It’s the season of seemingly non-stop holiday parties and gift-giving. There’s a pretty good chance that over the next few weekends, you’ll end up at a holiday shindig and need to bring a bottle of something to add to the table. Why not bring a delicious bottle of bourbon for merry-making, mixing, and sipping?
And while it’s fun to bring mic-drop bottles of bourbon to some occasions, you don’t need to break the bank to find a really good bourbon for the holidays. You’ve got us to steer you toward the cost-efficient gems.
Below, we’re calling out 20 bourbons that are all under $60. Most of these bourbons will be very easy to find at any good liquor store. A few of them are a little more niche and may only be available in select markets or direct from the distiller — but you can still nab them. The point of this list is to give options for very good bourbon that will please your crew, family, and co-workers this holiday party season.
We did rank these bourbons. All of these bourbons are well-made but some offer more delectable sipability while others work wonders in cocktails. It’s all great, but the best of the best — at this price point — is ranked at the top of the pack. So find the tasting notes that feel right for your vibe, hit those price links, and snag a great bourbon for holiday sipping.
Let’s dive in!
20. Jack Daniel’s Bonded Tennessee Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $31
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is made from Jack’s classic mash of 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye before it’s twice distilled and run through Jack’s long Lincoln County sugar maple charcoal filtration process. The spirit then goes into the barrel for at least four years — per bonded law — before it’s batched, cut down with a little water, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with Cherry Jolly Ranchers next to sweet cedar bark braided with old strands of leather and orange-laced tobacco leaves with a hint of vanilla wafer and general “health food store” vibes underneath it all.
Palate: The palate feels like warm apple pie on a sunny day with the best vanilla ice cream on top as layers of eggnog nutmeg and creaminess move toward a Cream of Wheat vibe.
Finish: Some apple wood chips for a smoker and a hint of almond shells pop on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is the essential mixing bourbon on the list. You’ll want to mix up good highballs (think Jack and Coke, Jack and Ginger, or a good mineral water highball with a nice garnish) or cocktails (think citrus-forward or noggy).
19. Bib & Tucker Double Char Bourbon Aged 6 Years
ABV: 44%
Average Price: $57
The Whiskey:
This new release from Bib & Tucker starts as a six-year-old Tennessee whiskey aged in new oak. Those barrels are batched and re-barreled into heavily charred and smoked new oak barrels for an additional five-month rest. Finally, those barrels are batched and then the whiskey is proofed and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Smoldering apple and cherrywood drive the nose toward creamy vanilla sauce and cake with sharp cinnamon, allspice, and clove spiciness.
Palate: Freshly fried maple bars and roasted corn are accented by salted butter and smoldering cinnamon sticks with a light sense of vanilla pods.
Finish: Those vanilla pods get a tad smoky on the end as toasted oak and old winter spice barks lead to a warm finish with hints of maple and cherry.
Bottom Line:
This is another great bottle to have on hand for mixing up woody spice-forward winter cocktails. Pour this into a maple old fashioned or chocolate-infused Manhattan and you’ll be all set.
18. Bulleit Bourbon 10 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45.6%
Average Price: $45
The Whiskey:
This is classic (sourced) Bulleit Bourbon that’s aged up to 10 years before it’s blended and bottled. The barrels are hand-selected to really amplify those classic “Bulleit” flavors that make this brand so damn accessible (and beloved) in the first place.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A lot is going on with butter and spicy stewed apples, maple syrup, Christmas cakes full of nuts and dried fruit, and a hint of savory herbs all pinging through your nose.
Palate: The palate brings about smooth and creamy vanilla with plenty of butter toffee, sourdough crust, more X-mas spice, cedar bark, and a hint of dried roses.
Finish: The finish is long, warming, and really embraces the toffee and spice.
Bottom Line:
This is a good multi-use bourbon. You can pour this over some rocks and sip it as slowly or quickly as you like. You can also make a mean cocktail or highball with this one and everyone will be happy around the holiday table.
17. Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $35
The Whiskey:
This is the whiskey that heralded a new era of bourbon in 1999. Famed Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee came out of retirement to create this bourbon to celebrate the renaming of the George T. Stagg distillery to Buffalo Trace when Sazerac bought the joint. The rest, as they say, is history — especially since this has become a touchstone bourbon for the brand.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Classic notes of vanilla come through next to a dark maple syrup sweetness, a flourish of fresh mint, and a leatheriness that’s just punctuated by dark burnt orange.
Palate: The palate cuts through the sweeter notes with plenty of spices — like clove, star anise, cardamom, and cinnamon — next to a hint of tart berries, a whisper of dark chocolate, and a dash of sweetly spiced oak.
Finish: The end is long and lush and slowly fades back through the dark citrus and berries with a lively spiced finish.
Bottom Line:
This is another great option if you’re focusing on cocktails. This is an essential whiskey-forward cocktail base that’ll shine in any application. The lower ABVs mean that you can also shoot this one if you’re so inclined.
16. Knob Creek Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 9 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $44 (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 that’s 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:
Nose: 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.
Palate: The palate mixes almond, orange, and vanilla into cinnamon sticky buns with a hint of sour cherry soda that leads to a nice Kentucky hug on the mid-palate.
Finish: 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:
This is classic Kentucky bourbon through and through and makes excellent cocktails. Try it in whiskey sours, boozy nogs, and refined old fashioneds. Or use it as a slow sipper over some ice. It’ll work!
15. Barrell Foundation Bourbon Aged 5 Years A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $54
The Whiskey:
Barrell Craft Spirits have cornered the market on cask-strength single barrels and batched blends of bourbon, rye, and American whiskey. Now, they’re finally releasing a non-cask-strength bourbon for the masses. This whiskey is a batch of bourbons from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Maryland that is proofed down to 100-proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Candied cherries and cranberry sauce drive the nose toward hints of dark chocolate, brown butter, and cardamon cake.
Palate: Pecan waffles dripping with brown butter and maple syrup lead on the palate with a sense of rye fennel and anise notes next to lemon poppyseed cake, a note of cinnamon cookie, and maybe a touch of eggnog-spiked lattes.
Finish: That creaminess leads back to the rich vanilla and woody spice barks with a sense of toffee rolled in roasted almond and dipped in salted dark chocolate before a rich pipe tobacco rolled with old saddle leather arrives.
Bottom Line:
This is another nice slow sipper over some ice, which lets it open up to a lot of unique flavor notes. Still, this is designed for good cocktail making so use it accordingly.
14. Heaven’s Door Revival Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $54
The Whiskey:
This new re-design of Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon is a minimum of six years old. Those barrels are left in single-story rickhouses in Tennessee where cool air dominates and you never get the extremely high temps of crow’s nests on high floors. Once just right, the barrels are batched, the whiskey is proofed, and the bourbon is bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich vanilla and caramel lead the nose toward crafty sweet grain porridge, old firewood, and a mild sense of chocolate malt milkshakes just kissed with winter spice.
Palate: That winter spice amps up through the palate with a sweet sense of eggnog and cinnamon toast with a hint of toffee and earthiness tied back to the old firewood on the nose.
Finish: That woodiness drives the warm finish with plenty of spice accented by creamy cinnamon honey.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice and very classic sipper, especially on the rocks. You can also easily mix this into simple cocktails and enjoy the flow.
13. Jim Beam Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 54%
Average Price: $20
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:
Nose: 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.
Palate: 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.
Finish: The finish leans into more woody winter spices (especially cinnamon bark and nutmeg) with rich toffee and cherry-chocolate tobacco braided with dry sweetgrass and cedar bark.
Bottom Line:
This is the best-value bottle on the list by far. This will also be the best bottle to buy for Jim Beam fans who want something a little special this holiday season. Once you open the bottle, make some great old fashioneds with a holiday twist.
12. FEW Spirits Alice in Chains “All Secrets Known” Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Tequila Barrels
ABV: 50.5%
Average Price: $59
The Whiskey:
FEW Spirits just dropped their second Alice in Chains collab and it’s a doozy. The whiskey in the bottle is made with FEW’s award-winning bourbon that’s been re-barreled into ex-tequila casks for another six months of maturation. Those barrels were batched and then the whiskey was just kissed with local water before bottling. Finally, a special label was created by creative artist Justin Helton, who worked with the band on the artwork.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The whiskey draws you in with a classic sense of spiced cherries over vanilla pound cake with plenty of deep and rich oak, caramel, and winter spices with a hint of apple orchards full of falling leaves.
Palate: Those falling leaves and hints of smoldering smudging sage lead back to the dark cherries soaked in brandy and dipped in dark chocolate with a flake of salt before a rich and creamy caramel arrives.
Finish: That caramel binds with lush vanilla on the finish next to moments of apple orchards, cherry pie, and dry bales of straw next to piles of cedar-laced tobacco in leather pouches.
Bottom Line:
This is a little more niche of a bottle but a great one for a hard rock crew this holiday season. Spin some grunge, pour this over ice, and let the evening’s festivities roll.
11. Green River Kentucky Straight Wheated Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $33
The Whiskey:
This new release from Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Green River distillery is a wheated classic. The whiskey in the bottle is made from a mash bill (recipe) of 70% Kentucky-grown corn, 21% wheat, and 9% malted 6-Row barley. That whiskey then spends four to six years mellowing before batching, proofing, and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This pops on the nose with rich caramel next to soft roasted peach and apricot, cinnamon bark and nutmeg with a creamy vibe, and a hint of Cream of Wheat cut with maple syrup.
Palate: Toffee drives the palate toward Nutella and honey over buttermilk biscuits with an apple/pear tobacco aura that leads to a soft orange.
Finish: The end is rich and full of stewed fruits — peach, pear, orange, raisins — and a mild sense of oaky spice and a mild graininess.
Bottom Line:
This might be the best old fashioned base on the list. It just works so well with that simple and classic flavor profile. You might even want to batch your old fashioned with this one.
10. Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky
ABV: 56.25%
Average Price: $42
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:
Nose: 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.
Palate: 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.
Finish: The end is all about the buzzy tobacco spiciness with a soft vanilla underbelly and a hint of cherry syrup.
Bottom Line:
This is Maker’s Mark turned up to max volume and it’s a delight. If you’re into making Manhattans, use this for a punchy version that leans into the sweet spice.
9. Bardstown Bourbon Company Origin Series Botted-In-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $49
The Whiskey:
This brand-new release from Bardstown Bourbon Company is 100% their own whiskey. The juice is made from a wheated bourbon mash bill — 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley — down in Bardstown, Kentucky. The whiskey spends about six years mellowing before it’s just kissed with local water and bottled at 100 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with a sense of orange Jolly Ranchers, powdered cacao, and stewed peaches with classic bourbon vanilla and an oaky vibe.
Palate: The palate is a mix of apricot jam, pear cores, and red berries with a mix of spiced orange candy tobacco wrapped around dry wicker and cedar bark.
Finish: The end leans into the sweet and spiced orange while the tobacco slowly fades through sweet caramel and vanilla buttercream toward a silky finish.
Bottom Line:
This is another great bourbon for versatility. While this works wonders in any cocktail combo, you can easily sip this over some rocks and be very happy about it.
8. George Dickel Bottled in Bond Tennessee Whisky Fall 2008 Aged 13 Years
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $44
The Whisky:
Master Distiller 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, the whiskey was bottled at 100 proof (as per the bottled-in-bond law) and left to rest. Last fall, new releases of that Tennessee whiskey were sent out to much acclaim.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: 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.
Palate: 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.
Finish: 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 bottle that has no business still costing so little. Wow your crew it this super refined sipper and then make a killer cocktail with it!
7. Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $49
The Whiskey:
This expression takes standard Woodford Bourbon and gives it a finishing touch. The six to eight-year-old bourbon is blended and moved into new barrels that have been double-toasted but only lightly charred. The whiskey spends a final nine months resting in those barrels before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a welcoming aroma of butterscotch, blackberry, toffee, and fresh honey next to a real sense of pitchy, dry firewood.
Palate: The taste drills down on those notes as the sweet marzipan becomes more choco-hazelnut, the berries become increasingly dried and apple-y, the toffee becomes almost burnt, and the wood softens to a cedar bark.
Finish: 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:
This will be among the easiest bottles to find. It’s also a hell of a cocktail base or slow sipper over some nice ice. Add a dried orange garnish or some dried honeycomb to really help it pop.
6. Chattanooga Whiskey Bottled In Bond 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 whiskey 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:
Nose: Cinnamon, butter brown 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.
Palate: The palate leans into cherry hand pies and vanilla wafers with a counter of dried wild sage, orchard tree bark, and meaty dates.
Finish: 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 the bottle you bring when you want to show off your crafty whiskey acumen. This is a great sipper or cocktail base that’s 100% its own vibe but is just familiar enough to be a crowd-pleaser.
It’s a very “Oh, that’s nice!” sort of whiskey pour.
5. Four Roses Small Batch Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 52%
Average Price: $57
The Whiskey:
This expression uses six of Four Rose’s ten whiskeys. The blend employs OBSV, OBSK, OBSF, OESV, OESK, and OESF (see what that all means here) all aged six to seven years before batching, much lighter proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This nose is enticing with a mix of dark berries and cloves with a yeasty doughnut filled with dark fruit and covered in powdered sugar next to a thin line of berry brambles — stems, thorns, dirt, leaves, everything.
Palate: The palate is lush with a balance of dark berry pie filling next to winter spices, mincemeat pies, nutshells, and brandy butter vanilla sauce.
Finish: The finish arrives with a rush of fresh mint next to wet cedar, blackberry Hostess Pies, and nutmeg-heavy eggnog all leading to a final note of that dark berry bramble black dirt.
Bottom Line:
This is the Four Roses that you get when you want a slow sipper neat or over a big rock. Then once everyone gets into it, you can make a killer Manhattan with this whiskey that’ll close out the night on a high note.
4. Michter’s US*1 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45.7%
Average Price: $43
The Whiskey:
Michter’s 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:
Nose: 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.
Palate: The sweetness ebbs on the palate as vanilla frosting leads to grilled peaches with a crack of black pepper next to singed marshmallows.
Finish: The end is plummy and full of rich toffee next to a dash of cedar bark and vanilla tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is the best all-around cocktail whiskey on the list. You can make any great cocktail with this whiskey and it’ll shine. It also works perfectly well over some rocks as a sipper as well.
3. Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 10 Years
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $47
The Whiskey:
This might be one of the most beloved (and still accessible) bottles from Buffalo Trace. This whiskey is made from their very low rye mash bill. The hot juice 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:
Nose: Old leather boots, burnt orange rinds, oily sage, old oak staves, and buttery toffee draw you in on the nose before a sense of old fallow fruit orchards with falling leaves hints at old brick barrelhouses in the distance with a whisper of dried apple.
Palate: 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 before deep and earthy barrel warehouse vibes arrive with a sense of the cobwebs, mold, and ancient wood takes over.
Finish: 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 wrapped with smudging sage, old fall leaves, and bourbon-soaked oak stave from decades ago.
Bottom Line:
Pour this over a big rock and you’ll be set for all the holiday sipping this season. Or make a dope classic old fashioned with it.
2. Legent Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Partially Finished in Wine & Sherry Casks
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $37
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 whiskey is then blended by whisky-blending legend Shinji Fukuyo at Suntory.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Plummy puddings with hints of nuts mingle with vinous berries, oaky spice, and a good dose of vanilla and toffee on the nose.
Palate: The palate expands on the spice with more barky cinnamon and dusting of nutmeg while the oak becomes sweeter and the fruit becomes dried and sweet.
Finish: The finish is jammy yet light with plenty of fruit, spice, and oak lingering on the senses before a lush mulled wine and holiday cake vibe rounds out the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is a great pairing whiskey for a big holiday meal thanks to all that spiced wine / holiday cake energy.
1. Wild Turkey Rare Breed Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 58.4%
Average Price: $53
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:
Nose: 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.
Palate: 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.
Finish: 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 is the best all-around bourbon at this price point. This is an excellent sipper neat or over a single rock. Plus, this will make an excellent whiskey-forward cocktail that’s either classic or holiday-themed. This bottle will be empty by the end of the night, is what we’re getting at.
