‘Tis the season for a good bottle of bourbon whiskey. The corn-fueled American whiskey is the perfect gift for many reasons, from the deliciousness to the complexity of the brown sauce. But the best reason that bourbon whiskey is a great gift is that it hits every price point. You can check every level of gift price-taggery off of your shopping list with a different bottle of bourbon at a different price point while being confident you’re getting something special.
Breaking down all the bourbon fit for gifting isn’t always the easiest thing to do though since there are about a gazillion bottles on the shelves these days. That’s where I come in with a little bit of expertise. As a full-time whiskey writer, spirits judge, and whiskey consultant, I have access to so much bourbon from the bad to the mediocre to the good to the transcendent. So I’m going to name some true gems for you and whomever you’re shopping for.
For this list, I’m sectioning these bourbon bottles out by price instead of ranking them (they’re all good whiskeys, folks). There are five options in each of the five price points from cheap ($30 or less) to out-of-this-world prices ($250 and up) and in between. If you have a lot of bourbon whiskey lovers in your life, you’ll be able to find a bottle for all of them from this list. Lastly, I tried to keep these bottles findable. That said, the higher-end bottles are going to cost a lot for access but it’s the gift-giving season so that’s just part of the deal.
Let’s dive in!
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- The Best-Known Basic Bottles Of Bourbon, Blind Tasted And Ranked
- The 30 Best Bourbon Whiskeys For Fall, Blind Tasted & Ranked
$0-$30 Bottles For A Co-Worker
Jim Beam Single Barrel
ABV: 54%
Buy Here: $24
The Whiskey:
Jim Beam’s single-barrel bottlings are pulled from single barrels that hit just the right spot of taste, texture, and drinkability, according to the master distillers at Beam. That means this juice is pulled from less than 1% of all barrels in Beam’s warehouses, making this an exceptional bottle at a bafflingly affordable price.
Tasting Notes:
You’re greeted with vanilla pound cake drizzled with salted caramel, mulled wine spices, and a cherry hand pie with powdered sugar icing that’s just touched with dark chocolate and maybe some broom bristles and corn husks. The taste leans into floral honey cut with orange oils next to sticky toffee pudding and cherry tobacco packed into an old leather pouch. There’s a hint of coconut cream pie next to woody winter spices on the finish with a touch more of that cherry tobacco married to salted dark chocolate all layered with dry sweetgrass and cedar bark.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a great bottle for someone who likes shots at the bar and maybe the odd old fashioned and is looking to get into whiskey a little more. It’s familiar yet a little bit more refined to help develop a palate.
1792 Small Batch
ABV: 46.85%
Buy Here: $29
The Whiskey:
This whiskey from Barton 1792 Distillery is a no-age-statement release made in “small batches.” The mash is unknown but Sazerac does mention that it’s a “high rye” mash bill, which could really mean anything. The juice is batched from select barrels and then proofed down and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a woody cherry bark next to sour apple pies, distiller’s beer, and caramel candies next to vanilla cream with a counterpoint of cumin and dry chili lurking in the deeper reaches of the nose. The palate opens with a Cherry Coke feel next to rich and buttery toffee, vanilla malts, and sharp Hot Tamales cinnamon candy with a nod toward allspice and root beer. The end is soft and lush with vanilla smoothness leading to black cherry tobacco braided with cedar bark and wicker.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a great bottle for a whiskey lover who doesn’t have a big collection. The unique bottle — and quality juice at the price point — is always a welcome addition to any home bar cart.
Elijah Craig Small Batch
ABV: 47%
Buy Here: $26
The Whiskey:
This is Elijah Craig’s entry-point bottle. The mash is corn-focused, with more malted barley than rye. The whiskey is then rendered from “small batches” of barrels to create this proofed-down version of the iconic brand.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a hint of taco seasoning mix next to vanilla malts, caramel apple, and a touch of fresh mint. The taste opens with smooth vanilla and spicy winter spice mix that’s cinnamon and allspice heavy with a touch of anise next to oaky tobacco. The end has a nice woodiness that leans more toward pine tar and broom bristles with a soft and sweet vanilla cream cut with toffee and vanilla lattes.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This bottle is great for what it is but really shines as a cocktail base. So grab this one for the home mixologist in your life.
Jefferson’s Very Small Batch
ABV: 41.5%
Buy Here: $27
The Whiskey:
This is a sourced bourbon from around Kentucky. The age, mash, and vital details are undisclosed. What we do know is that the team at Jefferson’s spends a lot of time tinkering with their barrels to create accessible and affordable bourbons.
Tasting Notes:
This opens pretty thin with hints of caramel, vanilla pods, and maybe a touch of leather and oak with a mild berry vibe. The palate is either subtle or thin … I can’t decide. There are notes of classic bourbon caramel and vanilla countered by a hint of stewed apple, buttery toffee, and maybe a hint of nutmeg. The end stays pretty mild but does build to a nice finish full of classic bourbon notes.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a soft and very bespoke bottle of bourbon for the casual drinker who wants likes easy drinking pours and not hardcore high-proof bombs.
Evan Williams Single Barrel
ABV: 43.3%
Buy Here: $30
The Whiskey:
This is Heaven Hill’s hand-selected single barrel Evan Williams expression. The juice is from a single barrel, labeled with its distillation year, proofed just above 86, and bottled as is.
Tasting Notes:
This has a really nice nose full of woody cherry, salted caramel with a tart apple edge, and a soft leatheriness. The palate feels and tastes “classic” with notes of wintry spices (eggnog especially) with a lush creaminess supported by soft vanilla, a hint of orange zest, and plenty of spicy cherry tobacco. The end is supple with a hint of tart apple tobacco with a light caramel candy finish.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This also comes with some serious name recognition thanks to Evan Williams Black Label dominating the bar scene. This takes a known commodity and refines it enough to make it something truly special for an amazing price thanks to true refinement on the palate.
$30-$50 Bottles For A Good Friend
Puncher’s Chance Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Buy Here: $32
The Whiskey:
This is a celebrity-owned bourbon from UFC’s Bruce Buffer. The juice in the bottle is a blend of four to six-year-old bourbons from Kentucky that are touched with a little proofing water after blending.
Tasting Notes:
This has a slightly tannic nose (think old, red-wine-soaked oak) with woody vanilla, nutmeg, and a lush vibe. The palate mixes up the sweet vanilla with sweet yet sharp spice, some dark chocolate, and a hint of orange zest. The end combines everything into a lush finish that highlights old oak, soft nutmeg, and a soft orange-chocolate vibe with a hint of clove and anise.
Who It’s Perfect For:
If you know a UFC fan, this is the bottle to get.
Jack Daniel’s Bonded
ABV: 50%
Buy Here: $44
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is from Jack’s bonded warehouse. The mash of 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye is twice distilled before it’s run through Jack’s very long Lincoln County process of sugar maple charcoal filtration. The spirit then goes into the barrel for at least four years — per bonded law — before it’s batched, cut down with that Jack Daniel’s limestone cave water, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Yellow sheet cake with vanilla frosting leads the way on the nose with dry cherry candy, new leather jackets, sweet fir bark, and a hint of orange tobacco. The palate is full of still-warm apple fritters with plenty of winter spice and a sugar glaze that hits a moment of nutmeg-rich creamy eggnog. The mid-palate veers away from all of that with a sweet white grits vibe with brown sugar and butter that’s topped with stewed cinnamon apples and a raisin or two. The finish mellows toward a Cherry Hostess Pie stored in a cedar box with a leaf or two of sticky pipe tobacco.
Who It’s Perfect For:
There’s bound to be a Jack Daniel’s fan somewhere in your friend circle. This new release is a big step up from Old No. 7 and is truly a tasty and complex whiskey.
Knob Creek Small Batch Aged 9 Years
ABV: 50%
Buy Here: $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 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:
The nose on this feels classic with a bold sense of rich vanilla pods, cinnamon sharpness, buttered and salted popcorn, and a good dose of cherry syrup with a hint of cotton candy. The palate mixes almond, orange, and vanilla into a cinnamon sticky bun with a hint of sour cherry soda that leads to a nice Kentucky hug on the mid-palate. That warm hug fades toward black cherry root beer, old leather boots, porch wicker, and a sense of dried cherry/cinnamon tobacco packed into an old pine box.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a quintessential whiskey for novices and whiskey nerds alike. It delivers a great and deep flavor palate that always slaps.
George Dickel Tennessee Bottled in Bond Whisky Fall 2008 Aged 13 Years
ABV: 50%
Buy Here: $43
The Whisky:
Nicole Austin has been killing it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel. This release is a whiskey that was warehoused in the fall of 2008. 13 years later, this juice was bottled at 100 proof (as per the bottled-in-bond law) and left to rest. This fall, new releases of that Tennessee juice were sent out to much acclaim.
Tasting Notes:
Another classic nose! Maple syrup on buttery pecan waffles leads toward apple chips, old leather, and a mix of winter spices and sour cherry vanilla wafers. The palate leans into an apple pie with plenty of nuts, spices, and raisins next to malted vanilla milkshakes, blueberry cotton candy, and a hint of dark chocolate milk powder. The end has a hint of dry anise mixed with cherry and brown sugar with a slight nuttiness leading toward a cherry-cinnamon tobacco finish.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a great whiskey for a whiskey aficionado who knows all the awards bourbons and niche stuff that’s actually really good for a great price.
Eagle Rare 10
ABV: 45%
Buy Here: $49
The Whiskey:
This might be one of the most beloved (and still accessible) bottles from Buffalo Trace. This juice is made from their very low rye mash bill. The whiskey is then matured for at least ten years in various parts of the warehouse. The final mix comes down to barrels that hit just the right notes to make them “Eagle Rare.” Finally, this one is proofed down to a fairly low 90 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Old leather boots, burnt orange rinds, oily sage, old oak staves, and buttery toffee round out the nose. Marzipan covered in dark chocolate opens the palate as floral honey and ripe cherry lead to a winter cake vibe full of raisins, dark spices, and toffee sauce. The end has a balance of all things winter treats as the marzipan returns and the winter spice amp up alongside a hint of spicy cherry tobacco and old cedar.
Who It’s Perfect For:
A bottle of this would make any whiskey lover happy. It’d probably make a whiskey novice ecstatic.
$50-$100 Bottles For A Beloved Family Member
Wild Turkey Rare Breed Barrel Proof
ABV: 58.4%
Buy Here: $54
The Whiskey:
This is the mountaintop of what Wild Turkey can achieve. This is a blend of the best barrels that are married and bottled untouched. That means no filtering and no cutting with water. This is a classic bourbon with nowhere to hide.
Tasting Notes:
This opens like a dessert table during the holidays with crème brûlée next to a big sticky toffee pudding with orange zest sprinkled over the top next to a bushel of fresh mint. The palate hits an early note of pine resin as the orange kicks up towards a bold wintry spice, soft vanilla cream, and a hint of honeyed cherry tobacco. The end keeps the winter spices front and center as a lush pound cake feeling leads to soft notes of cherry-spiced tobacco leaves folded into an old cedar box with a whisper of old vanilla pods lurking in the background.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a very hyped bourbon for a reason, it’s truly delicious and wonderfully priced (still).
Chattanooga Whiskey Bottled In Bond Vintage Series Fall 2018 Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Buy Here: $53
The Whisky:
The latest seasonal drop from Tennessee’s Chattanooga Whiskey is another great. The juice is a blend of four of their mash bills. 30% comes from mash bill SB091, which is a mix of yellow corn, malted rye, caramel malted barley, and honey malted barley. Another 30% comes from mash bill B002, which has yellow corn, hardwood smoked malted barley (smoked with beech, mesquite, apple, or cherry), caramel malted barley, caramel malted, and honey malted barley. The next 20% is mash bill B005, which is yellow corn, malted wheat, oak smoked malted wheat, and caramel malted wheat. And the last 20% is from mash bill R18098, which is yellow corn, pale malted barley, naked malted oats, double roasted caramel malted barley, peated malted barley, cherrywood smoked malted barley, chocolate malt, and de-husked chocolate malt.
Tasting Notes:
Cinnamon, brown butter sugar, walnut, and raisins meld on the nose with some vanilla to create a moist oatmeal cookie next to buckwheat pancakes griddled in brown butter and topped with apple butter, and maybe some apricot jam with a dash of nutmeg, dark chocolate shavings, and creamy vanilla whipped cream. The palate leans into cherry hand pies and vanilla wafers with a counter of dried wild sage, orchard tree bark, and meaty dates. The end has a sharp turn into dried red chili pepper cut with pipe tobacco, dark chocolate bars, cedar bark, burnt orange, and lime leaves with this whisper of cinnamon cookies at the very end.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the whiskey you get a true whiskey nerd. It’s so unique and complex. It’s kind of like getting someone a story and a bottle that they can enjoy on several levels.
Old Ezra 7 Year
ABV: 58.5%
Buy Here: $92
The Whiskey:
This brand from Luxco is still sourced juice though they did start distilling their own in 2018. This bottle is a seven-year-old blend of barrels with a bourbon mash bill of 78 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley, and ten percent rye, which just so happens to be Heaven Hill’s bourbon mash bill. These barrels are blended down and left as-is at cask strength for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
This is a pretty classic bourbon from nose to finish with a strong sense of rich caramel, pancakes with plenty of vanilla, sweet oak, wet brown sugar, and a whiff of cherry tobacco. The palate leans into the woody brown spices as a dark cherry vibe sweetens the mid-palate. The end circles back to that sweet oak and spicy cherry tobacco on a short finish.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is another great gift bottle for whiskey lovers in the know since this is a very highly awarded and beloved bourbon.
Woodford Reserve Double Oaked
ABV: 43.2%
Buy Here: $60
The Whiskey:
This expression takes the standard bourbon above and gives it a finishing touch. The bourbon is blended and moved into new barrels that have been double-toasted but only lightly charred. The juice spends a final nine months resting in those barrels before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with blackberries and marzipan next to toffee and honey with a sense of pitchy firewood in the background. The palate adds Nutella to the mix with dried tart berries and apple cider next to burnt toffee and cinnamon bark. The end arrives with a sense of woody and spicy tobacco next to creamed honey and old nutshells.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a sleeper hit. It’s from a huge brand, sure, but it’s also just really good whiskey that even the biggest snobs admittedly like.
Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon
ABV: 55%
Buy Here: $82
The Whiskey:
This is a high water mark of what standard Wild Turkey can achieve. The Russells select the “honey barrels” (those special barrels that are as much magic as craft) from their rickhouses for single barrel bottling. The resulting whiskey is non-chill filtered but is cut down slightly to proof with that soft Kentucky water.
Tasting Notes:
Vanilla cream spiked with orange oils and sprinkled with toasted coconut mingle with spicy oak and buttery cake on the nose with an underpinning of winter spices by way of a sour mulled wine. The palate opens with easy notes of marzipan, subtle dried roses, vanilla pods, more winter spices, and singed cherry bark. The end arrives with a sense of Almond Joy next to cherry tobacco dipped in chili-infused dark chocolate with a flake of salt and pinch of cedar dust and old leather saddles.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This premium side brand from Wild Turkey is a great step up for any fan of Wild Turkey 101, of which there are many.
$100-$250 Bottles To REALLY Impress Someone
Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch Bottled In Bond Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Buy Here: $149
The Whiskey:
Buffalo Trace’s Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch is an entry point to the other 12 expressions released under the E.H. Taylor, Jr. label. The whiskey is a blend of barrels that meet the exact right flavor profiles Buffalo Trace’s blenders are looking for in a classic bottled-in-bond bourbon for Taylor.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a lush and creamy grit vibe with spicy cinnamon and clove next to pecans, maple syrup, singed cherry bark, and old lawn furniture with dead leaves strewn about. The taste hits on a buttery toffee vibe with a dark and old leatheriness next to dark chocolate tobacco, dried ancho chili peppers, and more of that sharp woody cinnamon with a whisper of salted black licorice lurking in the background. The end has a sense of salted caramel and cinnamon candy next to malted vanilla ice cream, huckleberry pie, and dark cherry tobacco rolled into an old leather pouch.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This likely isn’t going to be on your liquor store shelf so you’ll need to order it. Still, this is a damn near perfect whiskey gift at this price point.
BLACKENED x Wes Henderson Master of Whiskey Series
ABV: 58.1%
Buy Here: $179
The Whiskey:
This new collaboration from Metallica’s whiskey finds Master Distillers Rob Dietrich of BLACKENED working with Wes Henderson, Co-Founder of Angel’s Envy, to create a new expression. The whiskey is a classic Kentucky bourbon aged for six years. Those barrels are vatted and then refilled into white port wine casks for a final rest. Finally, the port barrels are batched and the whiskey is bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a good bit of fruit on the nose with pear skins, rum-raisin, and burnt orange next to dried-up old cinnamon sticks and tobacco leaves. The palate stews the pear with honey and wintry spices while a hint of dried chili flake leads to walnut cake and a very mild echo of old wet straw. The end is lush and full of oranges studded with cloves and allspice next to pear tobacco and old cedar humidors.
Who It’s Perfect For:
Is there a Metallica fan in your life? This is the gift for them.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Chateau de Laubade Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskies Finished in Armagnac Casks
ABV: 53.5%
Buy Here: $184
The Whiskey:
This bourbon is a blend of 12-year-old, low-rye bourbon from Kentucky and 10-year-old, very-low-rye bourbon from Tennessee. The whiskeys were re-barreled into Armagnac casks from the famed Chateau de Laubade. One set spent two years mellowing on the bottom floor of the rickhouse while another set spent 16 months mellowing on the top floor. After that, the barrels were vatted and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
This hits on complex notes on the nose from old leather, dried sage, cellared oak, roasted almonds rolled in toffee, sultanas, and then deep winter spice: freshly ground nutmeg, mace, cardamom, sharp cinnamon. The palate has a silky vanilla foundation with more sultanas over top, fresh and meaty dates, ginger snaps, and prunes mingled. The end has a gingerbread vibe next to cherry bark and grape must with more of those spices pouring into an old cedar humidor that used to hold tobacco.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a bespoke whiskey that delivers an incredible flavor profile, making it perfect for the bourbon drinker who’s always looking to go deeper.
Remus Repeal Reserve Series VI 2022 Medley
ABV: 50%
Buy Here: $120
The Whiskey:
This year’s Remus Reserve is a mix of six to 14-year-old bourbons. Buckle in. The blend is made from 2% of a 2008 bourbon with a 21% rye mash, 27% from a 2012 bourbon with a 21% rye mash, 29%from a 2014 bourbon with a 21% rye mash, 17% from a 2012 bourbon with a 36% rye mash bill, and 25% from a 2014 bourbon with that same very high rye mash bill. Once vatted, the whiskey is just touched with water for proofing and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this one is complex and meaders through mint fields and caramel apple stands as hints of old boot leather, plum jam, winter spice, and a hint of sweet oak round things out. The palate opens with a rich toffee before a warmth takes over with a soft spice (nutmeg and allspice) before woody vanilla and creamed honey take over. The end feels like a handful of candied fruits wrapped up in leathery tobacco leaves with a hint of cedar bark and dried mint in the background.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a high-end bottle that delivers truly deep flavor notes while still feeling accessible, making it perfect for someone who’s into bourbon but not fanatical about it.
Weller Antique 107
ABV: 53.5%
Buy Here: $159
The Whiskey:
This is a non-age-statement bourbon that’s called “Old Weller Antique” (OWA) by those who love the old-school vibes of the expression’s previous iteration. The ripple with this expression is the higher proof. The barrels are vatted and barely proofed down to 107 proof before bottling (the entry proof is 114).
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a lovely sense of vanilla pods and orange blossom with a hint of old saddle leather and cedar bark next to wild sage, cinnamon and caramel apple fritters, and salted black licorice with a bundle of holiday spices and barks tied up with burnt orange and pine. The palate is lush with a cream soda float with malted vanilla ice cream cut with cherries, dark chocolate chips, and espresso flakes next to cinnamon cherry bark tobacco on the mid-palate. The end dives toward a thick braid of cedar bark, sage, and blackberry tobacco with a thin line of sweetgrass and vanilla pods woven in there.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is a rare bottle that you might actually be able to find for a little cheaper than listed (but that’s really rare now). Still, this is another bottle that you get for the whiskey drinking in the know in your life. It’s instant happiness upon opening up this as a gift.
$250 and Above Bottles For “The One”
Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Bottled In Bond
ABV: 50%
Buy Here: $899
The Whiskey:
This is the same whiskey as Master’s Keep 17-Year. In this case, after vatting of minimum-17-year-old barrels, the whiskey was only proofed down to 50% or 100-proof for bottling as per bottled in bond laws. The resulting whiskey is then bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a bold nose of spicy Christmas cakes spiked with orange oils, candied cherries, and dried apples next to vanilla pods and worn saddle leather that leads to this subtle hint of fresh cinnamon rolls with a cream cheese frosting cut with lemon and vanilla. The palate is the epitome of smoothness with a subtle warmth derived from woody winter spices — star anise, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon — that then branches toward this whisper of burnt sugars and fats from an old brisket smoker with a hint of salted red taffy and singed marshmallow next to vanilla pound cake with a hint of poppy seeds. The end has a sweet cinnamon candy flourish before smoldering wild sage and old boots arrive with a dark chocolate espresso cherry tobacco layers into an old cedar box with a hint of black dirt lurking in the distant background.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the mountaintop of the Wild Turkey line, so if you know someone who loves Turkey, this is the play.
Michter’s Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 10 Years Old
ABV: 47.2%
Buy Here: $512
The Whiskey:
The juice in this bottle is a little under wrap. Michter’s is currently distilling and aging its own whiskey, but this is still sourced. The actual barrels sourced for these single barrel expressions tend to be at least ten years old with some rumored to be closer to 15 years old (depending on the barrel’s quality, naturally). Either way, the juice goes through Michter’s bespoke filtration process before a touch of Kentucky’s iconic soft limestone water is added, bringing the bourbon down to a very crushable 94.4 proof.
Tasting Notes:
The nose draws you in with big notes of fresh leather, sweet cedar bark, tart cherries and currant, burnt orange, salted caramel, spiced Christmas cake, and a hint of blackberry jam on a stack of sourdough pancakes grilled off in butter (or maybe I’m just hungry for breakfast?!). The taste leans into a lush vanilla tobacco warm with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans next to marzipan, orange blossoms, and brandy-soaked cherries with a hint of black pepper spice. The finish is velvety and supple with a black cherry and cinnamon/nutmeg spiced tobacco leaf braided with old wicker canes and dry cedar bark next to orchard wood and burnt marshmallows.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This bottle is perfect for the whiskey drinker who loves classic vibes and deep complexity from a beloved brand.
King of Kentucky Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel (5th Edition)
ABV: 65.3%
Buy Here: $2,595
The Whiskey:
This year’s King of Kentucky is a 15-year-old bourbon made from a mash of 79% corn, 11% rye, and 10% malted barley. The spirit — made at the Brown-Forman Distillery in West Louisville (Shively) — went into the barrel on December 18, 2009, at 125% entry-proof. After 15 long years, only about 35% of the whiskey was left in the barrel. 43 single barrels were then chosen for this release and individually bottled as-is, yielding about 3,500 bottles of King of Kentucky.
Tasting Notes:
This opens very tannic-y (and old) with a mix of pitchy firewood, old honey barrels, dried cranberry, nutmeg, old vanilla husks, cornmeal pancake batter, and a hint of chili-laced tobacco. The taste is bold with a hot spice mix of cinnamon and dried anchos that’s tempered by lush vanilla and creamy dark chocolate with a hint of sweet cherry and old wicker rounding things out. The end is woody and full of potting soil with a hint of old chewing tobacco next to orchard wood.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is the whiskey for the bourbon fanatic in your life. It’s a true “holy shit” bottle both as a gift and on the palate.
Booker’s 2022-03 “Kentucky Tea Batch”
ABV: 63.25%
Buy Here: $599
The Whiskey:
The third Booker’s of the year is a nod to “Kentucky Tea” which isn’t tea at all. It’s when you add a little whiskey to a glass of water and then that looks like tea. The whiskey in this case is a blend of bourbon barrels from seven locations across six different warehouses. The final product was bottled without any fussing at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a clear sense of sour cherry and vanilla cookies on the nose with a supporting cast of dark tobacco packed into old cedar boxes with a rough and worn leatheriness tying everything together. The palate opens with a vanilla white cake frosted with cherry and chocolate — a bit like a Black Forest cake — that leads to orange oils, clove, and old pine boards with a touch of sap. The end has a fruitiness that leans towards a spicy star fruit with a fresh vibe next to light pear tobacco with a pine humidor edge.
Who It’s Perfect For:
If you know a Jim Beam super fan, then this is the ultimate gift for them since this is that whiskey refined to the highest degree.
Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 15 Years Old 2022 Release
ABV: 53.5%
Buy Here: $6,199
The Whiskey:
This is where the “Pappy Van Winkle” line starts in earnest. The whiskey in this expression is pulled from barrels that are at least 15 years old. Once batched, the whiskey is just touched with water to bring it down to a sturdy 107-proof.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with freshly fried sourdough fritters dusted with ground almonds, sharp cinnamon, cloves, orange zest, burnt sugars, and maple frosting with a hint of old vanilla pods next to soft figs. The palate leans into rich toffee with a sense of minced meat pies covered in powdered sugar frosting right next to sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel, orange zest, and tons of brown wintry spice countered by a moment of sour mulled red wine cut with dark maple syrup. The end has a soft cedar vibe that leads to vanilla and dark cherry tobacco leaves and a hint of pine next to old white moss.
Who It’s Perfect For:
This is just a motherf*cking mic drop. Give this as a gift and you win the holidays.