Bourbon, the Great American Spirit, is not as simple as one might think. Despite the increasing demand (and price) for much-hyped bottles, bourbon is an every-person drink. At the end of the day, it's a blue-collar spirit, made by thirsty farmers, for thirsty farmers. But underneath its fundamentals swims a deep sea of factors — additional rules and regulations, hype machines and deceptive marketing, false myths and a boom that began in 2008 and is still going strong today — that make bourbon more complex than it seems.
Sour mash and bottled-in-bond, non-distiller-producers and high-ryes. Where’s the thirsty modern bourbon drinker, farmer or otherwise, to begin? We asked whiskey personality and author Fred Minnick to uncover which bottles of bourbon lining the shelves are actually worthy of your bar cart, while also going to bat for some of our personal favorites. From your daily sipper to the best bottle to bring to a party, here are the best bourbons to drink in 2023.
Editor's note: Average prices for bottles sourced from Wine-Searcher.
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Knob Creek Small Batch 9-Year Bourbon Read More -
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Bourbon Read More
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Evan Williams Black Read More
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Four Roses Bourbon Read More
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New Riff Bottled-in-Bond Read More
About the Expert
We relied on one of the most esteemed bourbon experts in America, Fred Minnick. He has written multiple books on bourbon, has served as a judge at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the World Whiskey Awards, is the founder of Bourbon+ magazine, was the former lead American whiskey reviewer at Whiskey Advocate, hosts The Fred Minnick Show podcast (about bourbon) and is the Bourbon Authority for the Kentucky Derby Museum. Simply put, Minnick knows bourbon better than almost anyone in America. He has contributed frequently to our bourbon coverage over the years and is someone we regard as a friend.
To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.
Best Overall Bourbon
- Proof: 100
- Average Price: $38
- Tasting Notes: Marmalade, honey, maple
In a whiskey market that's become increasingly fragmented and allocated, Knob Creek's classic small-batch bourbon distinguishes itself. It's our best overall bourbon not by way of life-altering tasting notes — which include marmalade, honey and maple — but by stuffing the stat sheet in a way no other bourbon can. It is available everywhere and thus resistant to the price gouging associated with brands like Buffalo Trace. Its 100 proof retains a full body and mixes bonafides without lighting your mouth on fire. And in recent years the brand got its 9-year age guarantee back, too.
Best Upgrade Bourbon
- Proof: 125+
- Average Price: $96
- Tasting Notes: Heath Bar, cinnamon candy, roasted vanilla
This bourbon won Whisky Advocate’s Whiskey of the Year a few years back, and Minnick was on the tasting panel. “It was very, very nice bourbon,” he says, wistfully. It has none of the harshness you’d expect from a 133.2 proof bourbon, and doesn’t undergo chill filtering — instead just using light filtration to remove barrel char flakes. Tasting notes include Heath Bar and leather on the nose, with cinnamon candies, roasted vanilla and rye coming through in the palate.
Best Budget Bourbon
- Proof: 86
- Average Price: $15
- Tasting Notes: Oak, caramel, brown sugar
“If Evan Williams were to sell this whiskey to someone else, that brand would mark it up to $40, and people would be happy buying it,” Minnick says. But Evan Williams is a value brand. So its whiskey, at a great proof point of 86 and an age that Minnick says is roughly five-and-a-half years old, goes for less than $20. “It’s a fantastic bourbon, especially for the money,” he says. “You can get a lot of satisfaction out of that.” It's a classic-tasting bourbon with notes of oak, caramel and brown sugar.
Best Bourbon for Cocktails
- Proof: 80
- Average Price: $22
- Tasting Notes: Floral essence, fresh fruit, spice
“This is such a dynamic whiskey,” Minnick says. “And it’s the best cocktail bourbon out there.” Four Roses is a highly regarded distillery, with a high-rye mashbill that produces an extra spiciness to go along with its fruity and floral notes, and a concentration on yeast that has been “eye-opening” for the bourbon world. The brand has also led the way in transparency. “They’ll tell you everything there is to know about their whiskey — they don’t hide the mashbill, the distillation proof. I presume you could ask ’em how much their CEO makes and they’d tell you,” Minnick says.
Best Craft Bourbon
- Proof: 100
- Average Price: $44
- Tasting Notes: Rye spice, vanilla, oak
New Riff Distilling was founded in 2014. “Relative to Kentucky, they’ve been around for a few days. The rest of the nation is just kinda getting to know ’em,” Minnick says. The mashbill here, made entirely of non-GMO grains, is 65 percent corn, 30 percent rye and 5 percent malted barley. Lots of rye spices mingle with sweet vanilla on the palate.
Best Underrated Bourbon
- Proof: 114
- Average Price: $32
- Tasting Notes: Honey, bitter orange, warming spices
In 2017, Jim Beam’s Old Grand-Dad line of whiskeys was nearly axed. Now, thanks to rising whiskey prices and a consistently strong product, the brand — shortened to OGD by fans — has a cult following. Because it’s not a “hype” whiskey, doesn’t have a famous name and isn’t a limited release, it doesn’t get talked about — but we challenge you to find a bourbon with this much firepower at the price point. Its relatively low-corn mashbill (only 63 percent) is also unique, utilizing a staggering amount of rye and malted barley, creating a spicy bourbon ideal for drinking on the rocks or in a cocktail.
Best Tennessee Bourbon
- Proof: 90
- Average Price: $34
- Tasting Notes: Vanilla, cherry, almond toffee
Ninety-nine percent of Dickel products are officially Tennessee whiskey, not bourbon. Like in-state rivals Jack Daniel's, the brand is keen to remind drinkers that the two are not the same (even though they kind of are). First released in 2021, Dickel 8-Year Bourbon is the company's first official foray into bourbon whiskey, and it's a value-driven powerhouse. For something around $30, you get an expertly blended whiskey aged a minimum of 8 years with notes of cherry, orange, almond toffee and oak and bottled at a casual 90 proof. Its price, proof and age suggest it could be your next home bar staple.
Best Affordable Sipping Bourbon
- Proof: 92
- Average Price: $27
- Tasting Notes: Butterscotch, toffee, honey
With tasting notes that include butterscotch, toffee, caramel and honey, this is one for the sweet tooths. “This has an incredible sweetness to it,” Minnick says. “It’s not complex, but the sweetness is really nice — the way it hits the palate. It’s a good, inexpensive, wheated everyday sipper.”
Best Bourbon to Pair with Food
- Proof: 90
- Average Price: $32
- Tasting Notes: Caramel, oak, vanilla
Minnick has a unique use for one of bourbon’s classic names. “I drink so much Maker's with BBQ,” he says. Its mellow balance — helped by the prominent caramel notes of its wheated mash bill — doesn’t overpower meaty flavors.
Best Kentucky Straight Bourbon
- Proof: 94
- Average Price: $32
- Tasting Notes: Caramel, nutmeg, mint
Though it shares DNA with other Heaven Hill bourbons like Evan Williams and Henry McKenna, Elijah Craig Small Batch is balanced, with extra maltiness. “It’s got so much caramel, and a beautiful nutmeg note,” Minnick says. “This is all about the sweetness.”
Best Bourbon for a Party
- Proof: 100
- Average Price: $19
- Tasting Notes: Caramel corn, shortbread cookie, cinnamon
No one cared about Early Times until Sazerac (Buffalo Trace Distillery) bought it from Brown-Forman (Jack Daniel's, Old Forester, Woodford Reserve). The whiskey inside Early Times' wicked affordable Bottled-in-Bond expression is Brown-Forman-made, though, and it has that sweet-and-smooth Basil Hayden's thing going on, just with a more solid boozy backbone with a recurring note of caramel corn throughout. Oh, and it's sold in liters.
Best Gateway Bourbon
- Proof: 90
- Average Price: $39
- Tasting Notes: Red berries, sweet oak, dried spice
Four Roses’s upgrade over its standard offering blends 180 barrels of four different recipes per bottling. “If you love cinnamon notes, you’ll love this,” Minnick says. It’s more complex than regular FR, but still drinks easy. “It’s what I want to sip at a ballgame.”
Best Versatile Bourbon
- Proof: 90.4
- Average Price: $58
- Tasting Notes: Vanilla, caramel, honey apple
Don't take Woodford Reserve's Double Oaked's ubiquity for mediocrity. The spirit is one of those rare drinks that is loved by both bourbon enthusiasts and amateurs. While there's no age statement on the bottle, it's believed that Double Oaked is aged for at least six years. The juice starts its time in a new charred oak barrel (as it should) before it is dumped into a second charred oak barrel that's been more deeply toasted. This makes a wonderful sipper or gift to a friend, and since Woodford Reserve is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby, you'd best believe this makes an excellent base for a mint julep with its myriad notes of fruit and spice.
Most Nuanced Bourbon
- Proof: 115
- Average Price: $62
- Tasting Notes: Maple syrup, green peppercorn, s'mores
It’s bottled at 115 proof — “for this distillery, that’s the perfect proof,” Minnick says. “I’m going through a bottle a month. The notes kind of just linger. You can have five different notes hitting at once. I believe that to be the definition of nuance.” Among that plethora of lingering notes, you'll find interesting tastes like maple syrup, green peppercorn, coriander, and even a s'mores-like finish of chocolate, graham cracker and toasted marshmallow.
Best Bourbon to Drink Neat
- Proof: 100
- Average Price: $50
- Tasting Notes: Plum, cocoa, vanilla
Made using a single recipe and barrel per bottle, it’s between seven and eight years old and has more complexity than the Small Batch. “For being the same brand as the Small Batch, they taste very different. This one is more of a sipper. I want to really sit there and think about it when I’m drinking it,” Minnick says. Plum, pear, cocoa and vanilla are among the tasting notes here.
Best Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon
- Proof: 100
- Average Price: $76
- Tasting Notes: Honey, herbal, spicy
The McKenna distillery was established in 1855, founded by its eponymous Irish immigrant distiller. Seagrams closed the business in the 1970s, and Heaven Hill purchased the brand name in 1994, but no longer uses the original recipe; as Minnick notes in his book, “The original yeast, mashbill and flavor profile are gone, lost with time.” But one thing the new bottle does have is time: its 10-year age statement makes it one of the older bourbons at this price range. Take heed, though, since it somewhat controversially took home “Best in Show, Whiskey” at San Francisco World Spirits Competition a few years ago it’s been harder to come by, and more expensive than it used to be. The taste is sweet and spicy with a hint of herbaceousness.
Best Wheated Bourbon
- Proof: 100
- Average Price: $54
- Tasting Notes: Fruit, nuts, candy
Craft bourbon's rep is tarnished by a few bad apples making subpar whiskey. Wilderness Trail does not make subpar whiskey. One of the few universally praised non-macro whiskey makers in the U.S., its wheated offering has one of the highest ratios of wheat in the mashbill out of any Kentucky bourbon at 24 percent. It's a Bottled-in-Bond, sweet mash bourbon with flavor that suggests the five-to-six-year aging claim is an error — this bourbon tastes significantly older. Whether it's the softer flavor imparted by the sweet mash (the vast majority of modern bourbon is sour mashed) or the distiller's proprietary "infusion mashing" process or something else entirely, the result is a wicked, wicked pour.
Best Giftable Bourbon
- Proof: 90
- Average Price: $42
- Tasting Notes: Caramel, vanilla, spicy
Don't tell your bourbon-drinking friends, but Russell's spicy-caramel-and-vanilla-tasting Reserve 10-year-old bourbon is one of the best values in the bourbon world. Age statement in the double digits for $40 or less? Yes. Produced by a respected distiller (Wild Turkey)? Yes. Nice, easy-drinking proof? Yes. This is what you drink when you need a break from barrel-proof juice.
Best High-End Craft Bourbon
- Proof: 115 (varies by bottling)
- Average Price: $56
- Tasting Notes: Cotton candy, cayenne pepper, macadamia nuts
Stellum is a more affordable Barrell Bourbon. It's a cask-strength blend created by the blending masters at Barrell Craft Spirits and it is a doozy. It's made up of whiskeys from Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky, with ages ranging from 4 to 16 years old. It has a highly complex taste, with everything from cotton candy and cayenne pepper to macadamia nuts and underripe blackberries showing up across the nose and palate. It's dynamic and well worth the sticker price.
Best Pappy Van Winkle Alternative
- Proof: 90
- Average Price: $319
- Tasting Notes: Wheat, creamed corn, toasted vanilla
Pappy Van Winkle’s impossible-to-find wheated bourbon has become such a hype monster that other wheated bourbons from Buffalo Trace’s portfolio have seen their own popularity skyrocket due to their proximity. Case in point is the original wheated bourbon, Weller’s signature 12-year bourbon. While it has an MSRP of just $40 (and costing half that much just a decade or so ago), it’s become one of the industry’s hottest bottles in recent years, and these days market prices hover around $300. If you can get your hands on the bottle — like the Dutton clan did in season 5 of Yellowstone — you’ll be treated to notes of creamed corn, toasted vanilla and a heavy dose of wheat. Our tester found that the 12-year is a little rough around the edges neat — it is meant to be an affordable bourbon, after all — but dropping in an ice cube really opens up its sweet wheat side.
Best Hidden Gem Bourbon
- Proof: 117
- Average Price: $82
- Tasting Notes: Brown sugar, vanilla, oak
Luxco’s Old Ezra line could be one of the best-kept secrets in whiskey. Bourbon with an age statement and available at barrel strength for a decent price? That’s nuts in today’s whiskey world. It's got a good amount of heat on account of being 117 proof, but you'll still be able to make out classic bourbon tasting notes like caramel, brown sugar, vanilla and oak.
Best Blended Bourbon
- Proof: 105.1
- Average Price: $246
- Tasting Notes: Strawberry Jam, maraschino liqueur, très leches cake
Barrell is, at this moment, the best blender of American whiskey there is (they have the trophy case to prove it). Each of its releases makes clear what went into it — distillery location, whiskey age, proof, etc. — and all are worth seeking out. Barrell is a blender, not a distiller, and the flavor mastery of founder Joe Beatrice and master distiller Tripp Stimson have won the old bourbon guard over. “It won my American Whiskey of the Year award [in 2018] in a blind tasting,” Minnick says. “It’s got so much flavor to it, so much complexity — it’s just brilliant whiskey.”
Best Grail Bourbon
- Proof: 120+
- Average Price: $2,000+
- Tasting Notes: Nougat, figs, caramel corn
“Are we including bottles that are impossible to find?” Minnick asks. Sure. This treasure from Buffalo Trace’s Antique collection does its namesake a service, representing some of the world’s best wheated bourbon, a style Weller himself pioneered. It's not lacking in sweetness, with tasting notes of nougat, figs, dates and caramel corn. “If God gave birth to a bourbon child, this is what it would taste like,” Minnick says. “It’s so fucking amazing.”
What Is Bourbon?
Bourbon is a type of whiskey that needs to meet a few criteria to officially be called "bourbon." First, bourbon can only be made in America (it does not need to be made in Kentucky, as some erroneously believe), and its grain bill must include at least 51 percent corn. Bourbon always has to be aged in new charred oak barrels at no more than 125 proof (or 62.5 percent alcohol), and it's not allowed to include any additives or colorings. At a minimum, bourbon must be bottled at 80 proof (or 40 percent alcohol), with its mash never allowed to exceed 160 proof (or 80 percent alcohol).
What Is the Best Bourbon?
We don't believe there is one "best" bourbon, but there are bottles that are best for certain moments. If you're making drinks, we prefer the light and spicy Four Roses bourbon. If you want craft bourbon, we love New Riff's dedication to Bottled-in-Bond whiskey-making and rich flavor profiles. Looking for something on the cheap? Evan William's Black Label is hard to beat for the money. For our money, the best do-it-all bourbon is Knob Creek's 9-year-old Small Batch offering. But taste is subjective, especially when it comes to bourbon, so try a few of the bottles from this guide and discover your own personal favorite.
Bourbon Terms to Know
Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Bourbon that is stored in charred new oak for at least two years. It can be a blend of multiple straight bourbon whiskeys as long as they're all produced in the same state.
Bottled in Bond: Under the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, a bottled-in-bond spirit must be produced by one distillery in the same distilling season, then aged under federal supervision and cut and bottled at 100 proof.
Sour Mash: A fermentation technique used by almost all bourbon distillers that employs pre-fermented mash from a previous distilling in a new mash. The sour mash prevents wild yeast from entering the mash and causing infections.
Proof: The amount of alcohol in the whiskey, displayed as double that of the alcohol percentage. E.g., bourbon containing 50 percent alcohol is labeled as 100 proof.
High Rye: A bourbon with a higher than normal percentage of mash bill made up of rye (as opposed to using more corn, wheat, or barley, the other main grains used in bourbon mash). This tends to produce spicier flavors in the bourbon.
Wheated: A bourbon with a higher than normal percentage of mash bill made up of wheat (the main grain remains corn). This tends to produce a softer, less spicy whiskey.
Small Batch: A subjective term signaling a bourbon made using a select number of barrels or recipes in a blended bottling.
Single Barrel: A bourbon made using single barrels, providing a higher range of variation in flavor and the chance at specific, unique characteristics.
Non-Distiller Producers (NDP): Companies that purchase their whiskey from someone else rather than making it themselves. This is not a new phenomenon and it plays a large role in blended bourbons.
