There’s a pretty good chance you’ll need a drink at some point this week. You may as well make it a good glass of bourbon; or a cocktail made with a good bourbon base; or maybe just a quick shot to take the edge off of all of the “festivities.” And no matter what the reason you might need a nip of bourbon this week, we’ve got your back.
Below, I’m calling out 20 great, classic, and affordable bourbons that transcend the ordinary. This isn’t about what’s brand new or the most award-winning. This is about comfort, nostalgia, and making merry while eating, hopefully, a lot. The bourbons below are the whiskeys that work before, during, and after Thanksgiving. They’re great to share with friends. They’ll get you through the long weekend. They’re also goddamn tasty, which is the whole point anyway.
For the ranking, I’m simply going by my professional opinion. While you’d get a pour of any of these bourbons if you’re invited to my house this week, there is a bifurcation point. The bottom 10 or so — let’s say numbers 20 through nine — all lean more towards the bourbon that I’d use for mixing up mean cocktails. The top ten or so — let’s say numbers 11 to one — are all bourbons that also work wonders in cocktails and are great pours over some rocks or even neat. Yes, there’s some overlap with some of these bourbon pours because there’s some serious versatility at play.
I’ve also thrown in some special bottles that might impress some folks too if that’s the sort of thing you’re looking for. It’s a good, wide list of great bourbons so let’s dive in!
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- The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
20. Benchmark Small Batch
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $19
The Whiskey:
This is a one-step-up “small batch” from Buffalo Trace’s budget brand, Benchmark. There’s not a whole lot of information on what this is exactly when it comes to the mash bill or aging. The “batch” could be 20 barrels or 200. We do know that the bourbon is cut down to 90-proof before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s that Buffalo Trace distillery vibe again with hints of old vanilla beans, fresh leather, old wicker porch furniture with a hint of black mold, and a hint of apple blossom next to honey. The palate leans into the apple and honey while adding rich caramel with a nice dose of sweet cinnamon, allspice, and freshly ground nutmeg with a hint of dark chocolate-covered espresso beans and dried corn husks. The end sweetens toward a corn mush cut with maple syrup and raisins next to vanilla pods and a hint of old leather tobacco pouches with a whisper of cherry wood in the background.
Bottom Line:
If you only want to make cocktails this week/long weekend, then this is the play. This whiskey stands up to varied mixing from sours to old fashioneds to flip and everything in between.
19. Bib & Tucker Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey Aged 6 Years
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $60
The Whiskey:
Bib & Tucker pulls barrels of Tennessee whiskey from an (undisclosed) old and quiet valley in the state. They then blend those barrels to meet their brand’s flavor notes. While they are laying down their own whiskey now, this is still all about the blending of those barrels in small batches.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a light sense of sour mash with a hint of leather, wet cedar, old grain mills, and warm apple pies with plenty of brown spice and sugar. The palate leans into the graininess with a sweet edge (Hell, Tennessee) before vanilla Necco Wafers counter fresh ginger snaps, apple tobacco leaves, and a hint of dry cedar kindling. The end leans into the apple pie filling with a bit of vanilla bean and sweet oak before fading out pretty quickly.
Bottom Line:
This is a great mixer as well. I like this bourbon more of an acidic turn in cocktails — think a whiskey sour or gold rush— to counter the lush vanilla, apple, and grains.
18. Jefferson’s Very Small Batch
ABV: 41.5%
Average Price: $25
The Whiskey:
This is a sourced bourbon from around Kentucky. The age, mash, and vital details are undisclosed. What we do know is that the team at Jefferson’s spends a lot of time tinkering with their barrels to create accessible and affordable bourbons.
Tasting Notes:
This opens pretty thin with hints of caramel, vanilla pods, and maybe a touch of leather and oak with a mild berry vibe. The palate is either subtle or thin … I can’t decide. There are notes of classic bourbon caramel and vanilla countered by a hint of stewed apple, buttery toffee, and maybe a hint of nutmeg. The end stays pretty mild but does build to a nice finish full of classic bourbon notes.
Bottom Line:
This is a very easygoing whiskey. I’d lean toward using this in highballs. Get some really good, sharp fizzy water, add some ice, and maybe garnish with some cranberries to compliment that mild berry vibe. Sorted!
17. Legent
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $47
The Whiskey:
This bottle from Beam Suntory marries Kentucky Bourbon, California wine, and Japanese whisky blending in one bottle. Legent is classic Kentucky bourbon made by bourbon legend Fred Noe at Beam that’s finished in both French oak that held red wine and Spanish sherry casks. The juice is then blended by whisky-blending legend Shinji Fukuyo.
Tasting Notes:
Sticky toffee pudding with a hint of sour grapes, sweet red berries, old oak staves, vanilla husks, and salted toffee all mingle on the nose. The palate has an almost bitter cinnamon and cherry bark vibe that smooths out toward creamy nutmeg-heavy eggnog with a hint of clove next to dried cedar bark and raisins. The end mixes wild berry jam with a sense of buttermilk biscuits, brown butter, sultanas, dates, and winter cake spices as old wine-soaked oak staves add a gentle woodiness to the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those whiskeys that you can show off. It’s really good. But this whiskey truly shines as a base for Manhattan above a sipper or any other cocktail even.
16. Elijah Craig Small Batch
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $30
The Whiskey:
This is Elijah Craig’s entry-point bottle. The mash is corn-focused, with more malted barley than rye (12% and 10% respectively). Originally, this was branded as a 12-year-old whiskey. The brand decided to move away from that labeling and started blending younger whiskeys to create this label.
Tasting Notes:
A hint of chocolate pops on the nose with woody apples, caramel, taco seasoning, and some sharp spearmint over vanilla ice cream. The palate has a nice vanilla base that leads to cinnamon and allspice with a hint of eggnog nutmeg over apple pies. The end is lighter and hints at mint tobacco and vanilla woodiness with a touch of chocolate cake cut with stewed cherry and pine.
Bottom Line:
You should probably have this around anyway. I’m going to pull an audible here. While this is great for cocktails (it’s not really a sipper), it’s also great for cooking. Cut your cranberry sauce with some Elijah Craig. Add some to your pecan or pumpkin pie and skip the over-priced vanilla beans. Slow-cook sweet potatoes with a cup of this, some butter, brown sugar, bacon, and wintry spices! You get the point.
15. Penelope Rose Cask Finish
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $52
The Whiskey:
This whiskey takes Penelope’s beloved and multi-award-winning four-grain bourbon blend — 76 percent corn, 14 percent wheat, seven percent rye, and three percent malted barley — and re-barrels it in hand-selected French Grenache Rosé Wine Casks from the Southern Rhône of France. Once those barrels hit just the right flavor notes, they’re vatted, proofed, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Soft orange blossoms and white flowers on a summer day pop on the light nose with a hint of candied cherry soaked dipped in dark chocolate with a hint of vanilla underneath it all. The palate holds onto the lightness with a strawberry and cream vibe next to tart raspberry and lush vanilla with a hint of dusty cinnamon that’s more sweet than sharp. The end has a hint of fresh herbs with more tart red berries and brand-new porch wicker.
Bottom Line:
This is bright and fruity, which makes it a great dessert cocktail pour. Cut this with some fresh orange juice, Amaretto, and an egg white for a killer, frothy sour.
14. Knob Creek Small Batch Aged 9 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $46 (one-liter)
The Whiskey:
This is Jim Beam’s small batch entry point into the wider world of Knob Creek. The juice is the low-rye mash aged for nine years in new oak in Beam’s vast warehouses. The right barrels are then mingled and cut down to 100 proof before being bottled in new, wavy bottles.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this feels classic with a bold sense of rich vanilla pods, cinnamon sharpness, buttered and salted popcorn, and a good dose of cherry syrup with a hint of cotton candy. The palate mixes almond, orange, and vanilla into a cinnamon sticky bun with a hint of sour cherry soda that leads to a nice Kentucky hug on the mid-palate. That warm hug fades toward black cherry root beer, old leather boots, porch wicker, and a sense of dried cherry/cinnamon tobacco packed into an old pine box.
Bottom Line:
Yes, you can drink this neat, but it’s not really made for that. If you want a neat pour of Knob Creek, you need to aim for the 12-year, 18-year, or a Single Barrel Reserve.
With this expression, you want to be making old fashioneds all damn day.
13. Weller Special Release
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $24
The Whiskey:
Buffalo Trace doesn’t publish any of their mash bills. Educated guesses put the wheat percentage of these mash bills at around 16 to 18%, which is pretty average. The age of the barrels on this blend is also unknown as well. Overall, we know this is a classic wheated bourbon, and … that’s about it.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a tannic sense of old oak next to sweet cherries, vanilla cookies, and that Buffalo Trace leathery vibe with a hint of spiced tobacco lurking underneath. The palate has a creamy texture kind of like malted vanilla ice cream over a hot apple pie cut with brown sugar, butter, sharp cinnamon, and walnuts next to Frosted Raisin Bran with a hint of candied cherry root beer. The end takes that sweet cherry and apple and layers it into a light tobacco leaf with a mild sense of old musty barrel warehouses.
Bottom Line:
This is another great option for mixing up cocktails this week. I tend to lean toward bold and classic cocktails like a Vieux Carre or Sazerac with Weller thanks to nuttiness, woodiness, and tobacco spice already built into the pour.
12. George Dickel Bottled in Bond Tennessee Whisky Fall 2008 Aged 13 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $43
The Whisky:
Nicole Austin has been killing it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel. This release is a whiskey that was warehoused in the fall of 2008. 13 years later, this juice was bottled at 100 proof (as per the bottled-in-bond law) and left to rest. This fall, new releases of that Tennessee juice were sent out to much acclaim.
Tasting Notes:
Sour cherries, maple syrup, and pecan waffles mingle with dried apple chips, old leather boots, and winter spice with a hint of vanilla wafers on the nose. The taste leans toward spicy apple pie filling with walnuts, plenty of cinnamon, and some raisins before malted vanilla milkshakes, blueberry cotton candy, and dark chocolate milk arrive on the mid-palate and lead toward a moist oatmeal cookie dipped in salted caramel. The end has a dry woody spiciness with star anise, cinnamon, and allspice mingling with marzipan and cherry/cinnamon tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is a great whiskey that makes a great cocktail and a great neat pour. There’s just so much going on in this dram that you end up spending a lot of time nosing and tasting. That said, this makes a killer cocktail in any form.
11. Frank August Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $66
The Whiskey:
The whiskey is a sourced bourbon. The juice is made in Kentucky, where it’s also aged. The team at Frank August then takes roughly ten to 15 barrels per batch and builds this bourbon painstakingly to fit their desired flavor profile. The whiskey is then lightly proofed down to 100 proof before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is pure classic bourbon with hints of salted caramel with a twinge of soft grains next to spicy cherry syrup, a whisper of sour apple, and a touch of aged oak staves soaked in mulled wine. The palate moves on from the soft grains towards rum-soaked raisins with a warm winter spice matrix — cinnamon, ginger, clove, allspice — before a brown sugar/rock candy sweetness takes over on the mid-palate. The finish is long and sweet with a nice dose of sharp cinnamon and soft nutmeg that leads to a supple vanilla cream with a thin line of dry cedar and tobacco spice just touched with dark cherry on the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is the perfect bridge whiskey. It’s a great neat or on-the-rocks pour that also makes a fantastic Sazerac, Manhattan, Vieux Carre, or old fashioned.
10. Woodford Reserve Double Oaked
ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $32
The Whiskey:
This expression takes the standard Woodford bourbon (triple distilled, matured for six to seven years in a climate-controlled warehouse) and gives it a finishing touch. The bourbon is blended and moved into new barrels that have been double-toasted but only lightly charred. The juice spends a final nine months resting in those barrels before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a welcoming aroma of marzipan, blackberry, toffee, and fresh honey next to a real sense of pitchy, dry firewood. The taste drills down on those notes as the sweet marzipan becomes more choco-hazelnut, the berries become more dried and apple-y, the toffee becomes almost burnt, and the wood softens to a cedar bark. A rich spicy and chewy tobacco arrives late as the vanilla gets super creamy and the fruit and honey combine on the slow fade.
Bottom Line:
I’d argue this is more of a sipper than a mixer. But then I made an old fashioned with this and it was delightfully full of creamy Nutella notes alongside soft spices and fruity tobacco. That said, this works really well with a few cubes or neat too.
9. Evan Williams Single Barrel
ABV: 43.3%
Average Price: $25
The Whiskey:
This is Heaven Hill’s hand-selected single barrel Evan Williams expression. The juice is from a single barrel, labeled with its distillation year, proofed just above 86, and bottled as is.
Tasting Notes:
This has a really nice nose full of woody cherry, salted caramel with a tart apple edge, and a soft leatheriness. The palate feels and tastes “classic” with notes of wintry spices (eggnog especially) with a lush creaminess supported by soft vanilla, a hint of orange zest, and plenty of spicy cherry tobacco. The end is supple with a hint of tart apple tobacco with a light caramel candy finish.
Bottom Line:
This has a nice winter spiciness to it that feels like both a great pairing dram but also a good pour going into the full-on holiday season. It’s also very easy to drink with a soft accessibility that’s lush but fun.
8. Jim Beam Single Barrel
ABV: 54%
Average Price: $24
The Whiskey:
Each of these Jim Beam bottlings is pulled from single barrels that hit just the right spot of taste, texture, and drinkability, according to the master distillers at Beam. That means this juice is pulled from less than one percent of all barrels in Beam’s warehouses, making this a very special bottle at a bafflingly affordable price.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with classic notes of vanilla sheet cake, salted caramel, wintry mulled wine spices, and a sense of cherry pie in a lard crust next to a hint of dried corn husk, old broom bristle, and dark chocolate pipe tobacco. The palate layers in floral honey and orange zest next to sticky toffee pudding, old leather, and cherry tobacco layered with the dark chocolate with this lingering sense of coconut cream pie lurking somewhere in the background. The finish leans into more woody winter spices (especially cinnamon bark and nutmeg) with rich toffee and that cherry-chocolate tobacco braided with dry sweetgrass and cedar bark.
Bottom Line:
Orange zest and sticky toffee pudding are very “holiday season” flavor notes. This really is a great, easy, and affordable pour that’s on pretty much every shelf around the country.
7. Eagle Rare 10
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $49
The Whiskey:
This might be one of the most beloved (and still accessible) bottles from Buffalo Trace. This juice is made from their very low rye mash bill. The whiskey is then matured for at least ten years in various parts of the warehouse. The final mix comes down to barrels that hit just the right notes to make them “Eagle Rare.” Finally, this one is proofed down to a fairly low 90 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Old leather boots, burnt orange rinds, oily sage, old oak staves, and buttery toffee round out the nose. Marzipan covered in dark chocolate opens the palate as floral honey and ripe cherry lead to a winter cake vibe full of raisins, dark spices, and toffee sauce. The end has a balance of all things winter treats as the marzipan returns and the winter spice amp up alongside a hint of spicy cherry tobacco and old cedar.
Bottom Line:
This is a great pour over a single, large ice cube. The water and lower temperature let the whiskey get a little creamier with the marzipan, chocolate, and spiced cake really amping up.
6. Michter’s US *1 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45.7%
Average Price: $40
The Whiskey:
Michter’s really means the phrase “small batch” here. The tank they use to marry their hand-selected eight-year-old bourbons can only hold 20 barrels, so that’s how many go into each small-batch bottling. The blended juice is then proofed with Kentucky’s famously soft limestone water and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is very fruity with a mix of bruised peach, red berries (almost like in a cream soda), and apple wood next to a plate of waffles with brown butter and a good pour of maple syrup that leads to a hint of cotton candy. The sweetness ebbs on the palate as vanilla frosting leads to grilled peaches with a crack of black pepper next to singed marshmallows. The end is plummy and full of rich toffee next to a dash of cedar bark and vanilla tobacco.
Bottom Line:
While I do tend to use this for simple bourbon cocktails, this really is the quintessential bourbon pour both neat and on the rocks. I really dig it over some ice with a dash of Angostura bitters and that’s it. It’s just classic.
5. Kirkland Signature Single Barrel by Barton 1792 Master Distillers
ABV: 60%
Average Price: $32 (1-liter bottle)
The Whiskey:
This Costco release is sourced from Sazerac’s other Kentucky distillery, Barton 1792 Distillery down in Bardstown, Kentucky. The whiskey in the bottle is very likely the same distillate/barrels as 1792 Full Proof. However, this is proofed down a tiny bit below that at 120 proof instead of 125 proof, adding some nuance to this release.
Tasting Notes:
This is a classic nose full of salted caramel next to dried red chili, Mounds bars, mulled wine spices, and creamy vanilla malt milkshakes with a cherry on top. The palate really leans into the sour mulled wine focusing on star anise, cardamom, allspice, cinnamon, and maybe even some cumin next o brown sugar clumps, creamy eggnog, and a cherry-dark chocolate tobacco vibe with a slightly woody edge. The end into the spiciness and wood with a hint of black potting soil, firewood bark, and warm cinnamon in a cherry-apple hot buttered rum cider.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best deals in all of bourbon with a deeply-hewn flavor profile. This is an essential easy sipper that will bloom in the glass with a little water and time spent nosing and tasting.
4. Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Batch no. 21-08
ABV: 56.25%
Average Price: $45
The Whisky:
This special release from Maker’s Mark is their classic wheated bourbon turned up a few notches. The batch is made from no more than 19 barrels of whiskey. Once batched, that whiskey goes into the barrel at cask strength with no filtering, just pure whiskey-from-the-barrel vibes.
Tasting Notes:
Burnt caramel candies and lush vanilla lead the way on the nose with hints of dry straw, sour cherry pie, and spiced apple cider with a touch of eggnog lushness. The palate has a sense of spicy caramel with a vanilla base that leads to apricot jam, southern biscuits, and a flake of salt with a soft mocha creaminess. The end is all about the buzzy tobacco spiciness with a soft vanilla underbelly and a hint of cherry syrup.
Bottom Line:
Cask Strength Maker’s is always a good idea. The wheated bourbon really shines at this ABV, especially when you add a rock to let it blossom in the glass. That eggnog lushness really amps up with deeply spiced apple cider and creamy choco-cherry goodness.
3. Wild Turkey Rare Breed Barrel Proof Bourbon
ABV: 58.4%
Average Price: $54
The Whiskey:
This is the mountaintop of what the main line of Wild Turkey can achieve (this is easily found on liquor store shelves for the most part). This is a blend of the prime barrels that are married and bottled untouched. That means no filtering and no cutting with water. This is a classic Turkey bourbon with nowhere to hide.
Tasting Notes:
This opens like a dessert table during the holidays with crème brûlée next to a big sticky toffee pudding with orange zest sprinkled over the top next to a bushel of fresh mint. The palate hits an early note of pine resin as the orange kicks up towards a bold wintry spice, soft vanilla cream, and a hint of honeyed cherry tobacco. The end keeps the winter spices front and center as a lush pound cake feeling leads to soft notes of cherry-spiced tobacco leaves folded into an old cedar box with a whisper of old vanilla pods lurking in the background.
Bottom Line:
This whiskey’s flavor profile is a consummate bourbon experience. Those bold wintry spices are the star of the show with a great throughline of orange, tobacco, and vanilla that feels very holiday dessert.
2. Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Bottled-In-Bond Indiana Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $59
The Whiskey:
This new release from Huber Farm’s Starlight Distillery (the distillery to know if you’re in the know) is made from their high-corn mash with a sweet mash method (each batch is fresh) in their old copper pot still. The whiskey is barreled in Canton barrels and left to age on the farm for four years before it’s batched (only 20 barrels) and proofed down to 100 proof for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Stewed cherries, figgy pudding, apple butter, cinnamon waffles, woody maple syrup, and dark chocolate with a pinch of salt all dance on the nose. The palate leans into Cherry Coke with a spice vibe, burnt orange peels, cloves, creamy eggnog, sour mulled wine, and a hint of apple fritter dusted with cinnamon sugar. The end has a singed cherry bark sensation that leads to dry winter spices — star anise, allspice, clove, cinnamon, and pine — next to dates and prunes layered into pipe tobacco with a twinge of dark chocolate and cedar.
Bottom Line:
This is a trifecta bourbon. It has the wow factor of a great flavor profile, the niche/special factor of true craft a lot of folks haven’t cottoned onto yet, and has a great story to tell (small family farm in Indiana, unique barrels, true small batch, etc.). Trust me, this will be a hit at any Thanksgiving table.
1. Chattanooga Whiskey Bottled In Bond Vintage Series Fall 2018 Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $53
The Whisky:
The latest seasonal drop from Tennessee’s Chattanooga Whiskey is another great. The juice is a blend of four of their mash bills. 30% comes from mash bill SB091, which is a mix of yellow corn, malted rye, caramel malted barley, and honey malted barley. Another 30% comes from mash bill B002, which has yellow corn, hardwood smoked malted barley (smoked with beech, mesquite, apple, or cherry), caramel malted barley, caramel malted, and honey malted barley. The next 20% is mash bill B005, which is yellow corn, malted wheat, oak smoked malted wheat, and caramel malted wheat. And the last 20% is from mash bill R18098, which is yellow corn, pale malted barley, naked malted oats, double roasted caramel malted barley, peated malted barley, cherrywood smoked malted barley, chocolate malt, and de-husked chocolate malt.
Tasting Notes:
Cinnamon, brown butter sugar, walnut, and raisins meld on the nose with some vanilla to create a moist oatmeal cookie next to buckwheat pancakes griddled in brown butter and topped with apple butter, and maybe some apricot jam with a dash of nutmeg, dark chocolate shavings, and creamy vanilla whipped cream. The palate leans into cherry hand pies and vanilla wafers with a counter of dried wild sage, orchard tree bark, and meaty dates. The end has a sharp turn into dried red chili pepper cut with pipe tobacco, dark chocolate bars, cedar bark, burnt orange, and lime leaves with this whisper of cinnamon cookies at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is just a great pour all around, Thanksgiving, holidays, summer, or whenever. It’s also still a little niche enough to get people’s attention and maybe even make some new fans because, again, this is really good whiskey.
