Finding a great wheated bourbon used to mean spending serious money.
Pappy, Old Fitzgerald, the allocated releases that everyone’s chasing. That’s still true at the top end. But the sub-$50 shelf has gotten genuinely interesting, and if you know what to look for, you can build a wheated rotation that doesn’t require any luck to stock.
I’ve tasted through the category at this price point repeatedly. These six bottles are the ones worth your money.
The short answer: Maker’s Mark ($25) is the best entry point. Weller Special Reserve ($30 retail) is the best value when you can find it at retail. Maker’s Mark 46 ($40) is the step up that earns its price. All six on this list are worth having in your cabinet.
What Makes a Great Wheated Bourbon at This Price?
Wheated bourbons use wheat instead of rye as the secondary grain in the mash bill, which gives them their signature softness: rounder mouthfeel, more caramel and vanilla forward, a finish that’s smooth rather than dry and peppery.
At the under-$50 price point, you’re mostly looking at younger age statements and standard proof levels. That’s fine. A wheated mashbill at 90–100 proof with a few years in the barrel can still deliver real character, especially when the distillery knows what they’re doing with the wheat. The problem bottles at this price are the ones leaning on the wheated profile as a cover for an underdeveloped spirit. The good ones let the grain sweetness do actual work.
Here’s what I look for: does the vanilla and caramel have any depth to it, or does it read as thin? Is there any structure to the mouthfeel beyond just “smooth”? Does the finish linger, or does it cut off before you’ve had a chance to enjoy it?
The 6 Best Wheated Bourbons Under $50
Maker’s Mark — $25
The place to start. Maker’s Mark is the most available wheated bourbon on the market, it’s consistent batch to batch, and it’s an honest expression of the profile: buttery caramel, soft vanilla, a mouthfeel that earns the word “smooth” without hiding behind it.
It’s not a complex bottle. It doesn’t ask you to pay attention. But the lack of complexity is a feature at $25, not a flaw. You can drink it neat, you can mix it, you can hand it to someone who’s never thought about mash bills and they’ll enjoy it.
If someone is drinking wheated bourbon for the first time, this is what I put in their glass.
Click here to see the full review.
Larceny Small Batch — $23
Larceny is Heaven Hill’s wheated offering at the entry level, and it’s the best pure value on this list. At $23, it delivers a banana bread and honey sweetness that reads as more distinctive than Maker’s. Not better necessarily, but different in a way that’s worth exploring.
The mouthfeel is lighter than Maker’s, the finish is shorter, but the flavor has a character that’s genuinely its own. For someone who finds Maker’s a little flat, Larceny Small Batch is the next bottle to try.
Best value pick: If the goal is maximum wheated bourbon quality per dollar under $50, this is the answer. By a significant margin at the bottom of the price range.
Weller Special Reserve — $30 Retail
The caveat first: Weller Special Reserve retails for $30, which makes it the best value bottle on this entire list. The problem is that the retail price is almost fictional in most markets. You’ll often find it sitting at $45–55 because demand for the Weller line has pushed even the entry-level expression beyond its sticker.
When you find it near retail, buy it. It’s the Buffalo Trace wheated mashbill (the same recipe that runs through Weller Antique 107, Weller 12 Year, and eventually Pappy Van Winkle) at the most accessible price point in the lineup. Sweet and smooth with soft caramel and vanilla, clean grain character, a finish that’s longer than you’d expect from the proof.
If you’re buying it at $50 because that’s what your local store charges, it’s still a good bottle. Just know what you’re paying for.
Click here to see the full review.
Maker’s Mark 46 — $40
Maker’s 46 takes the standard Maker’s mashbill and adds a secondary maturation step with seared French oak staves inserted into the barrel. The result is noticeably different from the standard release: more caramel depth, more vanilla richness, a slight char and oak complexity that the original doesn’t have.
At $40, this is the right price for the step up it represents. You’re not just paying more for the same bottle. The extra work in production shows in the glass. The mouthfeel is richer, the finish is longer, and the oak integration is cleaner than you’d expect from a modification rather than longer aging.
For anyone who already drinks Maker’s Mark regularly and wants to know what’s next: this is it.
Click here to see the full review.
Penelope Four Grain — $40
Penelope doesn’t use a traditional wheated mashbill. It’s a four-grain blend of corn, wheat, rye, and malted barley. But wheat is prominent enough in the profile that it lands clearly in the wheated camp: more softness than spice, more caramel than pepper, a balance that’s approachable without being anonymous.
The four-grain construction adds a little grain complexity that straight wheated bourbons often lack at this price. It doesn’t dominate, but you notice it: a subtle depth that makes the bottle worth drinking slowly.
Click here to see the full review.
Holladay Soft Red Wheat Bottled-in-Bond — $40
This one surprises people. Holladay operates out of a Missouri distillery that’s been running since 1856, and their soft red wheat bottled-in-bond expression is the kind of bottle that doesn’t get talked about enough.
Bottled-in-bond means it’s 100 proof, aged at least four years, and produced at a single distillery in a single distilling season: more transparency and more quality assurance than most bottles in this price range offer. The soft red wheat gives it a gentle sweetness with clean grain character and a balanced finish that punches above its price.
The bottle most people haven’t tried: If you’ve worked through the obvious wheated options and want something that’ll get your attention on the first pour, start here.
Click here to see the full review.
Best Value Right Now
Larceny Small Batch at $23. It’s not the most complex wheated bourbon on this list, but nothing else at its price comes close to what it delivers. If you’re stocking a bar or buying for an occasion where you’re not sure what people want, this is the answer.
If you can find Weller Special Reserve near retail ($30–35), that edges it out on overall quality. But the availability makes Larceny the more reliable recommendation.
The Entry Point for Wheated Beginners
Maker’s Mark. It’s everywhere, it’s consistent, it’s priced where you can buy it without commitment, and it’s honest about what wheated bourbon is. Every other bottle on this list becomes more interesting once you’ve spent time with Maker’s and understand what you’re tasting.
For the full wheated bourbon picture at every price point, see our complete best wheated bourbons guide. And for everything worth buying at the $50 ceiling across all bourbon styles, our best bourbons under $50 has the full list.
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Hunter Branch is the Founder and Director of Editorial for Bourbon Inspector. He has been writing about and professionally reviewing bourbon since 2020 (and has been drinking it for much longer). He’s been able to interview big names in the bourbon industry like Trey Zoeller from Jefferson’s Bourbon and his work has been featured in publications like TastingTable, Mashed, and more.
