The Best Bottles Of Bourbon Whiskey Under $100, Ranked

Best Bourbon Whiskey under $100 — iStockphoto/UPROXX

The best bottles of bourbon whiskey under $100 tend to lean towards drinkable and unique. That said, we’re still pretty far from the collectible and unicorn bottles. What we’re looking at in bottles of bourbon just under $100 is longer aging, rarer craft, and the “good stuff” from big-time distillers.

For this list of ten bourbons under $100, I’ve dug into my own tasting notes to pull some options. I then ranked those options based on my taste. The thing is with bourbon of this caliber, we’re really starting to split hairs between numbers ten and two. There are subtle nuances in flavor that may speak more to you than me. But when it comes to quality, the differences are negligible at best. The goal is for you to find what speaks to you and go with it.

All of that said, you cannot lose if you snag a bottle of my number one pick. It’s a gem! Okay, let’s dive in!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months

10. Bib & Tucker 12

ABV: 49.5%

Average Price: $99

The Whiskey:

Bib & Tucker’s barrel picks are always worth chasing down. These are rare one-offs that Bib & Tucker hands select for retailers to bottle and sell. The juice is a Tennessee bourbon (some say that means it must be Dickel) that’s aged for 12 long years in very lightly charred oak. The whiskey then goes into the bottle after being proofed down (ever so slightly) to 99 proof.

Tasting Notes:

Expect a fairly classic bourbon nose of creamy vanilla, salted caramel apples, and a hint of soft cedar. The palate should touch on dark orange oils next to bright red cherry, with a vanilla pudding base and a subtle dose of dark spice leading towards salted dark chocolate. The end is quite quick and leaves you with salted dark chocolate, orange, and a hint more of salted caramel.

Bottom Line:

This feels like it’s both “classic” and the “good stuff.” It’s a great sipping whiskey that really doesn’t need much more than a rock or a few drops of water. The main reason it’s ranked tenth is that I needed to start somewhere and a sourced Tennessee whiskey felt like the right place.

9. Rabbit Hole Dareringer

ABV: 46.5%

Average Price: $94

The Whiskey:

This wheated bourbon — 68 percent corn, 18 percent wheat, and 14 percent malted barley — is contract distilled juice and very reminiscent of wheated bourbons from both Heaven Hill and Luxco (though we’ll never know where it really comes from). That whiskey spends an undisclosed amount of years aging before it goes into 15 Casknolia Pedro Ximenez sherry casks per batch (a truly small batch bourbon). Those barrels are then blended and touched with that soft Kentucky limestone water before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

Fruit shines through on the nose with fresh raspberries mingling with strawberry jam, Bing cherries, and dried plums and apricots with a hint of leather and winter spice baking that fruit up. The palate really embraces those fruits with a tart and sour vibe to the cherries and red berries while the leather leans raw and the spices lean toward cinnamon and tobacco with a caramel mid-palate. The sweetness fades quickly as the finish continues with berries and spice while the cherry attaches to the tobacco and soft cedar on the end.

Bottom Line:

If you’re in the mood for a fruit-bomb bourbon, this is the play. It’s a little too fruity for me (hence it’s low ranking) but that just means I use this for a killer cocktail instead of a neat pour.

8. Widow Jane Lucky Thirteen

ABV: 46.5%

Average Price: $99

The Whiskey:

This started out as a limited release and caught on like wildfire, making it a standard release since 2021. The juice is a very small selection of hand-picked 13-year-old barrels (likely MGP) that are proofed with limestone water from the Rosendale Mines in New York, marrying the Ohio Valley to New York.

Tasting Notes:

This is pure apple crumble on the nose with plenty of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, brown sugar, brown butter, and almost tart stewed apples next to old leather belts and a touch of salted caramel drizzled vanilla ice cream. The palate takes the apple a step back towards dry Granny Smith apple peels and cores as dry wicker furniture mixes with the cream from the top of an espresso pull. Toffee sweetness arrives on the mid-palate as the bitterness from the coffee turns toward dark chocolate with the wicker and leather making a return while the stewed apple filling layers into a chewy tobacco leaf on the very end.

Bottom Line:

It’s really hard to find any faults in this whiskey. It’s a great sipper but also rules as an old fashioned base. Basically, when I mentioned in the lede that I’m splitting hairs on a lot of these, this is what I meant. This could have been number one today. It just kind of depends on what mood you’re in.

7. Kings County Bottled-In-Bond

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $96

The Whiskey:

This crafty whiskey from New York is a grain-to-glass bourbon experience. The mash bill on this one eschews rye and wheat for 80 percent locally grown corn supported by 20 percent malted barley from England. The juice is then aged for four years in small 15-gallon barrels and treated according to the law and bottled in Kings County’s signature hip flask bottles.

Tasting Notes:

This draws you in with a strawberry shortcake with cornmeal base, topped with fresh berries, buttery vanilla whipped cream, and then dipped in a caramel sauce. The palate veers away from all of that and touches on bitter black coffee syrup with brown sugar and butter notes next to oatcakes and vanilla sauce with a hint of spice lingering in the background. The end is long and full of chocolate malts, leather, and more of that creamy and buttery vanilla whipped cream.

Bottom Line:

This has a really nice balance of fruity, bitter, and buttery/sweet. It’s slightly a pain in the ass to get if you’re not out East. But, that doesn’t take away from the value (or quality) in these bespoke and crafty bottles of bourbon from Brooklyn. Still, we’re not even in the top five yet, and there’s no real reason I can think of why you shouldn’t at least try this crafty masterpiece.

6. I. W. Harper 15

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $93

The Whiskey:

I.W. Harper has a long history with a new feel. The booze is made at Heaven Hill’s New Bernheim Distillery but aged at Diageo’s Stitzel-Weller Distillery — a classic contract distilling partnership. The juice spends 15 years mellowing before it’s married and proofed down to a very approachable 86 proof.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a clear sense of almost fresh off-the-stalk sweet corn and bright berries on the nose with hints of orange zest, oily vanilla, and cedar. The palate leads with the cedar towards tobacco spiciness, more of that concentrated vanilla, and a very mild whisper of minty dark chocolate nibs. The finish takes its time and starts with the dry cedar, passes through that spicy tobacco buzz, and ends up on a sweet vanilla/caramel softness.

Bottom Line:

This was an export bourbon for ages. It finally came back to U.S. shelves in 2015 and has stayed far under the radar for a while now. I’m also a big fan of mint chocolate in my bourbon, so this gets a slight edge for the bottom five. Regardless of that tasting note, this is a well-crafted bourbon that feels both “throwback” and fresh at the same time — a rare mix in today’s bourbon world.

5. Redemption 9-Year-Old Barrel Proof

ABV: Varies

Average Price: $99

The Whiskey:

This sourced whiskey from Indiana (MGP) is one of the best examples of how a unique shingle can make whiskey shine. Redemption’s team painstakingly searches the warehouses for just the right barrels to meet their taste requirements. In this case, that was a nine-year-old single barrel of bourbon with a mash bill of 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and four percent malted barley.

Tasting Notes:

The nose really gives you a sense of oily vanilla pods with touches of wildflower honey, rich and buttery toffee, and a hint of dark roasted espresso beans. The palate holds onto those notes as the vanilla and honey both become creamy while adding a slight black pepper spiciness with a hint of salty smoked bacon fat lurking far in the background. The end is medium-length and touches back on that vanilla, toffee, pepper, and bitterness on the fade.

Bottom Line:

The next four entries all could have been tied for number two. They all offer something a little different but all shine very brightly. Cards on the table, I simply numbered five through two at random. It was too hard trying to nitpick why one of these should be above the other.

3. Garrison Brothers Small Batch

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $90

The Whiskey:

Garrison Brothers is a true grain-to-glass experience from Hye, Texas. The juice is a wheated bourbon made with local, Texas grains. That spirit is then aged under the hot Texas sun before the barrels are small-batched (with only 55 barrels per batch), proofed with local water, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a caramel apple note on the nose next to a bit of dry straw, worn leather, and what feels like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. That cereal nature continues through the palate with a sugary and buttery shortbread note mingling with hints of vanilla cake frosted with lemon cream leading to a touch of orange oils. The end is very long and warm with a bit of cinnamon that ultimately leads back to the caramel apples plus just a touch of dry campfire smoke at the very end.

Bottom Line:

This is big and bold in all the right ways. It’s a great on the rocks sipper that also absolutely slays as a cocktail base (try it in a Manhattan or Sazerac).

2. Barrell Bourbon Batch 030

ABV: 58.66%

Average Price: $93

The Whiskey:

2021’s Barrell Batch 030 launched the brand’s awesome blends into a new direction by adding Wyoming bourbon into the mix with Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee whiskeys. The final mix ended up being a blend of five, six, nine, ten, eleven, and 15-year-old bourbons that were bottled at barrel proof.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with a plum pudding brimming with dark, wintry spice, dried and candied fruits, and fatty nuts that’s all been soaked in dark rum with a hint of worn library leather that leads towards this dramatic shift towards fresh blackberries and raspberries with a hint of the bramble. The palate is blackberry pie with a lard crust topped with a cinnamon vanilla ice cream next to hints of oatmeal raisin cookie, ancho-chili-laced dark chocolate, and dry walnut shells. The mid-palate harnesses that chocolate and nuttiness and leans it toward creamy Nutella as a dry pine arrives on the very end with an almost bitter dark soil.

Bottom Line:

I don’t think you can read those tasting notes and not at least be intrigued enough to give this a shot. Plus, there are almost no other cases where you’ll find a Wyoming, Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee whiskey blended together. That helps this one really rise above. Just make sure to add a little water or a rock to let it bloom in the glass while you sip.

2. Stellum Black Bourbon

ABV: 54.6%

Average Price: $99

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from Barrell Craft Spirits is the big and bolder sibling of last year’s craft darling, Stellum Bourbon. Stellum Black combines whiskeys pulled from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee and masterfully blends them into a bigger whole while bottling that juice at barrel proof for maximum effect.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a lot going on with every layer of this whiskey and the nose is full of wintry spices (especially allspice berries) that lead towards worn old leather gloves, cinnamon sticks floating in vanilla cream sauce, sweet cedar planks, and a rich and buttery toffee candy. The taste builds on that bose with Wether’s Originals, ground cinnamon, and allspice by way of mulled wine, slightly singed cedar bark, and overbaked pecan cookies. The mid-palates toffee and vanilla sweetness fades pretty dramatically towards a bitter espresso bean that’s nearly burnt next to a dry chili-laced tobacco leaf wrapped in that dry cedar bark.

Bottom Line:

This poured over a single rock is a damn near perfect pour (for my palate anyway).

1. Remus Repeal Reserve Series V

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $94

The Whiskey:

This year’s Remus Repeal Reserve V is a hell of a whiskey. The MGP of Indiana signature bourbon is comprised of nine percent 2005 bourbon with a 21 percent high-rye mash, five percent 2006 bourbon with a very high-rye mash of 36 percent of the sticky grain, 19 percent 2006 bourbon with the same 21 percent high-rye mash, 13 percent 2008 bourbon with that 21 percent rye mash, and 54 percent 2008 bourbon with the 36 percent high-rye mash.

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this is brilliantly fruity with touches of fresh raspberries, strawberries resting in dry straw, candied cherries, freshly peeled tangerines, apple cores and stems, and a touch of caramel malts. That caramel sweetness merges into a fresh honeycomb next to Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda vanilla and pep while the fruit dries out, leaving you with meaty dried figs, dates, and prunes driving the midpalate toward the finish. A touch of candied ginger spices things up as a fruity but dry tobacco leaf rounds out the end with the faintest touch of walnut shells.

Bottom Line:

This wins out by being the softest and maybe most refined sip on the list. It’s, well, smooth with a capital “S” and a long “ooooooohhh.” That, in no way, takes away from the refinement of the whiskey or its depth. This is a stellar pour all around and deserving of your time and money.