Looking for the best bourbon under 50 bucks, but don’t want to break the bank? You’ve come to the perfect place. Truthfully, some of the best-tasting bourbons will run you less than $50.

Whether you’re searching for something sweet, powerful or even spicy there’s a bourbon on this list that will most definitely become your new go-to drink of choice. Our staff at The Bottle Haus decided to test taste a variety of bourbons so you don’t have to spend a hefty penny searching for the perfect one within your price point.

Read through our list of some of the best bargain-bottles on the market today and see why we had to share it with our readers – our best kept secrets are officially out! Whether you have been a Bourbon Sipper for quite some time now, there is a special feeling about finding the perfect bottle.

That one bottle that will always be on your shelf to sip with friends or just indulge in on an average weekday night. That’s where this list comes in. Keep reading to check out The Bottle Haus’s best tasting bourbons under 50. When it comes to the best bourbon under a $50 budget, this list is exactly what you want to be reading.

Buffalo Trace

Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon has to be on our list of one of the best bourbon bottles under 50 dollars. This bourbon brand is created at the most award-winning distillery in the world, a master distiller which also distils Eagle Rare.

Made from the finest corn, yeast strains, and malted barley, this whiskey matures in new oak barrels for years in century old warehouses until it’s made to drink. The taste of this bourbon is rich and compounded, with notes of vanilla and caramel, toffee and candied fruit. The smooth finish of this bourbon remains on the palate, which will never change, similar to Eagle Rare. The headquarters of Buffalo Trace is the oldest continuously operating distillery in America and receives the most praise.

While it creates several acclaimed bourbons from other brands, its in-house bourbon creations are fantastically popular, and for known reasons. When it comes to the shelves at home, no bourbon collection is complete without that perfect bottle of Buffalo Trace.

Buffalo Trace Old Fashioned recipe:

• Whiskey: Buffalo Trace bourbon or Eagle Rare
• Bitters: Angostura Aromatic Bitters.
• Maple syrup: To lightly sweeten the cocktail.
• Fresh orange: Plus a vegetable peeler or knife, to slice off some of the peel.
• (Optional) Maraschino cherries. Adding luxardo cherries is a bit more pricey, but they are a million times better than the cheap, red-dyed, artificially-flavored maraschino cherries in the fruit aisle at the grocery store. They come in a pretty thick syrup, which can be tapped off so it does not overly sweeten the cocktail.
• Ice: Any ice will do, but cubed is preferred.

 

Knob Creek Aged 9 Years Small Batch Bourbon

Knob Creek is a small batch bourbon produced by Jim Beam, distilled in a more traditional style and aged for approximately 9 nine years. It is named for the area in Kentucky where Abraham Lincoln grew up and it’s actually noted that that exact creek is nearly where his life was claimed when swimming. The nose of this bourbon is very spicy and sweet and there are notes of melted salty butter on burnt toast along with notes of toasty oak and a touch of rye with vanilla and caramel sweetness.

The palate is perfectly peppy and full. There are notes of sweet candy and nut oil and a touch of spice and decadent dark chocolate. Not to mention, there’s a little spice of charred oak in this bourbon, similar to the Four Roses Single Barrel. The finish is long with a touch of dryness, which makes for the perfect sip. This is one of the best bourbons under 50.

Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye

Looking for a higher proof good bourbon? This blend is the first Heaven Hill Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey to join Elijah Craig's heavenly family of whiskey. Bottled in bond, this exclusive combination of spicy grains and sweet corn, along with Heaven Hill's dedication to quality give Elijah Craig Straight Rye a ideal balance.

With bold scents of dark chocolate and spice, and a palate replete with honey and a whiff of smoke, you're going to find yourself drinking away with perfection in your glass. Made at Heaven Hill, this higher proof bourbon is where it is also bottled in bond, the flagship EC Small Batch Bourbon is one of the world's great mentions in the category, known for their high-rye recipe. Taking the classic Kentucky mash for a rye of high-corn/high-barley and in this case higher proof (94) the finished whiskey notes of smoky flavors, preserved cherries, espresso, graphite and whole spices, like most bourbons that are distilled at Heaven Hill.

Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye Mint Julep Recipe

• 2 ½ oz Bourbon
• ¾ oz Simple Syrup
• Few Mint Leaves

 Directions:

1. Muddle mint into glass.
2. Combine remain ingredients the glass. 3.
3. Add crushed ice. 4.
4. Garnish with mint and enjoy.

Hirsch The Horizon Straight Bourbon Whiskey

About Hirsch HIRSCH’S newest offering, THE HORIZON, honors their forward-looking nature: steadfast, determined, moving forward at a quick pace, always in search of the next adventure that lies ahead in life. THE HORIZON doesn’t have an end. There’s no final location located on a map; it’s something people spend their lives constantly in search of.

THE HORIZON combines two straight bourbons distilled in Lawrenceberg, Indiana: 94% of the drink is created from a traditional mash bill and aged at a minimum of 4 years. The leftover 6% is distilled from a “high rye” mash aged 6 years for added complexity. Bottled at 92 proof, THE HORIZON is crafted to be drank neat or simply on the rocks, with a perfectly cubed ice cube.

The nose begins out with classic bourbon flavors of sweet caramel and oak. There are some light cherry scents in this bourbon as well as the scent of melting butter on top of cinnamon dusted toast. It’s a very lovely nose that doesn’t overwhelm with proof. Rye spices such as cinnamon and clove blend with fruit-forward notes of citrus and black cherries. The traditional mash bill creates for a taste that is lightly creamy with sweet notes everywhere in this bourbon blend. A perfect touch of brown sugar and vanilla are followed by some light touches of oak and leather. This high rye is a staff favorite and is considered one of the best bourbons under 50 with a high proof.

Wild Turkey Longbranch Bourbon Whiskey

For less than $40 a bottle, you get a bottle of 8-year-old Wild Turkey Kentucky Straight, which has been distilled using a comparable process to Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Bourbon and other Tennessee Whiskies. Rather than filtering it through 10 feet or whatever of sugar maple charcoal, Longbranch is dispersed first through American white oak charcoal (the same oak used for barrels) and then through mesquite charcoal from the state of Texas. Barbecue fans will notice similarities while drinking this bourbon, with the flavor of mesquite smoked meats, which is easily a departure from oak.

Wild Turkey Longbranch Bourbon Ray Of Sunshine

• 1 ounce aged rum
• 1 ounce whiskey (bourbon or Scotch)
• ½ ounce lemon juice
• ½ ounce ginger syrup (recipe follows)
• Topped with soda water

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients (except soda water) in a cocktail shaker, add ice, and shake until chilled.
2. Strain over ice into a Highball or Collins glass. Top with soda water, and garnish with an expressed lemon peel.

Old Forester

Searching for the best bourbons under $50? Old Forester Bourbon 86 Proof is a shelf essential produced and bottled in bond by Brown Forman, the company well known for Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel’s. As the line has broadened to include the Whiskey Row series and more recently the 100 proof and cask strength Old Forester Single Barrels, the 43% ABV version goes on to be the most affordable beginning point into Old Forester bourbon at around $18-30 per bottle.

The nose starts out with sweet caramel, vanilla bean, and peppery earthy rye, turning into warm toasted oak, black cherry, orange peel, and fiery barrel smoke. The palate is semi-viscous, beginning with sweet deep caramel and banana before a flood of sour black cherry, and earthy rye spice washes across the tongue and dissolves to a prickling toasted oak, dark chocolate, dark stone fruit with orange peel and a lingering herbaceous sweetness in the back. Being bottled in bond, the finish initiates from warm before earthy rye and charred caramel develop, leaving an aftertaste of dark chocolate, hint ion orange peel grease and cracked black pepper in this bourbon.

Larceny Small Batch

Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon is created by the Old Fitzgerald Brand, named after John E. Fitzgerald who started a distillery on the banks of the Kentucky River during the 1870s and eventually sold his blends to rail lines, steamships, and private clubs. With a similar taste to the Elijah Craig small batch, the Old Fitzgerald brand was enrolled in the 1880s, but was sold to Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle during the Prohibition era, moving the production of Old Fitz to his distillery where it developed into the first immense wheated bourbon.

The Larceny was hand chosen to have a taste profile of a six-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon, created with wheat as the next grain instead of the traditional rye, making it extremely smooth. It contains notes of fresh bread, reminding us of the Four Roses Single Barrel, along with toffee, butterscotch, caramel, and honey with a lengthy, lightly sweet and savory finish.

Four Roses Small Batch

Four Roses is a Lawrenceburg, KY-based distillery that was very well known in the United States in the initial 20th century before being sidelined as a restrictive release for Europe and Asia (distribution eventually returned stateside). The distillery releases a few rate limited editions every year, including this September’s unveiling of the latest LE Small Batch — a non-chill-filtered and barrel-strength bourbon. It’s both an annual highlight and the most arduous bottle of Four Roses to procure.

While the standby Four Roses Bourbon blends all 10 into an engaging and crowd-pleasing 80-proof sipper (more on that below), the LE Small Batch spotlights on just four recipes, with barrels aged from 12-19 years and displaying fruit and spice notes. How a distillery characterizes a small batch is less critical than how the whiskey tastes. In the case of the this Small Batch it tastes impeccable just like the rest of their product.

If you like Evan Williams Single Barrel bourbon, we think you'll like this drink. Overall it’s extremely tasty and reliable release from a distillery that can truly do no wrong right now. Flushed with a flavor of caramel and rye, the mix of sweet and spicy in thus bourbon is enchanting and delightful, making it a very appetizing drink.

Woodford Reserve Bourbon

The mashbill for Woodford Reserve features a immense percentage of rye: 72% corn, 18% rye and 10% malt. The whiskey is also unusual for being triple distilled and containing the lowest proof upon entering the barrel where it matures for a minimum of six years. A must have Kentucky bourbon. Makes a wonderful Old-Fashioned cocktail! The official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby, Woodford Reserve Bourbon is created and bottled at the old Labrot & Graham’s Distillery, which emerged in 1780. Woodford Reserve delivers a delectable, smooth flavor with complex citrus, cinnamon, toffee, chocolate and spice notes with a well-rounded, creamy finish, similar to the Jack Daniels Single Barrel Bourbon.

Brother's Bond Straight Bourbon Whiskey

About Brother's Bond Straight Bourbon: Created by Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, known as "The Salvatore Brothers" from the award-winning TV series, "The Vampire Diaries,” this bourbon is the perfect sip when watching your favorite TV show. The bond of these two actors strengthened over drinking bourbon, both on and off-screen, for years, both before and after filming.

The brand name is a acknowledgement to their on-screen characters, their common love for tasty bourbon, and a reflection of the feel of brotherhood they have created since they began filming and created their friendship. Comparable to Knob Creek Single Barrel if you're a fan of that, this hand-selected batch is perfectly distilled.

Whether you’re searching for a bourbon to enjoy on a quiet evening alone, or one that will have your friends raving for more, we’re sure there’s one on this list that will become your new favorite. We curated this list with some of our top picks so that you don’t have to search high and low for the perfect pour. Some of our other favorites that didn't make their list, but still are on our top picks include Maker's Mark and Henry McKenna. Both Maker's Mark and Henry McKenna have bold tastes and although they didn't earn a spot on this list, we think they're definitely worth the purchase.

The flavor of these tasty bourbons represents the absolute best values of bourbon whiskey that you can find at The Bottle Haus. They're not all cheap and they're not all expensive, but they are all delectable options in their own way. You truly can’t go wrong with any of these picks and we’re sure that once you try one, you’ll be asking for more! Check back in with us for more articles on the best tasting bourbon options we carry and don’t forget to let us know if there’s something we don’t carry that needs to be on our shelves!