1 Buffalo Trace | Flagship Kentucky straight bourbon | 90 proof (45% ABV) | No age stated (often ~8 years) | Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort KY | $35–$45 | Baseline weeknight pour | Caramel, orange peel, light cherry, gentle oak | Mash bill is unofficial, but this is the reference bourbon in more online blind tastings than my inbox can track. | I treat this like the league-average OPS of bourbon—if I don’t like a whiskey more than this, it’s not earning a second buy. |
|---|
2 Four Roses Single Barrel | Single barrel Kentucky straight bourbon | 100 proof (50% ABV) | No age stated (commonly 7–9 years) | Four Roses Distillery, Lawrenceburg KY | $55–$70 | Slow sip with a book you pretend you’re not re-reading | Ripe stone fruit, honey, baking spice, floral edge | Drawn from the OBSV recipe—one of 10 Four Roses mashbill/yeast combos—so yes, the label is basically a tiny spreadsheet. | This is my “explain bourbon to a wine person” bottle: structured, aromatic, slightly dramatic, and better when you don’t rush. |
|---|
3 Elijah Craig Small Batch | Small batch Kentucky straight bourbon | 94 proof (47% ABV) | No age stated (used to be 12 years) | Heaven Hill Distillery, Bardstown KY | $30–$40 | One-more-chapter pours that become three | Toasty oak, vanilla, peanut brittle, a little cinnamon heat | Heaven Hill’s entry-level Heaven Hill 7-year bonded has the headlines, but this is still the quiet WAR monster of their lineup. | If I had to pick one bottle that feels ‘grown up’ without a grown-up price, it’s this: polite, a bit smoky, never boring. |
|---|
4 Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Kentucky straight bourbon | 90.4 proof (45.2% ABV) | No age stated (~7 years, often blended) | Woodford Reserve Distillery, Versailles KY | $40–$50 | Dinner-party “something nice but not flexy” | Dried fruit, cocoa, toasty oak, orange oil, hint of tobacco | Triple-distilled in pot stills plus column-distilled stock—basically a blended origin story in one very giftable bottle. | Feels like a well-edited manuscript: not experimental, but polished, balanced, and surprisingly re-readable (re-drinkable?). |
|---|
5 Knob Creek 9 Year Small Batch | Age-stated small batch bourbon | 100 proof (50% ABV) | 9 years | Jim Beam Distillery, Clermont KY | $40–$50 | Cool nights, loud records | Roasted nuts, dark caramel, vanilla, charred oak, peppery finish | Age statement disappeared for a bit and then returned, like a beloved side character the writers realized they actually needed. | Oakier, louder, and more opinionated than my other daily drinkers—and that’s exactly why I keep it around. |
|---|
6 Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style | High-proof Kentucky straight bourbon | 115 proof (57.5% ABV) | No age stated | Old Forester Distilling Co., Louisville KY | $65–$80 | End-of-week recalibration sips | Dark chocolate, brown sugar, roasted nuts, dark fruit, hefty oak | Part of the Whiskey Row series, meant to echo Prohibition-era barrel proofs—basically historical fiction in glass form. | My favorite “stay in, turn the game on mute, overthink life choices” bottle: big, chewy, and somehow still precise. |
|---|
TheLysts
