression is Cowboy Bourbon, which is made with Food Grade #1 white corn and aged for six long years under the Texas sun.

Bottom Line:

This is an expression whose place on this list shocked us, and it’s another one we’re chalking up to the pitfalls of the format. In blind tastings, sure, all bias is removed, but you also have to account for the fact that prominent outliers will either be rewarded or punished. In the case of Garrison Bros. rock-solid Cowboy Bourbon, today it was the latter.

14. Bardstown Origin Series High Wheat Bourbon — Taste 15

ABV: 53%
Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Origin Series, founded in 2023, began with three initial entrants, but this new 6-year-old High Wheat Bourbon marks the lineup’s first official expansion. By combining a low barrel entry proof with a high percentage of wheat (39%) in the grain recipe, the brand sought to extract the maximum amount of wood sugars.

Bottom Line:

Bardstown Bourbon Company’s recently released Origin Series “High Wheat” expression is one we’ve been touting from the very beginning. This balanced, sweet bourbon delivers flavor in spades and is the sort of value that savvy whiskey enthusiasts pride themselves on buying.

13. John J. Bowman Single Barrel Bourbon — Taste 8

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $99

The Whiskey:

For their John J. Bowman single-barrel expression, the brand selects some of the oldest barrels in their inventory, though the age is omitted. Of note: the Fredericksburg, VA distillery was purchased by the Sazerac Company in 2003, which also owns Buffalo Trace.

Bottom Line:

John J. Bowman Single Barrel Bourbon is unique in that it does have a small group of fans who have discovered it as an alternative to the more widely popular Buffalo Trace options on the market. Still, this expression continues to fly under the radar despite the positive ink spilled in its favor.

If this bottle isn’t yet in your collection, you should correct that mistake today.

12. Still Austin Cask Strength Bourbon — Taste 7

ABV: 59%
Average Price: $56

The Whiskey:

Still Austin is one of the fastest-rising stars in America’s craft bourbon scene, and that’s largely due to the influence of their Master Blender, Nancy Fraley. Fraley, who is also responsible for notable expressions from Wyoming Whiskey, J. Henry & Sons, and Jos. A. Magnus, to name a few, is well known to favor techniques like slow-water-reduction that are more commonly found in the world of Brandy.

Bottom Line:

This is a potent, flavor-packed bourbon that is delightful in a vacuum and made even better by its reasonable pricing and the fact it has room to grow. While it entices the imagination to think of how much better this bourbon will be as Still Austin, a relatively young distillery, continues to age its stock and improve its production practices, this is already awesome stuff capable of kicking ass in a blind tasting.

11. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2024 — Taste 10

ABV: 53.5%
Average Price: $199

The Whiskey:

Louisville’s oldest distillery often tweaks the age and proof point of its annual Birthday Bourbon release. For this year, the 24th expression in the series matured for 12 years, the same as 2023’s release, but it’s bottled at its highest proof ever, 107 proof. Master Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris and Master Taster Melissa Rift personally selected the 209 barrels that comprised this blend with aid from Assistant Master Distiller Caleb Trigo. The barrels themselves were matured in Warehouses G and L.

Bottom Line:

Old Forester’s Birthday Bourbon is one that has outsized hype versus the quality it delivers, especially when you factor in the difficulty of acquiring a bottle. That said, this year’s edition was a marked improvement over 2023’s ho-hum release, and despite falling to the middle of the pack in this blind tasting, it’s still a bottle we’d recommend purchasing at its suggested retail price.

10. Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon — Taste 19

ABV: 59.4%
Average Price: $310

The Whiskey:

Angel’s Envy Cask Strenght Bourbon, now in its 13th iteration, takes some of the most distinctive barrels in the brand’s portfolio and sees them finished in barrels that previously held both Ruby and Tawny Port Wine. At full cask-strength, this release and the brand’s cask-strength rye are typically the highest-proofed expressions you can expect from Angel’s Envy each year.

Bottom Line:

Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon, despite its placement here on this list, is a whiskey that generally outpaces most of the market — it’s actually quite fantastic stuff. The drawback it faced in this format is that as a finished bourbon, it brings a multitude of flavors that skew wildly from the general profile of the rest of the field.

Make no mistake, this is delicious bourbon, and when tasted on its own this is a bottle that will rarely, if ever, disappoint.

9. Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond Bourbon — Taste 11

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $30

The Whiskey:

Heaven Hill’s flagship bottled-in-bond expression is a rebranded release that was first launched in 2022. Sticking true to their roots, this bourbon is made with their “HH reg” mash bill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley.

Bottom Line:

We’ve been beating the drum about Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond Bourbon’s impressive quality all year round, and the fact that it found itself besting some bottles that are four times as expensive on this list is the proof in the pudding.

This is one of those readily available value bourbons that you need to be stocking your bar cart with sooner and not later.

8. William Larue Weller Bourbon — Taste 16

ABV: 62.9%
Average Price: $1,800

The Whiskey:

Aged on the lower floor of an undisclosed Buffalo Trace warehouse, this year’s William Larue Weller offering was matured for 12 years before being bottled at full cask strength. While the barrel entry proof on this liquid was a modest 114 proof, through the process of aging, 2024’s edition of the vaunted William Larue Weller crept all the way up to 125.8 proof.

Bottom Line:

This was one of the biggest surprises of the entire list. While, admittedly, I wasn’t a huge fan of this year’s William Larue Weller upon first trying it, I definitely thought it would perform more admirably in this blind taste test. What held it back in this format was simply that it didn’t excel at any one thing, being narrowly edged out by the bourbon that landed at number seven on this list for that reason.

It’s worth saying that the 2024 William Larue Weller is a delicious bourbon, but today just wasn’t its day to shine.

7. Old Grand-Dad 16-Year Bourbon — Taste 13

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $500

The Whiskey:

New for 2024, Old Grand-Dad’s first age-stated expression is a hefty 16-year-old bourbon proofed down to 50% ABV. This expression joins Old Grand-Dad, Old Grand-Dad Bonded, and Old Grand-Dad 114 in the lineup.

Bottom Line:

Old Grand Dad’s new 16-year bourbon has a wonderful depth of flavor, but it lacks the zip of its more youthful and higher-proofed counterpart, Old Grand-Dad 114. As evidenced by falling towards the middle of the pack in this blind tasting, that somewhat muted albeit flavorful experience held it out of the top five.

6. Wild Turkey Rare Breed Bourbon — Taste 20

ABV: 58.4%
Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

Wild Turkey Rare Breed was initially introduced as Wild Turkey’s (really Jimmy Russell’s) response to the launch of Jim Beam’s Booker’s. Brought to market at a time when high-proof bourbon was less en vogue, it reflects Jimmy’s prescience in predicting the market’s future.

Bottom Line:

Wild Turkey Rare Breed is the ultimate insider’s IYKYK bottle, and it regularly puts high-priced limited edition bourbons to shame in blind taste tests. Seeing it near the top of our list here just furthers its reputation as a world-beater of a bottle.

Wild Turkey Rare Breed remains a world-class bourbon hiding in plain sight.

5. Baker’s 13-Year-Old Bourbon — Taste 17

ABV: 53.5%
Average Price: $200

The Whiskey:

This brand-new re-release of Baker’s 13-Year Bourbon is new for 2024 and follows in the footsteps of the brand’s previous release. That is to say, this is standard Baker’s bourbon but with anywhere between 5-6 extra years of age, bottled at the brand’s classic 107-proof point.

Bottom Line:

Baker’s 13-Year-Old Bourbon has really been catching our eye this year. It’s one of those expressions that gets overlooked alongside more established “unicorns” and even in the shadow of Booker’s Bourbon which Jim Beam also makes, but this new release is worthy of your attention.

It’s been a big year for brand-new Jim Beam releases, but trust us when we say that this is one you should be seeking out immediately.

4. Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon 2024 — Taste 12

ABV: 59.65%
Average Price: $350

The Whiskey:

Maker’s Mark’s sole age-stated product, Cellar Aged, is now in its second year of production. This year’s release features 15% 12-year-old bourbon and 85% 13-year-old bourbon, making it their oldest release to date.

Bottom Line:

A critical consensus around Maker’s Mark’s Cellar Aged lineup has yet to crystallize, with some folks singing the praises of the brand’s two releases to date and others feeling like the series has a lot of room to grow. Here at UPROXX, we’re in both camps, as 2023’s release was a solid albeit forgettable expression, while 2024’s version represents a marked improvement that indicates the brand is headed in the right direction.

In a blind taste test, it seems evident that more people should be taking Maker’s Mark’s Cellar Aged expression seriously because it is a killer bottle that’s still underappreciated by the masses.

3. Four Roses Small Batch Select — Taste 6

ABV: 52%
Average Price:

The Whiskey:

Four Roses Small Batch Select Bourbon is one of the brand’s more recent innovations, springing directly from the mind and blending prowess of Master Distiller Brent Elliott. For this expression, Elliott blends six (OBSV, OBSK, OBSF, OESV, OESK, and OESF) of Four Roses’ ten signature recipes to create an end product aged for six to seven years that showcases his preferred flavor profile.

Bottom Line:

This was one of the most surprising results of the entire tasting. Sure, we know well that Four Roses Small Batch Select is a delicious bottle, but that it outranked nearly the entire field of high-priced bourbons goes to show just how underrated this tasty whiskey really is.

While folks are going crazy chasing the latest shiny new bottle on the shelf, you would be wise to add a few bottles of Four Roses Small Batch Select to your collection and rest assured that it’s every bit as good if not better than the flavor of the week.

2. Michter’s 10-Year Single Barrel Bourbon — Taste 9

ABV: 47.2%
Average Price: $550

The Whiskey:

Michter’s 10-Year Single Barrel Bourbon, one of the American whiskey world’s most critically lauded expressions, is on an annual release schedule that sends bourbon fans into a fervor each time it’s announced. Utilizing Michter’s well-aged sourced whiskey stock, their blending team subjects hand-picked barrels to their proprietary filtration process for the end result.

Bottom Line:

Michter’s 10-Year Single Barrel Bourbon is one of our most beloved bottles here on UPROXX, and it regularly receives top marks in both blind tastings and straight-up rankings, so it’s no surprise to see it near the top of the list here. With its remarkably rich sipping experience, marked by an impressive depth of flavor and an incredible finish that always leaves you wanting more, this is our number one “expensive bourbon” that’s actually worth every penny.

1. Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Bourbon — Taste 2

ABV: 54.5%%
Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Bourbon is the fully amplified, small-batch version of one of the best-selling whiskeys in the world. Released in small batches, with their identifying codes found on the front label, this expression showcases Maker’s Mark in its purest form.

Bottom Line:

Well, there’s a surprise! Maker’s Mark, one of the most ubiquitous bourbon brands on the planet, can easily fly under the radar of even the most dialed-in whiskey enthusiast, but blind taste results never lie. Not only is this bottle an incredible bang-for-your-buck option, but the results are clear: Maker’s Mark Cask Strength can definitely beat bottles four times its price in a head-to-head matchup. If you aren’t buying bottles of this stuff by the caseload, you’re leaving some of the best bourbon in the world by the wayside.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

So there we have it! What this taste test proved, as so many have before it, is that $50 bourbon can 100% stand up against bourbon over $200. “Suggested retail price” is just a suggestion, after all, and while the brands tend to have their fingers on the pulse of the whiskey they release that deserves an elevated cost, there are a number of factors that occasionally result in less-that-stellar liquid earning top-billing.

Thankfully, to combat those follies, we have a number of affordable bourbons on the shelf that are readily available and simply waiting for you to fight off your shiny new toy syndrome and fix your eyes on the middle and bottom shelf.

As evidenced by expressions like Michter’s 10-Year Bourbon, Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2024, and Baker’s 13-Year Bourbon, there are also plenty of high-priced limited edition bourbons that warrant their cost and can put cheaper bottles to shame. Staying on top of your game by reading UPROXX and, more importantly, trying a wide array of whiskey for yourself is the only way to truly separate the wheat from the chaff.

Just know that for the expressions you can’t find or find yourself hesitant to try, we’re always here to try them for you!