The question I’m asking today is if an average bottle of bourbon (and remember that an “average bourbon” is really quite solid) could ever live up to a true-blue unicorn/expensive bourbon. Is a $500 bottle of bourbon really that much better than a $50 one? How much better can it even be, honestly?
The best way for me to test this is to actually line up some bottles in a blind tasting to see if I can find the unicorn while also seeing how they stand up next to each other. Because let’s face it, prices in bourbon are a fickle beast. Bottes that have an MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) of maybe $69, $99, or $129 can sell for hundreds and even thousands of dollars on the aftermarket. Weller and Pappy are among the bottles that are notorious for this kind of secondary price hike. Then there are the bottles that actually have an MSRP in the hundreds and thousands of dollars. Yes, there are bottles of bourbon whiskey that hit shelves with a price tag that’s around $300 to $500 from the manufacturer. (Those prices often get inflated on the secondary market too, but let’s stay on track here.)
For the blind tasting below, I’m pulling ten new bourbons released in late 2021 and early 2022 and seeing how they stack up. I’m adding in the extra ripple to see if any of them can topple one killer bottle, Barrell Craft Spirits’ Gold Label Bourbon — which actually has an MSRP of $500. For the most part, I’m including bourbons in the $40 to $60 range with a few limited/allocated releases that get that big secondary price hike thrown in for good measure.
Our lineup today is:
- Elvis Tiger Man Tennessee Whiskey
- I.W. Harper Cabernet Cask Finish Bourbon
- Frey Ranch Small Batch Bourbon Batch #5
- Broken Barrel Cask Strength
- Brother’s Bond
- New Riff Red Turkey Wheated Bourbon
- Barrell Gold Label Bourbon
- Larceny Barrel Proof A122
- Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Spring 2022
- Redwood Empire Grizzly Beast
While I knew which bottles were in this lineup, I didn’t pour these. That means I had no idea the order. Let’s dive in and see if an actual $500 bourbon really does stand out.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
- The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
- The 50 Best Bourbon Whiskeys Of 2021, Ranked
- Every Winning Bourbon From Our 2021 Taste Tests, Blind Tasted And Re-Ranked
- The 100 Best Whiskeys Our Head Drinks Writer Tasted In 2021
- The Best Ten-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskeys, Tasted Blind And Ranked
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
The nose is really light with hints of “oak” next to sweet corn kernels, a twinge of apple, and light orange citrus. The palate is a little woody with a touch of maple syrup over vanilla pudding with a slight Granny Smith apple tartness. The mid-palate thins out dramatically before dark cherry and a hint of caramel lead to a very sweet and watery end.
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
The nose is buttery with notes of caramel and vanilla cream next to sweet cherry and a meaty dried apricot. That ripe cherry drives the palate toward almost tart berries with a salted caramel sauce, soft oak, and hint of mulled wine spices. The spices peak with cinnamon and nutmeg next to very mild yet chewy cherry tobacco that’s just touched with vanilla oils and orange zest, which brings about a mellow yet complex finish.
Taste 3
Tasting Notes:
Fruity cherry gummies mingle with raw sourdough bread dough, vanilla beans, dry firewood, and burnt brown sugars on the nose. The taste has a very crafty corn chip vibe that leads to tart cranberry, more of that vanilla, and a cinnamon-spiced oatmeal raisin cookie. This all coalesces on the finish with the spice, oats, tart red fruit, and vanilla playing second fiddle to the dry firewood and slightly spiced tobacco end.
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
Dark chocolate powder opens the nose up to fresh raspberry, vanilla husks, buttery toffee, and those candy orange wedges with the sugar coating. The palate leans into the berries as oatmeal cookies dipped in Earl Grey tea lead to almond shells and dark earthy soil. The mid-palate re-sweetens with a vanilla shortbread that ends up at an eggnog creaminess and spiciness next to a very mild and dry cornmeal finish with a hint of dark chocolate pipe tobacco.
Taste 5
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens up with apple cider cut with caramel next to a hint of oak and vanilla with this echo of marzipan in the background. That marzipan becomes a bit more prominent on the palate as apples dipped in caramel lead to a lightly spiced vanilla tobacco vibe. The finish arrives pretty quickly with a slight wateriness before the apple, caramel, and almond all fade out.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
Crunchy sourdough crust rests next to cherry pie filling on the nose of this one with bursts of orange zest (and maybe some grapefruit pith) and a nice and soft sweet cedar and old leather. Stewed cherry with plenty of cinnamon leads the way on the palate as more old leather, wintry spices, and a sweetgrass note round things out. The mid-palate sweetness leads to black cherry tobacco with a nice chew as wet granite leads to red grape skins on the finish.
Taste 7
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a sense of wet oak staves (think rained on barrels) next to freshly pressed sugar cane juice, damp, almost still unharvested cherry tobacco leaves, the seeds from a vanilla pod, rainwater, stringy cedar bark, and fresh apricot next to Bing cherry.
Yeah, this is massively different even on the nose due to the notes being so specific. The palate pretty much confirms, instantly, that this is a whole different class of bourbon.
Dark cherry leads to candied ginger on the opening of the taste as orange marmalade mingles with toasted sourdough, sticky yet subtle fir resin, and creamy key lime pie filling with just a hint of the butter in the crust of that pie. The mid-palate leans into the sugar in that pie filling as the cherry kicks back in with a sliver of tartness next to overripe peaches, dried hibiscus, mild anise, allspice berries, sassafras, and dried cacao nibs. The finish gently steps through a field full of orange blossoms as that cacao dries out more, leaving you with dried choco-cherry tobacco that’s been inside of a cedar box that’s wrapped in decades-old leather.
I mean, come the f*ck on. This is outstanding. Levels beyond anything we’ve had on deck in the previous six tastes.
Taste 8
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with old, almost dusty cedar beams next to river rock, a crackling fire, brown butter melting into a pancake (though kind of raw batter more than cooked) with plenty of maple syrup, and this walnut/orange/vanilla tobacco vibe. This is also a very good whiskey already. Almonds roasted in that maple syrup and dusted with big flakes of salt lead to bold Christmas spices on the palate as notes of figs, prunes, and dates create a sticky toffee pudding feel. The sweetness on the mid-palate abates as the spices really start to amp up — think Red Hots cinnamon, anise, red peppercorns, and fresh ginger — as dry sweetgrass and drier cherry tobacco counters everything. The end is pretty hot, but it still leaves you with a clear sense of dry cedar, sweetgrass, and tobacco next to all that spice with a nice underbelly of hazelnut and dark chocolate.
Taste 9
Tasting Notes:
Cherry tree bark, dried roses pressed in an old bible, and almost musty vanilla oil lead the way on the nose as wet cedar and old leather play back up with a whisper of singed orange peel. Another killer whiskey is in hand — the nuance is amazing. The palate opens with lush and creamy vanilla sauce dusted with a matrix of winter spices (nutmeg, clove, anise, cinnamon, allspice), almost smoldering cherrywood, and sticky, classic pipe tobacco with a rich chew. The mid-palate pivots with a dried cherry covered in dark yet milky chocolate with hints of brandy-soaked dates, a hint more of that winter spice mix, and subtle, mildly woody cherry tobacco on the backend of the finish.
Taste 10
Tasting Notes:
Raspberries and cinnamon sticks mingle with freshly cracked walnuts, browned butter, and a hint of orange zest on the nose. The palate leans into that bright orange zest as salted caramel is cut with a hint of unbaked buttermilk biscuits, an inkling of orchard wood, and plenty of wintry spice. The finish marries a lot of that toward an oatmeal cookie with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg, raisins, and vanilla next to soft pine and a hint of walnut-laden tobacco leaves.
Part 2: The Ranking
10. Elvis Tiger Man Tennessee Whiskey — Taste 1
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $50
The Whiskey:
This bottle from Grain & Barrel Spirits is a sourced Tennessee whiskey, likely Dickel. The mash bill is 80 percent corn, ten percent rye, and ten percent malted barley. The juice is aged for two years before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This was fine for what it is — an 80 proof mixing whiskey for Coke or ginger ale. There was nothing that really stood out though, and you’d never, in a million years, confuse this for a high-end whiskey.
9. Brothers Bond Bourbon — Taste 5
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $38
The Whiskey:
This celebrity whiskey comes from Vampire Diaries actors Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. The juice is from an “undisclosed” source but from Indiana (gotta be MGP, obviously). The mash bill is a four-grain recipe of corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley that’s aged for an undisclosed amount of time before proofing it all down to 80 proof and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This might be ninth, but it’s miles ahead of the tenth entry. That said, this is clearly a cocktail whiskey, and that’s fine.
8. Frey Ranch Small Batch Bourbon Batch #5 — Taste 3
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $55
The Whiskey:
Frey Ranch is all about the farm behind the whiskey. In this case, that’s a 165+-year-old farm in the Sierra Nevada basin near Lake Tahoe. The grains (corn, wheat, rye, and barley), fermentation, distilling, aging, and bottling all happen on-site at Frey Ranch.
Bottom Line:
This, again, felt like a perfectly suitable mixing bourbon. It was complex enough to stand up to any cocktail while having just enough panache to be a nice pour over plenty of ice.
7. Broken Barrel Cask Strength — Taste 4
ABV: 57.5%
Average Price: $48
The Whiskey:
This whiskey, from Owensboro Distilling Co., is all about the finish. The whiskey is finished in casks with staves from ex-bourbon, sherry, and French oak barrels. Once that whiskey hits the right point, it’s vatted and bottled as-is.
Bottom Line:
This was “nice.” Well, that’s what I wrote in my notes anyway. Still, we’re squarely in the middle of the road here.
6. I.W. Harper Cabernet Cask Finish — Taste 2
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $60
The Whiskey:
This Diageo whiskey is a sourced Kentucky bourbon that’s aged at the famed Stitzel-Weller distillery for four years. The whiskey is then finished in red wine barrels from California before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This was pretty nice overall. I’d still lean towards this being more of a cocktail base than a sipper (this will make one hell of an old fashioned). That said, this would be perfectly fine over some rocks too, though it’s not going to taste amazing.
5. New Riff Red Turkey Wheated Bourbon — Taste 6
ABV: 50%
Average Price: Limited Availability ($50 MSRP)
The Whiskey:
This release from craft whiskey darling, New Riff, is all about the heritage grains. The whiskey uses a 19th-century grain, Red Turkey Wheat, to create a unique whiskey. The juice is aged for five years at New Riff’s warehouse before it’s vatted, proofed ever so slightly, and bottled as-is.
Bottom Line:
Now we’re getting somewhere. This truly felt like the first bourbon of the flight that had a unique POV. It wasn’t mind-blowing but it was distinct. This is an easy choice as a sipper on the rocks or a killer Manhattan base.
4. Redwood Empire Grizzly Beast Bottled-in-Bond — Taste 10
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $90
The Whiskey:
This California whiskey is a four-grain bourbon with a mash bill of 69 percent corn, 22 percent rye, five percent malted barley, and four percent wheat. That juice spends five years mellowing in oak before only 26 barrels are small-batched and proofed down for bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is the biggest surprise on the whole list. This is pretty damn good. It’s not a top-three whiskey by any stretch but it is nuanced and easy-sipping whiskey with a lot of character. This is easily a nice slow sipping bourbon either neat or on the rocks. I can also see this making a killer Manhattan or Sazerac.
3. Larceny Barrel Proof Batch No. A122 — Taste 8
ABV: 62.2%
Average Price: $86
The Whiskey:
Larceny is made from a mash bill of 68 percent corn, 20 percent wheat, and 12 percent malted barley, which is Heaven Hill’s wheated bourbon standard mash. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of six to eight-year-old barrels that are vatted and bottled at cask strength as-is. It’s as easy as that, folks.
Bottom Line:
Goddamn, this really stood out as a great whiskey. The only reason it’s not ranked higher is that the heat on the finish was a little over dialed. It kind of washed out the profile for a moment before the finish recovered. Still, this was a complex and delicious sip of whiskey worth seeking out and adding to any bar cart.
2. Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 17-Year Spring 2022 Edition — Taste 9
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $185 (MSRP)
The Whiskey:
This whiskey was distilled and laid down in barrels back in 2004. The barrels were vatted after 17 years and proofed down to the bottled-in-bond standard of 100 proof and then bottled in the iconic Old Fitz decanter for a Spring 2022 release.
Bottom Line:
While I’d like to say that this was close, I didn’t have to think about what was number for more than a split second. Still, this was just outstanding in every way. It just didn’t quite have the unique depth of the Barrell Gold Label. This felt like the most beautiful classic whiskey but still just classic.
1. Barrell Craft Spirits Gold Label Bourbon — Taste 7
ABV: 56.77%
Average Price: $621 ($500 MSRP)
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is a blend of Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky bourbons. Each barrel in that blend is a minimum of 16 years old. The barrels were specifically chosen for their cherry, nutty, high-proof, and chocolate profiles. Half of those barrels were then finished in new American oak for a final touch of maturation before vatting and bottling as-is.
Bottom Line:
This was so clearly in a different class it wasn’t even funny. While the Old Fitz and Larceny are world-class sips, they just didn’t quite reach the heights of this one (refinement, specificity, and beauty are hard to deny in a stellar whiskey). When it comes to the other seven sips on this list, forget about it.
They didn’t even feel like they were in the same dimension as this. Sorry friends, I know how much we all love the “whiskey pro fooled by a $10 bottle” story but… not happening here. This is too good to play in the B league. Or even the A league. This dram is for the whiskey Olympics only.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
No, cheaper bourbon does not compare to the unicorn stuff. Even something as unique and allocated as Old Fitz really didn’t come that close to Barrell Gold Label.
The key lesson here is that when a brand releases something with an actual MSRP in the hundreds of dollars, there’s usually a pretty good goddamn reason for it. No one wants to kill their rep by overpricing a bottle. Barrell found unicorn barrels of whiskey in three states, shipped them to Louisville, and then tinkered with them to create something even bigger, better, and more unique. That’s talent and value that’s undeniable. If you have the money, I say it’s worth your hard-earned dollars.
$500 for a 750ml bottle? Well, I don’t keep your books. I can say that it’s worth it to me for that special Christmas, birthday, or New Year’s Eve pour. That said, if I wasn’t quite as passionate, I might just buy five $100 bottles of Stellum Black first. Or ten $50 bottles of Rare Breed. Or… You get the point.
In the end, if you ever come across Barrell Gold Label, pay for a pour, enjoy, and come to your own conclusions. Then, if you have the cash, buy a bottle for the vault and forget about it for a while.