Transcription
When I go bourbon hunting, I usually have a couple of things on my mind. One, can I find something maybe that I've never had? Can I find an interesting whiskey? Or can I find something that's the best bang for my buck? My bourbon budget is not unlimited, although it's a little higher than Jill would like for it to be. Not unlimited, it is not unlimited, which means we need to be smart about the Bourbons we're buying. So, we're always on the hunt for a great value, which is why we went and asked y'all what you thought were the best values for the money. And y'all came through for us, and we had to narrow this list down to the top 10 because y'all gave us all sorts of wonderful whiskey values. But we're not going to go through all of them. So, here are the top 10 value Bourbons, according to the B Team, the Bruel community.
So, we're going to start at number 10, and that is Russell's Reserve 10. This guy, I think, is about a $45ish dollar MSRP, and that's for a 10-year-old Kentucky bourbon made by Wild Turkey. So, proof on this is about 90 proof. What makes it maybe not a little more exceptional? We typically like a little more proof on these. I got the feeling we're going to have quite a few Wild Turkey products on this list. $45? What do you think? That's a fantastic $45 bottle. I just don't know if it doesn't deserve to be higher. How do I get like a cinnamon vanilla? My only problem with Turkey products is when they get a little more age to them, they get a little more oakiness. The oakiness often is like a dry oakiness, almost like a dry wine. Just dries the palate out, um, and comes across a little harsh to me. It has just a touch of that, but it's not much. Like, it's not bad when it gets a little older, like the 13-year Russell. Some of those releases have that. Good choice here at number 10. Let's look at number nine.
And number nine is actually a bottle that I don't have available for us right now, and that is Four Roses Small Batch. What I do have, though, is Four Roses Single Barrel, which is a similar experience with a very bad cork. We have a bunch of corks. I'm going to see if I can find one to fit in there. So, what's the difference between what they picked and what we have? Well, the MSRP on a Four Roses Small Batch is about $38 bucks, 90 proof. So, this one is a single barrel, which is going to be 100 proof. They're going to be similar, a little bit different experience, but similar. Yeah, I think I like the Russell better. You think the Russell is oak on this one? Yeah, and again, this is not the Small Batch that's probably, that might be the difference. This is the only one that we just absolutely do not have on the list, though. I don't know. I would probably go back and forth between that and the Russell day-to-day. Still a good whiskey, and the Small Batch is going to be of of similar quality.
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At number eight, Early Times Bottled-in-Bond. Now, this label recently sold from Brown-Forman to Sazerac. It's sold from the makers of Jack Daniels to the folks who make like Weller and Buffalo Trace and those kinds of things. Now, this is the blue metal top. We went with that one for this comparison because this is what people can go get. So, when this sold, supposedly the whiskey in here is exactly the same as the ones with the black plastic screw top. They're still sourcing whiskey from the same place. It's supposedly still Brown-Forman whiskey in here. A lot of people, including myself, claim that the black plastic screw tops are much better, and the flavors are similar. It's not like it's a completely different product, but they're just not as good as the black plastic screw caps. But they are still a fantastic value bourbon. MSRP on this guy is right around $26, and of course, being a Bottled-in-Bond, comes in at 100 proof. I like that. Is this better than the Russell? No. It's good, though. It's 100 proof, so you got a little more proof points to it, and it's like, what I say, $26 versus like $45ish dollar MSRP. Seems like a great value, and maybe that's why it ranked a little higher, just because it's it's so much cheaper. Like, once you get $45, realistically, is a bourbon of value? If you're just, you know, if you're a normal consumer of whiskey, $45 is an expensive bottle. Whereas $26, like, you're competing against a whole bunch of, you know, at least mid-shelf, bottom-shelf crap at that price. Good bottle, not as good as it used to be to me. Like, just go ahead and give me hate comments if you don't agree with me, or if you do, agree, let me know down in the comments. Do you want to try the black back top? Sure. Okay. It's the proof queen. You got the proof queen. Glen Kens. That is a lot. That's a hefty pour. But y'all see the black plastic screw cap versus the metal screw caps here? Let me know what you think of that versus the first pour. It's quite a bit different, isn't it? That is quite a bit different and better. And way better. Way better. I mean, similar flavor profile, but this one, just everything about this one is better. There is a difference. Wow. And anybody who says there's not, we don't come over. Let's try. Like, we're going to, we're going to battle it out. We're going to blind it.
And number seven is Old Forester 100 Proof. Now, I'm assuming they're talking about the normal 100 proof Old Forester and not a Single Barrel. But this is what I have. Like, why would you drink the normal stuff when you have a Single Barrel? A 100 proof MSRP at right around $28 for a normal release of this. I think I paid a little more than that for this one. This is a store pick from, is that Rye in Nevada? Smells. Apparently, we got a lot of Nevada store picks. We seem to do very well with Nevada store. We have had some really great picks out of Nevada. They must put all the good whiskey in Nevada. Quintessential Old Forester on the nose, though. I still think I, I get a little bit more of the tobacco. This is just like an oak-flavored birthday cake. I get like some interesting sweetness. I would say almost like sprinkles. Like, it's just interesting little bits of bursts of sweetness. This is obviously not in the here with some of their limited release stuff where their flavors are really subtle and complex. This one's a little more in-your-face there with the oakiness, but still a really nice bottle. This is a Single Barrel, so this probably a little more oaky than the normal release stuff, um, that you're going to be able to get for that $8ish dollar MSRP. So, we are watered up and we are moving through the list to number six. Almost halfway through. You're still saying the Russell's 10 is your favorite out of these so far, which surprises me because it's the lowest proof. The proof queen's falling off her throne. She's abdicating her throne. No. Well, you're about to get the proof, babe, because the next one is Wild Turkey Rare Breed. Again, a Wild Turkey product, so it's going to be kind of similar to that Russell. So, this one is 116 proof, and it is MSRP for $50ish dollar, in the 50s. You, you might, I think $53, $55, something like that. I get a little peanut on that one, a little dust. It does seem to have a little dustiness to it. So, the oakiness is, is not as dry in this one, and it does come across almost a little bit nutty on this particular bottle. Nutty. I like the proof, but I'm still sticking with. Oh, Lord have mercy, Jill. I can see people, they're people logging off right now, just jumping. Look, I'm sorry, I like what I like, and today I like that one. I'm going to disagree with you here. I'm going to, I'm going to definitely disagree. I'm, I'm kind of with you on most of those. I'm going to jump ship right here and say the Rare Breed is hands down, on any day, I will pick the Rare Breed over a Russell's 10. Just a little too nutty today. You're a little too nutty today, G. That's what it is.
Number five on our best value Bourbons. Ooh, Old Forester 1920. Again, a high proofer, 115 proof on this one, $60ish, $62 MSRP. The great thing about these value Bourbons is most of these, you can get just about anywhere, especially if you go with like the normal release 100, or if you go with like the Small Batch Select of Four Roses. This one smells good. It's, it's Old Forester. It can't be bad. I'm, I'm just waiting for something with Old Forester on it that's not good. I'm sure it's out there. I want somebody to send it to me, just prove me wrong, shut me up. I've never had an Old Forester wasn't good. Best one so far. I'm going to have to nudge it out a little bit. Yep. I think that one's my favorite so far. So, we're finally getting in the right order. Now that we're in the top five, we're starting to, we're starting to agree with them. I would move that Russell up, though. I mean, they're all good value whiskies. You probably should have all of these in your cabinet if you're, you know, if you're into whiskey. If not, not sure how you got here, but thanks for watching. Hit the like button while you're at it, if you would. This is one of my favorite value Bourbons. I, I like, I'm really interested to see what for top this one. I would have probably have had this one in my top three.
Number four, Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond. Which here in Alabama is like $17, $18. I think it's a $20 MSRP, so you might pay just a little bit more for it, but it is under $20 bucks here pretty much out the door. I don't, it might be a little bit more with taxes, but 100 proof, obviously being Bottled-in-Bond. This is the best bottle of whiskey I can get in the state of Alabama for under $20. Now, I don't know if they're in this list, but the Benchmark stuff is right around $20. They're not really distributed in Alabama. I think there might be one or two of the varieties here now, occasionally, but I got to go to a different state to get those, and they're normally $20, $25 for those. It's okay. You don't think it's better than the Old Forester or the Early Times or the Rare Breed? Like, any, like the Rare Breed was probably your tops. No, the Old Old Forester 1920 was your tops. Russell is like right there at it. But this is like, you could buy three bottles of this for the cost of a 1920. You don't like it at all? I like it a little bit, but not enough to want more of it. You would rather just spend $60 versus $20 and get that next tier of Old Forester? It's not horrible. I just don't prefer it. This is a good bottle for $20. If you're just getting into whiskey, I want you to try this because I, I do believe this is just kind of good Kentucky bourbon, good cheap Kentucky bourbon. It's not like some overwhelming experience. You don't need to, but you don't need to go wait in line for it. Like, just about any liquor store anywhere. But see, I guess where, like, for me, if I'm going to drink it, I want an experience. I'm not drinking just for the effect of it. No, I agree. But at the same time, everybody's budget's different. Like, not $60 is a lot of money for a bottle of whiskey that if you're just going to go home and enjoy it on a weekend, like $60 versus $20. So, if you just have $20, I think that's a good buy and you enjoy it. I wouldn't just get it to get it to have have it. As far as like how these are being ranked, in my opinion, these are not the best whiskies on the list. We did, we didn't get, here's the best value Bourbons and then rank them 10 through one as the best. It's more like which one's the best value, so it's how good it is compared to the price. For the price, this to our audience is the fourth best bottle of bourbon on the planet. For something to beat this, if it's got a higher price, it's got to be considerably better for that to hold up. So, let's check out number three.
And that is Eagle Rare 10-year. I mean, it's a value. We didn't say it was easy to find. We didn't. At $30, whatever they are now, $35. I don't think I've seen one for less than $40, but even at $45, this is an exceptional buy. And I still see them a lot at around that $44, $45 price tag. A 10-year-old Buffalo Trace product that is this delicious at that price. This is still the same price as that Russell's Reserve 10. And a lot of people are going to give, you know, I see it in the comments, folks are like, "Oh my God, you paid $50 for an Eagle Rare, that's a $30 bottle." You tater. And my answer to them is, that's Tater King to you, man. Put a little respect on it. First of all, first and foremost, you're going to address me as a tater. You might as well go ahead and call me the Tater King. And two, like, Lord have mercy, is this better than a Russell's 10? That is not a contest. Not a contest. That is like me getting in a boxing match with Mike Tyson. It's not, no contest. It's not even like, don't even think about it. We don't need to put these in a blind to pick the best one. What is that? That I'm tasting on? Deliciousness. Absolute wonderful. It is just a candy. It is like a great candy. I'm trying to think of like, what candy I'm thinking of when I taste that. That is delicious. Like, there's, there's nothing else we've had thus far on this list that comes close to the delicious flavors of that. It's delicious, but just, just needs a little more proof. What is the proof? 90 proof. I said 100. Yeah, we said like, if it's 101. Eagle Rare used to be 101 before Buffalo Trace bought it. Like, just charge me $100 and give me that at 101 proof, and you'll sell every bottle. If you haven't had an Eagle Rare, it is worth the price of admission. I prefer the 1920 with the proof and the, like, just I like the proof of it, but the flavors are not as good as this. I don't know what kind of magic Buffalo Trace puts in a bottle. They just know how to make a good whiskey. Again, it just suits my flavor profile where I'm looking for like the fruity, sweet, floral notes, and Buffalo Trace just provides it in everything they do. And if we ever make a whiskey, if we're ever lucky enough to be able to build our own distillery, I need to figure out what voodoo goes into making these fruity flavors. But it's not easy to get. It's a value at $45, but good luck. I found it when we were doing our road trip. I came across a couple of stores that had it at like $45ish. We just didn't have room, so I didn't buy any. If you told me right now, I need a bottle of Eagle Rare, go get me one, I couldn't do it. I would have to go to the monthly drop for the Alabama ABC and stand in line for six hours to get one. So, I couldn't go to a store and just find it on the shelf. I can see one. Why? Yeah, it's, well, I mean, everything Buffalo Trace gets a ton of hype from taters like me, just because everybody knows, like, it just, it everybody knows this is good. Every, at least everybody who's collecting knows that they should be buying this bottle. I don't know if they're opening them or not, but this is a fantastic whiskey.
So, number two is Buffalo Trace. Apparently, folks like Buffalo Trace. If you haven't noticed, our audience are fans of Buffalo Trace products. This one is a little easier to get than Eagle Rare. I saw a lot, a lot of the states I went to on our road trip, that whole state had every store I went into had Buffalo Trace. I think it was Colorado. Buffalo Trace was everywhere. There were several states, though, that were just loaded up in Buffalo Trace. I bought a Buffalo Trace store pick in Wisconsin. So, this is going to be more readily available. They put out a ton more of this than they do Eagle Rare. Being 10 years old, this guy is MSRP of around $28, I think, and it is 90 proof as well. What do you think? It's good. It's not Eagle Rare. No. This is, I don't think anybody would argue that this is not, many people would argue that this is better than Eagle Rare. This is because it's less expensive, like technically easy to find. A little of both, probably. More people have had this, so they may have voted for this because they've had it, because it's easier to get. I can get these for about half what I can reasonably get an Eagle Rare for, and it is, it's delicious. It's good. It's just missing that little bit of kind of interesting great notes that Eagle Rare is so special. I haven't seen any Benchmark stuff. Could Benchmark be number one? We can't have the top three be Buffalo Trace stuff. Like, we just can't. We can't. We can, because we didn't pick it. So, drum roll for me. Let me go over here and grab number one.
And that is the 101 Wild Turkey 101. So, there have been a couple of Buffalo Trace products, but there have been three Wild Turkey products. What's great about Wild Turkey, though, is that every one of these products that we've mentioned is pretty readily available. The Buffalo Trace stuff, we brought up unobtanium for a lot of people. Like, even just normal Old Buffalo Trace, a lot of people have trouble finding it on the regular. Like, if you told me right now to go get a Buffalo Trace, I would have a hard time. But with a little bit of luck, and I probably go over to Georgia, I probably find one, definitely a lot easier than an Eagle Rare. This guy, pretty much every liquor store everywhere. Like, no joke. If your liquor store does not have Wild Turkey 101, just leave, find another liquor store because they don't want to sell whiskey. They're not, they're not in the bourbon. If this bottle is not sitting on the shelf. What do you think? I like that 101 proof. This is about $25 MSRP. As far as like a value bourbon goes, some people are not going to like the proof of higher proof stuff, so this is kind of at the bottom end of those proof, uh, that proof range that we typically like, which is that 100 plus. You can walk into any liquor store, have it yourself, and and carry it home. You don't have to wait in line. And as far as total package of affordable whiskies, it's really hard to beat Wild Turkey 101. I get a little bit of like a buttered popcorn. I probably wouldn't go that route, but I see where you could, you could call it that. Overall, a good one, though. But is this your favorite? Like, which one out of these? Out of all of these we tried, all of them being value Bourbons, which one's the best? Eagle Rare. Which one's number two? Russell. I thought you liked the Old Forester 1920 better than the Russell. So, Old Forester a little bit, Eagle Rare, Old Forester, and then the Russell 10, which was number 10. Yeah, this one doesn't have the age to it, so it doesn't have that kind of bitter oakiness starting to develop or that kind of dry oak. So, this was the B Team's Top Value Bourbons. And if you disagree with this list in any way, shape, form, or fashion, let me know down in the comments. I will chastise them. I'll give them a hard time. I will let them know, hey, everybody was hating on y'all's list. Y'all need to tighten up and you need to do better. If you want to have your voice heard, then maybe you should be in the free Discord. Doesn't cost a thing. We just hang out, we talk about whiskey. Or join our Patreon group. We have a free tier of the Patreon, and we got barrel picks. I bought 15 barrels of whiskey right now that are going to roll out to those patrons. 15. I hope they never get to the free tier. I hope you join that free tier and you absolutely never get a barrel pick because that means everybody else has bought them before they get to you, and I don't go broke and have to sell my house. But there's a chance, because we got a bunch of them coming out, that if you're in that free tier, you might get a shot at one. I don't know. You might. As always, if you want to join the Discord or the Patreon group, link is in the description. So, I appreciate all of y'all that have supported the channel. We are trying to pump out more and more of these fine quality videos. If you like these lists where we poll, we, uh, we try different things, let me know again down in the comments. I appreciate y'all watching, and we'll see you in the next [Music] one.