We’re deep in August, which means it’s still backyard BBQ season. And with Labor Day coming, there’s a good chance you’ll be eating some ribs before the leaves start to turn. Hell, even if the leaves are falling, that shouldn’t stop you from eating great ribs. Moreover, if you are tucking into a slab, you need to know which bottle of bourbon whiskey to sip along with it.
For this tasting/pairing, I pulled eight classic and “finable” bourbon whiskeys from my shelf. The point of these bottles is that you can find them nationwide (in general) and that they’re affordable. Every bottle is under $50 with the average sitting around 20 bucks. Basically, I want you to actually be able to get the bottle that pairs best with the ribs.
Speaking of the ribs, I went to my local BBQ joint here in Kentucky. I got a full slab of fall-off-the-bone pork ribs which were rubbed, slow smoked, and then slathered in sweet and spicy bourbon sauce. You can see from the image below — it is indeed legit.
One last thing before I dive in: My method was pretty straightforward. I nosed and tasted the bourbon (spitting and not drinking) to prime my palate for the rib. I then had a bite of rib, enjoyed it, and then another taste of the whiskey. I did that with all eight bourbons. Here’s how it shook out.
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Part 1: The Pairings & Ranking
8. Evan Williams Black Label — Taste 8
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $13
The Whiskey:
This is the entry point for Evan Williams. The juice is a mix of four to seven-year-old barrels of the standard Heaven Hill bourbon. The difference in this bottle is that it’s proofed at a slightly higher 43 proof.
Tasting Notes with The Rib:
There was a big citrus note on the nose I’ve never experienced before with Evan Williams. It was kind of like a Mountain Dew vibe. The palate really leaned into standard and soft notes of vanilla, spice, oak, and cherry with a hint of apple juice.
The meat took on a sweeter edge but wasn’t that different than the control bite. There was a twinge more spiciness but that was about it.
Bottom Line:
This pairing changed the bourbon quite a bit but I’m not sure for the better. As for the rib, it didn’t have that much of an effect either way to make a big impact. And that’s why Evan Williams falls to last in this pairing and ranking.
7. Ezra Brooks Kentucky Sour Mash — Taste 5
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $13
The Whiskey:
Luxco’s Ezra Brooks is a throwback to the Mad Men days of bourbon. The juice is a standard rye-infused bourbon without an age statement. It’s made as a workhorse whiskey that’s easy to find and cheap when you do find it.
Tasting Notes with The Rib:
This really pops with vanilla on the nose. The palate bursts with sweet cherry notes with an echo of sour in there. A good level of spice adds warmth to the taste as a hint of caramel sweetness sneaks in late with more of that vanilla and heat.
The huge vanilla note didn’t really vibe with the sweet, smoky, and spicy rib. It didn’t detract that much but it was kind of like a square peg in a round hole situation.
Bottom Line:
Maybe save the Ezra for the banana pudding or peach cobbler dessert course? This was just too vanilla-forward for this pairing.
6. High West Bourbon — Taste 4
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $32
The Whiskey:
High West Bourbon is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after sourced whiskeys. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of two to 13-year-old barrels rendered from high-rye and low-rye mashes alongside undisclosed whiskeys, some of which are sourced from MGP.
Tasting Notes with The Rib:
There’s a leathery and slightly funky nose with a hint of oatmeal and maybe some grilled corn. The palate has a nice char to it that matched well with the meat that leans into the sweetness of the bourbon. The end is all warming spices and brown sugar.
That charred note is a good pairing between this whiskey and the pork. It feels right. The sweetness of the whiskey also matches the sweetness of the sauce but is a little sweet on sweet and washes out the spiciness a bit.
Bottom Line:
This worked until it didn’t. The sweetness overpowered the spice and char relationship and left you with a sweet mouthful of pork and whiskey.
5. Knob Creek 9 — Taste 2
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 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 with The Rib:
This is a cherry bomb on the nose with a woody sense of cinnamon sticks and a hint of sour mash (think sour biscuit dough). The palate holds onto that sour note as orange zest and cherry mix toward a Red Hot spicy mid-point and finish. The sweetness of the cherry does mute the hot spice a little at the end though.
The pork really matches on almost every level. The sour mash vibe pings with the vinegar sour edge in the sauce. The charred meat feels right with the woody spice. And the brown sugar in the sauce feels like it fits with the cherry sweetness.
Bottom Line:
Full disclosure, this and the next four were all great pairings. This is a little lower because it felt like the fat from the pork muted everything and washed it out a bit. In short, this paired nicely but faded fast. That said, at least it got to the point where I was thinking about it at that depth.
4. Wild Turkey 101 — Taste 1
ABV: 50.5%
Average Price: $20
The Whiskey:
A lot of Wild Turkey’s character comes from the hard and deep char they use on their oak barrels. 101 is a high-rye and high-ABV bourbon that leans into the wood and aging, having spent six years in the cask. A little water is added to cool it down a bit before bottling and that’s it.
Tasting Notes with The Rib:
This is nice and spicy on the nose with a mix of pepper, clove, and cinnamon with a hint of sour mash (kind of like a sour note in a BBQ sauce). The palate mixes sweet cherry syrup with cinnamon and pepper to create a nice balance of sweet and spicy depth. The end is mildly woody with a hint of wicker and molasses before hitting that spice again for a warm finish.
With the pork, this really shines. This was the first taste/pairing and it was a good setup as it hit spicy, sweet, and woody notes that really get dailed in in the next three tastes. All of that aside, this is the most straightforward pairing. The spice matches the spice. The sour matches the sour. The sweet feels the same.
Bottom Line:
While this matches very well, it doesn’t elevate. This is just really good, not “wow!” good.
3. Michter’s US*1 Small Batch Bourbon — Taste 3
ABV: 45.7%
Average Price: $40
The Whiskey:
Michter’s really means the phrase “small batch” with their bourbon whiskey. 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 filtered and proofed before bottling.
Tasting Notes with The Rib:
The nose on this one is oaky and full of old leather, soft cherry, and a hint of peach pie. The palate leans into a sweet cherry at first before diving into a woody spice mix with a hint of molasses caramel, more stewed peach, and a whisper of vanilla. The end lets the wood get a little worn as a hint of leather and cherry spice tobacco kick in.
This was the first complex bourbon that worked on every level while taking the pork somewhere new. The spiced cherry notes felt like they added to the bourbon sauce on the ribs, not just matching it. The molasses caramel also added a nice layer to counter the mild spicy heat in both the whiskey and the rib sauce. The meat felt lightly sweeter with the char working with that old oak.
Bottom Line:
This just works while actually adding some new dimensions to the overall experience of both the whiskey and the ribs. Still, this felt like a classic pour and ended before anything changed too dramatically.
2. George Dickel Bourbon — Taste 7
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $38
The Whiskey:
The whisky in the bottle is the same Dickel Tennessee whiskey but pulled from barrels that leaned more into classic bourbon flavor notes instead of Dickel’s iconic Tennessee whisky notes. The barrels are a minimum of eight years old before they’re vatted. The juice is then cut down to a manageable 90-proof and bottled.
Tasting Notes with The Rib:
This opens with spiced peaches and cherries next to a sweet brown sugar syrup with a deep sense of brown butter in sour apple. The palate is spicy but moves towards a dry green chili pepper vibe before a twinge of vanilla smooths everything out. The end is supple and full of soft chili spices, sour apple compote, and spiced peach.
That chili pepper vibe really helps the rib’s sauce and spice pop. The brown butter and sour apple also added a great dimension to the meat and fat. The only thing missing was something to amplify the char and wood aspects.
Bottom Line:
The lack of woodiness aside, this was a delicious pairing that felt like it took both the whiskey and the pork to a new level. The whiskey became this classic and silky bourbon that I never would have guessed was from Tennessee (there was zero chalkiness). The pork and sauce felt like it got the last dash of ingredients it needed to take it up that last notch.
1. Maker’s Mark — Taste 6
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $24
The Whisky:
This is Maker’s signature expression. It’s made from red winter wheat with corn and malted barley and then aged in seasoned Ozark oak for six to seven years. This expression’s juice is then built from only 150 barrels (making this a small batch, if you want to call it that). Those barrels are blended, proofed, bottled, and dipped in red wax.
Tasting Notes with The Rib:
This opens with a soft nose that’s brimming with dry sweetgrass, sour cherries, woody cinnamon, and old cedar park. The palate leans into porch wicker with a hint of leather, woody vanilla, nutmeg and clove, and almost smoky applewood. The end blends the orchard wood, buttery biscuit, and spices with the sour cherry for a well-rounded and soft finish.
The wood helps the meat really pop with a sense of the char and the smoke amplified really well. The sour cherry and spice work wonders with the sauce as the applewood ties everything together on the palate as the buttery edge vibes with the pork fat.
Bottom Line:
This is the full package. This is also the woodiest Maker’s has ever tasted to me. That’s both the meat and the whiskey elevated to new places. That makes this pairing a winner to me.
Part 2: Final Thoughts
This was an interesting exercise. While the meat changed only minorly through the tasting, these whiskeys tended to shift pretty dramatically.
There’s always a vanilla note in most bourbons. But the way this pairing turned the Ezra Brook’s vanilla note up to eleven was kind of wild. It was also incredible the new notes I found in the Maker’s on the woody/grassy end of the spectrum thanks to the fatty smoked meat. Moreover, the Dickel Bourbon was almost a different pour.
Overall, I still stand by the top five as all being solid choices for pairing with spicy, sweet, and smoky BBQ ribs. The top three are all great choices with Maker’s being the one. It’s cheap, you can buy it anywhere, and it really does elevate both as a whisky and the pork ribs you’re pairing with it. It’s a win all around.
