Barrell gets plenty of love, but you kind of have to be a fan, as it's not for everybody. The widely sought and touted New Year bottles either wow some or are just not what others are looking for, but it's hard to imagine anyone who can't get on board with the Foundation blend.
Yep, the whole line. The label got a bit of a redo in 2020 that went under the radar due to *emphatic hand waving* everything. So while Benchmark No. 8 was your don't-think-just-do handle for sipping or mixing, you might want to compare each of these very affordable $25 or fewer bottles to see how you like to employ them.
The fact that this delightful bourbon wouldn't exist without "The Vampire Diaries" is trivial in the shadow of how much it pleases. Actors Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley are two bourbon lovers who decided anything worth doing well was worth doing obsessively.
Again, the whole Evan Williams lineup is a deal for the price, tasting better than its competitors while charging half as much — something we went on record as saying back in our ranking of the best American whiskey brands. But if you really want to upgrade your go-to, small batch and single barrel are minor price bumps for big boosts in satisfaction.
A perennial pick for underrated bourbon by the truly experienced aficionados, no matter which neck fills your fingers, Four Roses still leaps forward once you cross into Small Batch Select and Single Barrel. While Single Barrel is inarguably refined — even reactively impressive at first sip
Finally, a bit of a shift in our recommendations. Garrison Brothers are widely admired by those who try its wilding-out expressions, but the problem is that not too many folks have. It's pricier than a lot of other bourbons, and Texas whiskey just hasn't made quite the dent in Kentucky's market share yet.
Green River's a newer label, but it's been coming out of the gate strong. Like Brother's Bond, it's big on the corn while strong on the rye, though you won't find any wheat rounding out the barley here. There's no age statement, but the company says at least five years in the barrel.