The Best Bourbons Under $50, According To Bartenders
Pouring whiskey in glass on bar counter.
getty
If you've ever stood in the whiskey aisle staring down a wall of bottles and wondering if that $28 bourbon will make you feel refined or just regretful, you're not alone. Fortunately, good bourbon doesn't have to cost as much as a steak dinner. Some bottles under $50 are not just passable—they're genuinely fantastic, whether you're sipping neat, mixing a Manhattan, or just trying to impress someone without showing them your receipt.
I asked bartenders, beverage directors, and bourbon buffs across the country to share their go-to bottles that over deliver under the $50 mark. The results? A collection of bourbons that taste like you know a guy in Kentucky. Here's what to pour.
Michter's US1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Michter's
Smooth operator with butterscotch charm
Michter's is one of those brands that takes its time — and it shows. The US1 expression is small-batch and aged in fire-charred, new American oak barrels, offering a level of polish rarely seen at this price point.
Kristen Love of InterContinental New York Barclay sums it up best: 'Michter's US1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon stands out in its price range for its exceptional smoothness and depth… rich notes of butterscotch, stone fruit, and subtle spice, all wrapped in a silky finish.'
It's the kind of bourbon you reach for when you want to impress someone without looking like you tried too hard. Mix it in an Old Fashioned or sip it neat — either way, you'll look like a seasoned pro.
Wild Turkey Rare Breed
Wild Turkey
The cask strength classic that pulls no punches
This one's not for the faint of heart, but that's the fun of it. Rare Breed is a barrel-proof bourbon — meaning it's not diluted before bottling — with a blend of 6-, 8-, and 12-year-old whiskeys, giving it an unusual level of complexity. 'It shares some of the solid characteristics of older cask strength bourbons without quite as high a price tag,' says Owen Thompson of The Square DC.
Tasting notes? Think deep caramel, toasted pecan, dark cherry, and a pop of cinnamon spice that lingers long after your last sip. It clocks in at around 116.8 proof, but it's surprisingly balanced for its strength. Use it in a Manhattan if you dare — or just enjoy it while contemplating your life choices.
Bardstown Origin Series Wheated Bourbon
Bardstown
For bourbon nerds who like full disclosure and full flavor
This wheated bourbon is a relatively new entrant, but it's already earning a place on shelves and in hearts. Sitting at 96 proof and aged for 6 years, the Bardstown Origin Series Wheated is the kind of bottle that feels like a find.
Corey Hollinger from Serliana in Indianapolis calls it: 'Rich in baked apple, honeyed oak, and subtle cinnamon… rivals far pricier pours.'
The transparency is part of the charm—every detail, from mash bill (68% corn, 20% wheat, 12% malted barley) to distillation and aging, is listed proudly. It drinks like a soft, spiced apple crumble, making it a sweet spot bourbon for those tired of hype-chasing.
Good Trouble Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Good Trouble
A bold pour with a bigger purpose
Named in tribute to the late Congressman John Lewis, Good Trouble Bourbon blends flavor and mission. Bottled at 92 proof, this small-batch Kentucky bourbon delivers well-rounded notes of vanilla, toasted oak, and warm baking spices. Chicago bartender Josh Davis puts it best:
'With its combination of quality craftsmanship, distinctive flavor, and social mission, Good Trouble offers a premium experience at an accessible price point.'
This is the bottle you pull out when you want to taste something good — and feel good about it. Pro tip: try it in a Whiskey Sour to let the caramel and spice play nicely with citrus.
FEW Spirits Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon
FEW Spirits
Craft-made charm from Prohibition's hometown
From Evanston, IL — the birthplace of the temperance movement — comes a rebellious little bourbon that refuses to be boring. FEW's Bottled-in-Bond is aged at least four years and bottled at 100 proof, with a mash bill that leans heavy on rye. Kyle McHugh, a longtime hospitality pro, calls it: 'Rich… dark red cherry and other red fruits, a delicately smoky vanilla note, & lively sumptuous caramel.'
The red fruit really shines here — think cherry cola meets vanilla bean — with a slightly smoky backbone that makes it ideal for late-night sipping or standing out in a whiskey-forward cocktail.
Woodford Reserve Double Oaked
Woodford Reserve
A rich, toasty riff on a bourbon classic
What happens when you take Woodford Reserve and age it again in a second, deeply toasted, lightly charred barrel? You get Double Oaked — a bourbon that somehow feels twice as luxurious while still under $50.
'It drinks bigger than it is,' says Lauren Painter of Scoundrel. Mourad Atiki of The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown adds,'Pleasant hints of caramel and toasted oak… vanilla and chocolate as well.'
This is a dessert bourbon in all the right ways — rich, warm, and indulgent, but never cloying. Serve it with pecan pie or just drink it instead of dessert.
Pinhook Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Pinhook
Approachable, bright, and cocktail-ready
Pinhook takes a vintage-by-vintage approach to bourbon, releasing new blends each year. The core straight bourbon expression is light, zesty, and packed with flavor. Ivo Arkulin of The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans says:
'The nose is packed with orange peel and vanilla, with hints of butterscotch and nutmeg.'
It's a natural fit for cocktails like the Paper Plane or a Vieux Carré, where its spice and citrus notes brighten up heavier components. Don't be fooled by the sub-$40 price tag — this one punches well above its weight.
Russell's Reserve 10 Year
Wild Turkey
A decade in oak and a lot to love
Crafted by Jimmy and Eddie Russell of Wild Turkey fame, this small-batch 90 proof bourbon has a well-earned reputation for being reliable, rich, and way too affordable for its age statement. David Orellana of Grand Brasserie says:
'Highly complex with notes of spicy vanilla, caramel, and sweet clove… finishes with a long oak-driven spice and butterscotch sweetness.'
Aged in alligator char barrels, Russell's 10 offers a big, brooding sip that pairs well with cigars, deep thoughts, or slow Sunday afternoons.
Eagle Rare 10 Year
Buffalo Trace
If you see it, don't think — buy
A staple from Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare is often elusive but never disappointing. David Miller of HEI Hotels says: 'It delivers rich notes of caramel, oak, and dark fruit that rival bourbons twice its price… It does sell out often, so if you can grab a bottle at retail price, do it.'
It's a mellow, aged beauty with flavors of toffee, candied orange peel, leather, and a whisper of cocoa.
Eric LeGrand Bourbon
Eric LeGrand
Smooth sipper with a story to match
Created in partnership with former Rutgers football player and spinal cord injury advocate Eric LeGrand, this bourbon is as meaningful as it is delicious. At around 88 proof, it's approachable yet full-bodied.
Janelly Torres of Strickland's Steakhouse says: 'It's incredibly smooth with rich caramel and oak notes that pair perfectly with our signature cuts.'
Aged in new charred oak and non-chill filtered, it brings butterscotch and toasted almond to the forefront with a soft, velvety finish. Bonus: proceeds support spinal cord injury research and awareness.
Whether you're building your bourbon bar on a budget or just want to find a bottle that impresses without intimidation, this list proves you don't have to spend a fortune to drink like you did. And if anyone rolls their eyes at your under-$50 pick, just pour them a glass and let the bourbon do the talking. Odds are, they'll be asking where you got it by the second sip.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CartCon 2025: Tariffs, turbulence and the future of resilient retail
At second-annual CartCon conference in Napa Valley, CA, the tone was electric with anticipation but also laced with urgency. Billed as a summit for the company's expansive ecosystem of brands, vendors and strategists, the event served as both a product showcase and a pressure valve. Nowhere was that tension more visible than during one of the conference's hardest-hitting panels, a deep dive into the complexities of tariff policy and its ripple effects on global sourcing, consumer pricing and retail resilience. The panel consisted of three voices with rare insight into the collision of policy and commerce: Chris Smith, president of Summit Global Strategies; Tim Manning, former White House supply chain coordinator under President Joe Biden; and Nick Stachel, logistics strategy adviser at Izba Consulting. What followed was not a high-level overview, but a granular exploration of the legal, political and operational forces shaping how, and where, products are made, moved and sold. From globalization to geo-economics Smith opened the discussion by tracing the historical arc of U.S. trade policy. For decades following World War II, American trade strategy revolved around multilateralism. The U.S. saw global trade not just as an economic imperative but as a geopolitical tool, creating allies, raising standards of living and preventing conflict. But in 2016, that long-standing consensus fractured. The bipartisan abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership signaled a sharp pivot. As Smith explained, the political center collapsed under the weight of the 'China Shock,' a term describing the decimation of American manufacturing towns due to offshoring. Smith described President Donald Trump's tariff policy as a psychological reset. Before Trump, U.S. tariffs averaged around 2%. Within months, they jumped to 18% in key categories. This wasn't just an economic strategy, it was anchoring. 'It's like burger sizes,' Smith said, relating back to Wendy's psychological marketing strategies. 'Before Trump, we had singles and doubles. Now the triple is on the menu, and everything else looks small by comparison.' Tariffs, he added, have become Trump's 'cat toy' — a provocative distraction wielded without consistent strategy. Even if future administrations soften tariff policy, Smith warned, the structure of global trade has already shifted. Retailers and manufacturers alike are building permanent workarounds. Inflation, particularly in consumer goods, is the slow-burning consequence. While Smith provided the philosophical backdrop, Manning broke down the legal tools underpinning today's tariff landscape. The real disruption, Manning emphasized, has come through the use, and misuse, of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Originally designed as a tool for national security sanctions, IEEPA has been repurposed by the Trump administration to enact sweeping tariffs with little congressional oversight. Manning described the legal and logistical chaos for businesses from these tactics. In just six weeks, the Trump administration issued 17 executive orders using IEEPA authority, stripping trade policy of its usual predictability and process. For businesses, this has been catastrophic. Sourcing strategies built over years have unraveled in days. 'We're in a volatile environment,' Manning said. The cost of doing business now includes factoring in the potential for abrupt, unexplained swings in tariff exposure. Long-term investments have become high-risk bets, and in many cases, they're simply not being made. On-the-ground retail strategy Bringing the policy talk down to the warehouse floor, Stachel outlined how brands are actually coping with this new reality. In the short term, some are fast-tracking inventory from China before new tariffs hit, relying on expedited ocean freight and cross-docking at West Coast ports to minimize delays and avoid customs bottlenecks. Others are making subtler moves — like holding prices steady on high-visibility products – say, a gaming console – while raising prices on accessories and add-ons to recoup margin. Stachel noted that many brands have moved beyond the now-familiar 'China Plus One' strategy, opting instead for a 'China Plus Three' approach. They are spreading risk across Vietnam, India and Mexico, often working with global manufacturing giants like Foxconn that can seamlessly shift production across borders without retooling or retraining labor. In essence, brands are outsourcing flexibility itself. For those planning beyond the current election cycle, geographic diversification is no longer enough. Brands are factoring in port access, transportation infrastructure, exposure to natural disasters and local workforce stability. Some are eyeing countries like Morocco, Colombia and Thailand as next-generation sourcing hubs. Nearshoring to Mexico has particular appeal, not just because of its proximity to U.S. consumers, but because of the downstream economic benefits. 'We're still benefiting from a cross border perspective, from a transportation trucking perspective, from a warehousing perspective, as these border towns are growing, the economies in the small border towns are growing as well,' said Stachel. These sourcing shifts are backed by hard data prepared by Stachel. According to a comparative analysis of emerging manufacturing markets, countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are increasingly viable alternatives to China, not only in terms of labor costs but also port infrastructure and U.S.-bound vessel frequency. Vietnam, for instance, operates nearly 50 seaports, including Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong, both of which have multiple sailings to the U.S. each week. Indonesia boasts over 100 ports, including Tanjung Priok in Jakarta. Even Cambodia, though limited in scale, has weekly direct sailings from both Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. These figures underscore the importance of transportation fluidity and market access in sourcing decisions. As Stachel emphasized, brands are no longer optimizing solely for cost, they're optimizing for resilience. Both Smith and Manning cautioned that the real reckoning may be ahead. While tariff impacts are already being priced in at the retail level, the broader inflationary wave has yet to crest. Smith called inflation the 'other shoe,' likely to drop later this summer as new tariffs pass through the supply chain and collide with already fragile consumer sentiment. Uncertainty, they agreed, has become the greatest tax of all. With businesses unable to predict future policy, many are frozen. Manning advised attendees to monitor key macroeconomic signals, including treasury bond activity, consumer confidence indices and safety stock drawdowns. Executive orders posted on he added, are the best early indicators of a sudden policy shift. What retailers are saying – and doing The audience at CartCon also offered candid perspectives. Through real-time polling, attendees offered a rare window into how brands are navigating the chaos. Asked what recent policy had most affected their supply chains, 68% cited China tariffs, with an additional 24% naming de minimis enforcement, or stricter checks on duty-free, low-value imports. In a sign of just how volatile the environment has become, 64% said they revisit their sourcing strategies quarterly. And nearly half, 47%, have responded by raising prices. Twenty-nine percent have changed sourcing countries, while 18% are simply eating the cost. Looking ahead, most brands aren't betting on reshoring. Asked if they expect to source more from the U.S. in five years, 70% said their sourcing would remain about the same, and 30% expected an increase. No one expected to source less. It was a striking rebuke of the idea that domestic manufacturing is due for a renaissance, at least for the retail segment. Tariffs and uncertainty are already impacting consumer demand. Thirty percent of respondents said they expect a consumer slowdown by Q4 2025, while 45% said they're already feeling one. And yet, the vast majority, 82%, said they are not cutting marketing budgets in response. In today's environment, visibility is survival. In a forward-looking poll, 81% of respondents said online shopping will be the dominant channel in the next decade, compared to just 6% for stores. Even more striking, 75% believe direct-to-consumer models can still succeed, suggesting that agility, not abandonment, is the key to survival. The post CartCon 2025: Tariffs, turbulence and the future of resilient retail appeared first on FreightWaves. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
12 minutes ago
- CNBC
Why Elon Musk turned against Trump's $5 trillion mega tax and spending bill
President Donald Trump is pushing to pass a sweeping tax and spending bill by July 4, but the proposal is already sparking fierce internal GOP debate. The bill combines 2017 tax cut extensions with new Trump-era proposals, including deductions on American-made auto loans and changes to child tax credits. But not everyone is on board. Elon Musk has launched a high-profile feud with Trump over the bill, and key Republican senators are warning that the bill could add trillions to the national debt.
Miami Herald
16 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
With workplace incivility on the rise, these companies are trying harder to bring workers together
Linda Peterson spent years working in salons where she didn't feel valued. So when she set out to open her own salon, she knew it had to be different, starting with a big break room where employees could gather to decompress and talk openly. "I know I don't make money in my break room, but what it did is it created a culture in which people could have conversations," said Peterson, who owns Beau Monde Salon in Burnsville, Minnesota. "And it's really cool, because you get to hear different points of view on things, and it never gets heated. They have a great conversation and then they learn from each other and they just go back to work, doing what they love." Beau Monde is bucking a national trend. Workplace incivility, from harsh emails to physical violence, is on the rise, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Employees reported over 20% more uncivil interactions in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the prior year, when the organization launched its Civility Index. Nationwide political divisions and deteriorating discourse seem to be bleeding into the office. More than half of U.S. workers believe American society is uncivil, SHRM reported, and differing views on political and social issues were top contributors to the uptick in workplace incivility. "With the state of the world, I think even beyond the country, there's just a lot of volatility," said Anna Deley, talent management and regional general agent at Deley Organization-Globe Life in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. That volatility has real costs. Reduced employee productivity and absenteeism due to incivility costs U.S. businesses about $2 billion a day total, according to SHRM. "It's no longer something that's floating around in the background. We actually view this as a crisis that workers and workplaces need to address," said Jim Link, SHRM's chief human resources officer. "There are societal divides out there, and they have a deep impact in our workplaces and, more broadly perhaps, in our communities at large." Company leaders say they've worked to foster a culture where employees feel seen and heard and where tough, respectful conversations are encouraged. The first step? Hiring the right people. Derek Freese, executive vice president at Award Staffing, said the Edina, Minnesota-based company intentionally hires people who don't have previous staffing agency experience. It's a different approach, he said, when economic uncertainty is making it easy for employers "to fall back on the transactional nature of hiring" and opt for the safe choice. "Our mantra and our philosophy is the résumé and the job description is about 40% of what we're hiring for," Freese said. "The other 60% is ... the characteristics, it's the human experience." Once those new hires are in the door, there are regular opportunities to connect with other employees. Once a week, Award closes all its office locations and brings everyone to headquarters for a "better together day" with food and activities. Other top employers are taking a similar approach. The Deley Organization offers training and support for new employees working toward insurance licensure, including those who want to get licensed in multiple states, Deley said. State General Agent Chad Deley is available to employees round the clock, Anna Deley said. While there's plenty of scheduling flexibility "so you can still make your daughter's dance recital," she said, there's also a physical office space for employees who want to meet in person. "We want to make sure everyone feels included, supported and heard," Deley said. Edina-based FRSecure has helped employees get to know each other amid fast growth and virtual onboarding, said President Oscar Minks. Staffers get paired up as "hacker buddies," he said, and monthly mental health bingo encourages employees to reach out to co-workers or friends they haven't connected with in a while. Employees and their spouses get to attend a big, all-expenses-paid company party every year. "On top of all those initiatives, the most important thing for me is everybody feels like they belong here," Minks said. "And everybody feels like they're cared for; we have compassion for you and we want you to be successful." When problems do come up, company leaders said, they aim to lead by example and tackle them head-on. "It's our responsibility as leaders to give (employees) the voice, the space, the guidance to address their concerns," Freese said. "If we don't, or we don't understand what they are or what they look like, they're going to quit." At Beau Monde, Peterson said she often participates in employee conversations. When she opened the salon, she wanted her office to adjoin the break room so she could easily chime in - and make sure things stay civil. When politics started coming up, Peterson said, "I told all of them, you know, it's part of our world and we need to discuss it and if you guys can talk about it in a good way, great, but if you start feeling like it's causing tension, that conversation needs to end." After consulting with FRSecure's employee experience committee, Minks said he decided to address the national pushback against diversity efforts with the staff. He wanted to make it clear the company's culture wasn't changing, he said. "We just decided to take it head-on at one of our all-company quarterly meetings, and just really give a message of reassurance that for us, this idea of diversity really matters," Minks said. "I've always just been a believer that if everyone who's on our, say, technical team or consulting team is from the same background, from the same space, and they have the same experiences, then we never give ourselves the ability to evolve and grow." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
