American bourbon is a must have for any well-stocked drinks cupboard. Wealthy, candy and infrequently spiced with a bit of warmth, it’s a flexible spirit that’s as comfortable being sipped neat or over ice as it’s stirred into a classic cocktail like a Manhattan, Outdated Customary or Sazerac.
Costs have been creeping up lately – blame tariffs, inflation or simply good old style demand – however that doesn’t imply it is advisable resign your self to bottom-shelf bottles. There’s nonetheless a wealth of high quality bourbon on the market that punches nicely above its price ticket.
Listed here are six of the very best you’ll be able to decide up for underneath (or simply round) £55.
Angel’s Envy | Port End
Based by Bourbon Corridor of Famer Lincoln Henderson, Angel’s Envy was the primary absolutely operational distillery to open on Louisville’s historic Whiskey Row since Prohibition. The identify is a play on the ‘angel’s share’ – the portion of spirit that evaporates throughout maturation, which will be as much as 5% per 12 months in downtown Louisville.
Since launching in 2016, the model has racked up awards throughout the globe. Its Port End bottling – the cornerstone of the Signature Sequence – undergoes a brief ending interval in ex-Port barrels from Portugal’s Douro Valley, giving it a decadent, luxurious profile.
Count on daring notes of crimson apple, cocktail cherry and orange zest layered over milk chocolate, caramel, clove and oak spice. This can be a craft bourbon with actual pedigree.
Eagle Uncommon | 10 Years Outdated
Made on the Buffalo Hint distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, Eagle Uncommon is a multi-award-winning bourbon that represents exceptional worth – particularly contemplating it carries an age assertion, one thing more and more uncommon in right this moment’s market.
Launched within the mid-Seventies, Eagle Uncommon has grow to be a benchmark bottle and a real trendy traditional. The ten-year-old expression is easy, elegant and endlessly sippable. Wealthy butterscotch, cocoa and sugared almond sit alongside vanilla pod, ripe cherry and cassia bark. Hints of honey, delicate leather-based and oak spherical issues out.
A staple for any critical bourbon drinker.
4 Roses | Small Batch
A beloved identify in Kentucky bourbon, 4 Roses Small Batch is produced in Lawrenceburg and crafted from a rigorously chosen mix of barrels aged between six and 7 years. The result’s a nuanced, approachable whiskey with critical depth.
The identify itself comes from a romantic story: Paul Jones Jr., the model’s founder, named the distillery after his beloved wore a corsage of 4 crimson roses to simply accept his marriage proposal. Candy.
This high-rye bourbon opens with milk chocolate, heat bread dough and vanilla custard, earlier than layers of orange marmalade, dried coconut, toasted almond and baking spice come by way of.
Excellent steadiness, glorious worth, and a real crowd-pleaser.
Buy now at The Whisky Exchange
Maker’s Mark | 46
The world’s best-selling wheated bourbon – that means wheat is used because the secondary grain after corn – Maker’s Mark is a staple in bars and houses across the globe. The unique launched in 1958, however Maker’s 46 was the brainchild of Invoice Samuels Jr., son of the founders.
This bolder expression is aged with ten French oak staves added to the cask, giving it a richer, extra complicated flavour. Easy and buttery, it bursts with vanilla paste, orange zest and toffee, alongside a particular biscuity cereal be aware. Cherry, cocoa and heat spice spherical out the end.
Maker’s can be set to grow to be the primary main bourbon producer utilizing 100% regeneratively farmed grains by 2025 – we’ll cheers to that.
Michter’s | US*1 Unblended
Technically not a bourbon – it’s matured in used barrels fairly than new American oak, which disqualifies it underneath strict bourbon laws – Michter’s US*1 Unblended continues to be very a lot in the identical wheelhouse. And it’s glorious.
The identify harks again to Shenk’s distillery in Pennsylvania, based in 1753 – predating the Declaration of Independence by over 20 years. After a quick disappearance, the model was revived within the 90s and relocated to Kentucky by Joseph J. Magliocco and trade legend Dick Newman.
The result’s a wealthy and layered whiskey, with notes of maple syrup, cherry bakewell, darkish chocolate and orange oil. Vanilla and toasted coconut come by way of on the mid-palate, whereas the end brings woody spice, clove and a contact of menthol.
Excellent high quality at a very reasonable value.
Wild Turkey | Uncommon Breed
A barrel-proof traditional that delivers critical punch for the worth, Wild Turkey Uncommon Breed is large, daring and fantastically made. Launched in 1991, it was one of many first cask-strength bourbons to hit mainstream cabinets and marked the primary new addition to the Wild Turkey lineup because the Nineteen Fifties.
This can be a high-octane dram – filled with depth, however by no means missing finesse. Up entrance, there’s golden syrup, marzipan and glacé cherry, with preserved orange and icing sugar within the background. Layers of milk chocolate, toasted cereal and spiced oak add richness and chunk. Pound for pound, it’s the most effective worth bottles within the sport.
A contemporary traditional.
