My hubby and I enjoy Bourbon together. My favorite vacation was our own Bourbon trail we took a few years back. Had so much fun and enjoyed the bourbon immensely! LOVE your You Tube channel and your comments. Very down to earth. Your daughters sound adorable for getting you that wonderfully funny and charming decanter! Loved and laughed when you took a sip!!
Love your real bright bar atmosphere, with all the bottles behind you all lit up and the bar! Your personality and knowledge and and the way you explain the taste is very entertaining and informative. And love it when your wife makes you explain something you forgot or didn't mention that makes sense, lol. Love your basement bar show! Keep it up!
Kurt, Recently stumbled across your channel😎 Just getting into responsibly and respectfully whiskey enjoyment😎 This list is exceedingly helpful and your other offerings are exceedingly accessible! Thanks!
Chris so good to hear from you! Hope all is well with you and your family! Thank you for your interest in the channel and for repeating a constant theme of responsibility and not over imbibing!
At 76 years old I am new to drinking bourbon and also a new subscriber. I quit drinking spirits about 40 years ago and went to red wine and dark beer. My son recently introduced me to bourbon. My first two bottles are Maker's Mark 46 and Elijah Craig small batch. I am enjoying going back and watching your videos. Very in formative. Cheers from WA state.
Thank you sir! I am humbled and honored that you enjoy the channel! You have two great bourbons to start your journey! Thanks for taking the time to share with me!
Have had 5 of the 7 shown, need to try the Cooper's Craft and Larceny...I usually get my juices on the lower price end from the Naval Exchange Class VI store...no major mark ups...love your selections and enjoy your videos as I navigate my Bourbon journey!!
Love your reviews and agree with everything you said about this list. McKenna is awesome and usually available but best to keep two bottles in reserve though.
I toured the Buffalo Trace distillery in 2017 and got to taste the Eagle Rare 10 year and a Buffalo Trace 8 year. I have found both in Alliance, Nebraska which pleasantly surprised me and the Eagle Rare 10 year is definitely a nice product in that price range,
Holy Moly I live In Alliance! I'm a Jim Beam Black lover and I remember getting Weller's at Kloch's for 17 bucks a few years ago! Cheers friend! Hit me up!
Just stumbled across your post, no pun intended. Wow, thank you for some really good info! I look forward to seeing some other posts. I'm new at this, all I know is from college where you just drank for the buzz, now that I am mellowed myself I want to stop and smell the char.
On your recommendations I just finished a bottle of Elijah Craig Small Batch and tried Maker's Mark 46 today. Mark was a bit higher priced here in NY at $36 but not unreasonable. Both very nice. Gotta give Maker's Mark the edge. Smooth and flavorful. Thanks!
First I've heard of the Eagle Run. Plain old Buffalo Trace is my goto for regular drinking when I can get it and for it's price point. Thanks for the review.
Seriously! That line up is my bottom shelf and it is on YT for the whole world to see! If company comes over, I'd be proud to offer them a pour out of these bottles.
I’ll have to try the coopers craft sometime. The only one I’ve never tried. Thanks for the video suggestions. I’m glad the algorithm steered me to your channel.
The Henry McKenna single barrel has been a favorite of mine since had it 2 years ago. Now at my state run liquor store it has almost doubled in price. So now it is one of my favorite $60.00 a bottle bourbons.
I get that. Unfortunately pricing varies so much from state to state. Giving away another HM single barrel on the next live show. Hope to see you there!
Henry McKenna 10 is fantastic. I bought my first 2 bottles for 33 a piece. Shortly thereafter, state minimum in MI went up to 49. Not terrible but what a huge jump!
I had the pleasure once of going on a private tour at Buffalo Trace. I worked at a decent liquor store in Indiana, and the boss drove us down one Sunday in his Suburban. Back then, no liquor sales in IN. So we go down and have the tour. We got to taste 5 barrels pulled for us to decide which two would be bottled just for our store! We voted on our favorite two barrels. I voted for the two sweetest barrels, and both my choices won the day!
Excellent list! I really appreciate that this wasn't just a rehash of "WT 101, EW BiB, etc" that every video like this trots out. And they're fine, but I appreciate the variety. For me, I'd give some love to the Old Granddad line, especially bonded and 114 which are both in this range.
Love the 114 especially in bourbon cocktails that need some backbone! Kind of embarrassed to say but I have never had the bib. Has to be next on my list!
I just came across your channel and I'm loving the reviews. I've really been getting into Bourbons for the last few years. I really like Bulleit and Woodford Reserve in that $30 range also. Kinda surprised you haven't mentioned them.
Woodford reserve double oaked is a mainstay in the bar. Believe it or not I have never tried the baseline Bulleit but I do have the 10 yr and Founders reserve that I think are good. Thanks for joining us!
Woodford Reserve is my absolute got to. I do love their double oaked too, but in my humble opinion regular Woodford Reserve doesn't get the credit it deserves - especially for an under $50.00 bourbon! Great channel though and pretty sweet bar!
I just started to watch your channel. I don't drink much but like getting a good bottle to share with my friends during our yearly camping trip. Its surprising that the prices of these bottles haven't really changed in price range.
Going back and watching the older videos before Trenton came out of hiding, seems like Kurt was a little more sauced 🤣 Really love the evolution of the channel.
Great list! Coopers Craft 100 has taken over as my “most often reached for.” I love it and always keep at least 2 on the shelf. Elijah Craig small batch is always a solid choice, can’t go wrong with it.
I can endorse the Maker's Mark 46, and I can absolutely endorse the Knob Creek 9 (which I love straight). I didn't like Larceny when I tried it, but I plan to try it again some day, since I've learned considerable since then. The Elijah Craig is delicious. The rest, alas, I either can't find or can't afford. I do love the decanter. It's perfect for a man who's Strong Like Bull. 🐂🙂
Maybe I shouldn’t be giving these secrets away but I enjoy your channel so I feel I need to contribute. Way under rated around $30, at least around here, Evan Williams Single Barrel and Old Grand Dad Bonded, 100 proof. You aren’t doing Rye but Rittenhouse and Sazerac are amazing and at the price point. Cheers!
Fantastic choices! Little story. I had an EW single barrel a few yrs ago that I just didn’t like to much. After all the comments like yours I bought another bottle just a couple days ago. This one is much better than what I remembered! Thanks so much for chiming in!
You are very lucky that you can still find that Henry McKenna 10 and Eagle Rare for $35 or so dollars. They are highly marked up where I am, $70+ and $50+ respectively, but the McKenna 10 is so great I usually keep a bottle on the shelf even at the premium though! Good on that store owner being true to the customer! I am new to the channel, but am liking your strait-forward and honest takes. Knowing you are buying your own stuff I make sure to let the ads run so you can use it to get more spirits to make content. Cheers!
Started my bourbon journey about 2 years ago. Have gone through a few different bottles: Mellow Corn, Four Roses, Makers, Bookers and Elijah Craig. My go to bottle is ofc the Elijah Craig, very good price range and the one I enjoy the most.
Haha! One night while traveling for work I found a good bourbon liquor store and bought me an Old Forester 1910. But I didn’t want to open it that night. At the register I bought two little Cooper bottles. I never had had Coopers and didn’t expect much. Oh my! Next time I have a hole on my bourbon shelf I’m gonna fill it with Coopers. Now I LOVE your choice of Makers 46. If I ask my wife for “a couple fingers of sedative” she knows to pour me 46. I love it when I’m whooped tired physically and mentally. Two fingers and I’m ready for sleep. Now - Larceny! I love it. Shared it with my middle son and he looked at me and whistled! And smiled. I like you put Eagle Rare on this list. And Elijah! You got a great list my friend.
I jump wholeheartedly with your lineup. With the exception of the two unicorns, both of which are unavailable in my area. The hype on those bottles_ whether justified or not: I have no idea _ even if you find them has raised their respective prices mightily. Count me out. I'm not one to play games on the "bourbon stock market".
Love the channel and love the videos. My fave so far has been the weller alternatives video but this one was great too. I also love rebel 100 spicy wheated and I can currently get it for 20 dollars on sale. Keep em comming and four roses...is there a better four horsemen in burbon?
Thanks for another fun video!, featuring some favorites and some intriguing possibilities for trying. I'm always glad to see a review on the 10 Year Old McKenna, a personal favorite for years, although since they started winning awards the price has gone up...it used to be under 30 bucks. Still a great buy, a little hard to find but worth looking for (my liquor store will usually let me know when they have it, and will hold a bottle for a day or two). Not sure why, but I understand there's a dispute over which is better, this current product or the "pre-fire" 10 Year Old Single Barrel Mckenna. Seriously? Who's got a bottle of THAT behind the bar or in their cabinet? And if it was ever opened, I'd consider it pretty suspect by now, so this seems like argument for its own sake. Makers 46 is another nice pour...I got to dip my own bottle in the hot wax at the distillery, as well. Just finished a bottle of the Knob Creek 9 Year Old, and it was excellent in all applications. And there is no way to go wrong with almost anything from Elijah Craig; it's frequently what I have in what I call my "traveling bottle" that I take on road trips for relaxing at the end of the day! Thanks again!
@@harryborsalino1276 Open the Coopers Craft 100 and try it. Then let it sit on the shelf for a month or so then retry it. You'll find its a totally different whiskey and well worth the wait.
We all know it’s all about what taste good to the person drinking it. I have had Eagle Rare many times and even pass it up when buying bourbon. We hit Buffalo Trace once in a while and find it there or even in the stores. It’s ok to me but I have no plans on getting more. The McKenna is def one that I have purchased many times. 👍🏼
Same, I see eagle rare here often and pass it up. I've had a half bottle on my shelf for a year. I'd pick buffalo trace over eagle rare, but that's just me. Everyone has different tastes.
You've convinced me to get some Cooper's Craft, looking forward to it! I've been lucky to have a local store that was selling Knob Creek 9 yr for $23 for quite a while. They bumped up to $28, but everyone else around me has it for $32-36.
I love this topic. There are 100 bottles that can go on this list. Great price point for bourbon ... OGD 114 takes the gold for me (of the readily available options anyway)
IT has been said that with aging, OGD turns into Basil Hayden. Still I would rather have any of the OGD expressions over Basil Hayden. And OGD 114 makes an incredible Old Fashioned or Manhattan.
I just discovered your channel a few nights ago & I really enjoy it, so thanks! 1 quick question - where are you located? I ask because all the prices you mention are consistently $10-$15 less than in my area (Chattanooga, TN). So far, from what I've watched, our tastes line up very closely to one another!
Appreciate the kind words, thank you! I live in NW Indiana not far from lake Mi and about 60 mi from Chicago. We are fortunate to excellent liquor store owners who treat their customers fairly.
Very nice list. I will say, I no longer buy Maker's Mark (which was my fave) or any other Beam product since they sold out to a foreign conglomerate, but it is excellent.
On your recommendation I gave the Elijah Craig Small Batch a try and yes, two thumbs up! It's an excellent $30 bourbon! I've been mainly drinking Noah's Mill and Wellers's, but I'm tired of the gradual price escalation- suddenly a bottle is $10 more and you squint and wonder why- maybe I should keep my mouth shut! Eagle Rare, the same thing- it was great at $30, not anymore...
Noah's Mill is a secret around where I am, I always find bottles and the guy that works there told me "the people here don't try new things". I'm glad he told me about it because I always have a few bottles in my stash
My latest find is the Blue Note Juke Joint straight bourbon. Memphis TN, beautiful though not overly complex, $29.99. Their riverset rye is pretty boring but I'm loving my blue note bottle
Picked up two Eagle Rares and 1 Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond during the Weekends of Whiskey event at my local liquor superstore. ER easily became my favorite bourbon, pound for pound, out of everything I've tried (also the best of the Buffalo Trace / Weller Special Reserve / EH Taylor Small Batch / George T Stagg / Blanton's that I also managed to pick up).
@@slbdrinks That was only a small part of everything picked up in September...had to wake up early to get in line every Saturday...very limited supplies, and we were all capped at a certain # of each bottle, beyond the super-special table items, which was capped at only one from the table. Big scores, beyond the Buffalo Trace items were an 18yr Jameson, 21yr Dewar's Small Batch, a bottle of Ardbeg Scorch Scotch, a 10yr bottle of Brenne (French, aged in Cognac barrels), Blood Oath Pact #7 and Old Forester Cask Strength. Never really considered myself a whiskey guy until last Christmas. Between a gift of Dewar's 21 and a box of Glencairns, numerous discussions with VERY passionate whiskey drinkers, and many discoveries from fine RU-vid providers, such as yourself, I now consider myself a full-fledged CONVERT. Thank you, good sir, for your content...sláinte!!!
After you commented after my comment on the Maker's Mark 46 on your last video I went and found this show,and WOW ! I have everyone of those bourbons in my bar except for the Cooper's craft, I've never seen that one in store, but that tells me me you and I could sit around and enjoy drinking bourbon together ,,,we have a lot of similar tastes,,I guess great minds think alike.... lol
Larceny is great, Makers Mark you can't go wrong with. 1792 is a solid juice for around $30. Don't forget 4 Roses. Would love to be lucky enough to find your special mentions.
@@slbdrinksthese are pretty much what I have in my own little collection. Eagle Rare, surprisingly is kinda hard to find around here (in Indy) unless you know somebody in the biz who can reserve it. Same with Blanton’s… yeah you can buy it on the secondary market, but that’s akin to buying scalped concert tickets. 🤨
Great choices. I haven't had the Coopers or the McKenna - so I'll add those to my list. And for $33 ea I'd add Redwood Empire Pipedream and/or Lost Monarch to your choices.
I do have to agree on Knob Creek, Larceny, & Elijah Craig. All very good well Bourbons both drinking straight and in cocktails. HOWEVER, my go-to bourbon comes in slightly higher @ $35-$37/bottle: 🔸1792 Small Batch. Flavorful, aromatic, smooth, & an easy drinker! SO GOOD! 😋
Very hard. That’s why I truly don’t feel my list is the best or the only 5 deserving. Every individual might vary depending on their tastes and that’s what is so awesome about talking whiskey! Thanks for your input!
Good vid; thanks for doing it. If you showed up at my house right now, I could pour you five of your choices. (As for the two I don’t have, you’d have to “settle“ for KC 9 SiB Reserve and MM Cask). While I have the Cooper’s at present, it’s probably the only one I won’t replace. To me, it’s just so similar to its Brown-Forman stablemate Old Forrester 100, which has the competitive advantage of being six or seven dollars cheaper.
@@slbdrinks You really should give it a try and compare it to the Cooper's Craft 100. Try doing a blind shootout wit the two. Get a fresh bottle of each. Open 'em and sample each. Then let 'em sit for a few weeks then blindfold test 'em.
Glad to see you picked Elijah Craig as your top aside from McKenna. Haven’t heard of it but will keep an eye out. Love Elijah tho…. Thx love your vids.
New subscriber. Very nice job. Have you tried Rock Town Arkansas Bourbon Whiskey? The distillery (Rock Town) is on Main St. in Little Rock, Ark. it goes for around $38. Wonderful.
We could definitely enjoy a pour together. I have 3 of the 5 on my shelf right now and love them all! Larceny is absolutely a fave that I'll always have and in my market I've never paid more than 23 bucks (workin' on a 19.99 bottle right now...if that's not a buy all day long I don't know what is). Keep 'em coming.
I have tried each one of these except the coopers, and they're all good. The Henry McKenna is the stand out for sure, it's a shame I'll probably never find another bottle under $80
You should try Cooper's, it's a Brown-Foreman so if you like Old Forester you'll love the Cooper, just be sure to buy the BIB. Ditto on McKenna, the cheapest i ever found it was $56 over the last 2 years & that was only ONE bottle, everything else was $70-$90 because the dirtbags here in the Carolinas gouge every chance they get. sad.
I like the ECSB a lot. Only other one I have tried is the ER which I tried for first time this weekend. I tried it neat and enjoyed it a lot and it was really good over ice as well. Funny thing was near the end of the glass I really felt I had had enough of it for the night. I have had things like Buillett, BT, JBDO, and Woodford's reserve and have been able to have 3-5 glasses and not had that happen like it did with the ER. I am curious if you have ever had that happen where even though you were enjoying the whiskey you were just not in the mood for it after a couple. Will be interesting to see if it happens the next time I try it.
I picked up a bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon here in town (Orange Massachusetts) for just under $30 today. to me this stuff is pretty tasty. However at first I tried it neat but, I found I prefer it on the rocks. The store I bought it from has had trouble keeping this stuff on the shelf
Elijah Craig for $30 is a Fantastic Bottle. Eagle Rare and McKenna do not exist in VA any longer. I used to be able get ER regularly but not any more. Now, I have a last bottle anxiety :)
In Austin TX, I’ve only ever seen one or two bottles of Eagle Rare, both times they were over $80. The Henry McKenna has only been spotted once, and they wanted over $130 for it. I had some while living in Dallas about ten years ago and loved it. I think I paid $35 for it back then.
Hi Kurt, I’m fascinated by your choices here and particularly the absence of Buffalo Trace. Perhaps you’ve already done so, but could you please tell me what you think of Buffalo Trace relative to your picks ie the pluses and minuses from your perspective? I have never tried it, but it’s hyped so much that I’m curious what your thoughts were
I've tasted most of these, but when I go into a restaurant with a bourbon menu (I'm from Frankfort, Ky) I ask for Angel's Envy. Have you tried it? Getting quite popular around here.
New to your channel (love it) and new to Bourbon, but learning. Since this is about the $30 range bourbons, someone put me on to Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey. Any thoughts on that. Please be kind :))
Hey, every opinion is important to me good, bad, or indifferent. To be honest I haven’t had much of the Bulleit lineup. I have the 10 yr but that’s about it. I do like that bottle.
Could you do a top 5 or 10 on rye whisky? I've been getting into rye lately because scotch wasn't enough of a drain on my wallet. I've just been buying random rye whiskies so far when I see them. I kind of want to try a few more but probably should stop doing it blind.
I just recently discovered the Pendleton 1910 bottling, which is a 12 year old rye. It’s bottled at 80 proof, so it’s excellent neat or with an ice ball. I just went back to Total Wine and bought three more bottles at $35 each. A 12-year old anything at that price point is a steal, and this one tastes [to me at least] like it should be $50 or above.
This is great, I love bourbon but I don't love spending mega money on it. I'm not a fan of regular Makers Mark but will try the 46. Love the rest. Have you tried Lazy River? It's a tougher one to find and more in the 40-50 range but one I love to always have on hand.
Here in California Henry McKenna is now a $100 sat on shelf’s for $29 just got one in Oregon for$49 we have a lot of eagle rare for $29 but i’am sure they will be hard to find soon to love the reviews.
