Do you ever find yourself standing in the aisle of the liquor store looking at the ever-expanding bourbon selection and wandering if the bottle you're passing up could be the next Pappy? Well, truth be told there is really only ever going to be one Pappy, but there sure are a lot of good choices on store shelves these days. Today's post highlights five bourbons that are affordable and certainly drink above their price point and as such should be on every Bourboneur's home bar shelves!
Marketed as “the original wheated bourbon” Weller Special Reserve is above all else, an easy drinker. At only 90 proof it is a smooth pour with relatively nuanced flavor notes that do not overpower the dram. For being the entry point to the brand, you immediately think…if this twenty some dollar bottle is THIS good, then the other Weller Bourbons must be amazing! As a matter of fact, that line of logic is entirely true. Although you may have to find your way to Ohio or Texas which seem to get the lion's share of the allocation of this bottle, this should be a part of everyone's lineup....(insert road trip contemplation here).
Double the oak and double the amazingness, the most expensive bottle of the five we're suggesting today at a whole fifty some odd bucks, is one of Bourboneur's favorites. It's one of the few bottles of which I keep a number of extras in my closet for emergencies. Above all, it's a smooth pour that has a lot of the things that are quintessential to the American bourbon experience...oak, obviously...vanilla, ribbons of caramel and a touch of spice. It's more sweet than anything but it's a good one, if you haven't met it yet, get acquainted...you'll be saying "did we just become best friends?"
Four Roses puts out some great stuff and their single barrel offering is no exception. Overall, it's got a lot going for it and won't break the bank either. It's got just enough complexity to be interesting but not so much as to be overwhelming for some folks who may be new to bourbon to unpackage.
This is one cheap bottle that delivers more bourbony goodness than so many other much more expensive bottles sitting on my shelves at home. If you've got a twenty-dollar bill, grab it along with some change from your couch and buy one of these. From the start, nosing this to the finish it really provides a great all-around experience. There are five other bottles in the Benchmark lineup, all equally as cheap...if you're curious about the rest and have four minutes, we've done the legwork for you and have All Benchmark Bourbon's Ranked.
The second release in Old Foresters Whiskey Row Series, the name of this bottle is a hat tip to the year in which the Bottled-in-Bond Act was passed - with the 100 proof actually being what historically the distillery produced spirits at, at the time of the Acts passage. This fruit forward pour has a great nose and quite recently was a top pour of the evening during one of our many blinded bourbon tastings in the Bourboneur garage bar. Definitely one that should be a part of your regular lineup!
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