What’s all the buzz about bourbon?
And how did alcohol supposedly named after the House of Bourbon (a French royal dynasty) become a “distinctive product of the United States” under Federal law?
While the early history of bourbon is shrouded in mystery and conflicting stories, one thing is clear: bourbon has become a modern-day favorite.
But what if you’re just getting started on your bourbon journey? How do you get started?
Maybe your friends are in the fan club, or you feel like the spirit is something you want to explore.
Even if you’ve never had a sip before, there’s bound to be a bourbon for you.
Because there are so many options available, we researched and came up with our own list of the best bourbon for beginners.
The 9 Best Bourbons for Beginners
What makes the best beginner bourbon? The answer will depend a bit on your personal tastes.
We’ll cover some of the key considerations to keep in mind, including:
- Aroma: how does it smell?
- Taste: what sensations or flavor notes might you detect?
- Finish: what flavor notes do you get after swallowing, and how long does the flavor linger?
We’ll also include a list of what each bourbon is “best for” — whether that’s sipped straight up, on the rocks, or mixed into a cocktail.
Looking for the best bourbon to start with? Here are our top picks.
Best Overall Bourbon for Beginners
1792 Small Batch
Proof: 93.6
Price: ~$30
The Barton 1792 Distillery is named after the year Kentucky became a state (but wasn’t established as a business until 1879). Its Small Batch Bourbon is a collaboration between the distillery and parent company Sazerac.
Small Batch won one gold and two silver medals as part of the 2019 World and International Spirits Competitions.
There are also seven limited edition expressions of the 1792 Small Batch bourbon released so far, but we recommend that beginners stick with the standard edition Small Batch.
It’s the perfect balance between character, spiciness, and sweetness. It tastes like a much older bourbon and is super approachable.
1792 Small Batch is perfect for drinking neat or using in cocktails.
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Sweet caramel, deep oak, smooth vanilla
Taste: Bold rye spice, dark fruit, sweet caramel
Finish: Hints of cocoa, long and lingering
Click here to read our in-depth review.
Best For
Smoothest bourbon to drink neat or on the rocks, depending on your palate. Some readers may find they enjoy it more mixed in a cocktail.
Best Budget Bourbon for Beginners
Maker’s Mark
Proof: 90
Price: ~$30
Bill Samuels, Sr. set out to create this bourbon with the help of (the only copy of) his family’s 170-year-old recipe… which he proceeded to set on fire, along with a set of drapes.
Out of this near-disaster came the smooth bourbon for beginners we know and love today.
The distiller uses a 150-year-old yeast strain, 100-year-old cypress tanks, and on-site Kentucky limestone-filtered water to produce their distinctive bourbon.
As a wheated bourbon (still 51% corn in the mash), Maker’s Mark is incredibly smooth and sweet. It’s the best budget bourbon because you can often find it for ~$25 and it’s a crowd-pleaser.
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Woody oak, caramel, vanilla, and wheat
Taste: Sweet and balanced with caramel, vanilla, and fruity essences
Finish: Smooth and subtle
Click here to read our detailed review.
Best For
Cocktails, especially Maker’s & Ginger or an Old Fashioned.
Smoothest Bourbon for Beginners
Buffalo Trace
Proof: 90
Price: ~$30
Our final bottle of the day is no stranger to misfortune. The distillery was originally built in 1858, rebuilt in 1872, and then rebuilt yet again after burning down due to a lightning strike in 1882.
In 1886, Buffalo Trace became the first distillery to use steam heat in its production process.
During prohibition, George T. Stagg was one of the few distilleries to receive a permit to bottle medicinal whiskey (and one of even fewer permitted to produce new whiskey in the early 1930s).
There’s an estimated 80 to 90 percent corn in the mash bill, resulting in higher relative sweetness and lower spice factor compared to high rye bourbons.
Buffalo Trace
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Complex, vanilla, mint, and molasses
Taste: Pleasantly sweet to the taste with notes of brown sugar and spice that give way to oak, toffee, dark fruit, and anise
Finish: Long and smooth with more depth than expected
Click here to read our in-depth review.
Best For
Sipping straight or as a versatile cocktail component.
6 Other Great Beginner Bourbons
Four Roses Small Batch
Proof: 90
Price: ~$35
According to legend, distillery founder Paul Jones, Jr. fell in love with a Southern belle and proposed to her.
She replied that were her answer to be yes, she would wear a rose corsage to the upcoming ball.
When she arrived at the ball, she was wearing a corsage of four red roses. Jones later named his bourbon Four Roses as a symbol of their love.
The distillery claims production and sales back to the 1860s.
Four Roses Small Batch is one of the best small batch bourbons you can get for $35. It also has one of the most mellow, easy-sipping flavor profiles on this list.
Some think it’s too sweet and doesn’t have enough character to warrant the $35 price tag, but those exact features make it a fantastic, high-quality bourbon for beginners.
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Spice, oak, caramel, fruit
Taste: Hints of ripe plum and cherries, robust, full-bodied, mellow
Finish: Smooth and delicately long
Click here to read our in-depth review.
Best For
Best sipping bourbon for beginners, straight up or on the rocks.
Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Year
Proof: 100
Price: ~$30
This bourbon is one of four that makeup Jim Beam’s Small Batch Collection.
It’s a balance of old-style flavor with the signature oak sweetness from aging in charred white oak barrels for nine years.
It’s one of the best quality, most aged bourbons for beginners on this entire list. But this isn’t where I recommend you start. If you start with Knob Creek 9, you’ll grow some chest hair. It’s bitey and a bit harsh.
I didn’t start liking it until I tried others on this list. But once I got more accustomed to the taste of bourbon, I realized this is a really good pour.
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Vanilla, caramel, corn, and dried fruit
Taste: Oaky, spicy, sharp
Finish: Long with a touch of dryness, with a hint of vanilla
Click here to read our in-depth review.
Best For
Cocktails such as an Old Fashioned, New Fashioned, Manhattan, Boulevardier, or Lion’s Tail.
Old Forester 100 Proof
Proof: 100
Price: $30
During prohibition, only a handful of companies were given a permit to sell and manufacture whiskey. Old Forester was one of those companies (and is the only one of those companies still in the whiskey business today).
As early as 1870, the creator of Old Forester George Garvin Brown sealed his bourbon exclusively in glass bottles and personally signed each bottle as his guarantee of quality.
Today each bottle is handpicked from select barrels and bottled at 100 proof to maintain its full flavor profile and distinct character.
Old Forester 100 is a run-of-the-mill bourbon that’s easy to drink. It won’t blow you away but it also won’t turn you away. And it includes some apple and bakery spice notes that others on this list don’t have.
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Strong, sweet coffee laced with chocolate, creamy butterscotch and a hint of licorice
Taste: Ripe apple and other sweet fruit, bakery spice (clove and nutmeg), and toasted oak
Finish: Sweet and light, with hints of oak and apple that linger a bit
Click here to read our in-depth review.
Best For
Cocktails (specifically the Old Fashioned).
Woodford Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Proof: 90.4
Price: ~$35
The first bourbon was distilled at the Woodford Reserve Distillery (now a National Historic Landmark) in 1812.
The fermentation process used by Woodford Reserve is among one of the longest in the industry. And they also craft, toast, and char white oak barrels at their own cooperage.
From aging in those custom-crafted oak barrels, the distillery claims “more than 200 detectable flavor notes, from bold grain and wood to sweet aromatics, spice, and fruit & floral notes” in their bourbon.
Woodford Reserve is one of the creamiest bourbons on this list. That’s its claim to fame. It doesn’t particularly standout from others in this list in other ways, but it’s solid nonetheless.
If you’re looking for a satisfying mouthfeel, this is your best bet.
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Heavy with rich dried fruit, hints of mint and oranges covered with a dusting of cocoa, faint vanilla and tobacco spice
Taste: Rich, chewy, rounded and smooth, with complex citrus, cinnamon and cocoa, toffee, caramel, chocolate and spice notes
Finish: Silky smooth, almost creamy at first with a long, warm, satisfying tail
Click here to read our in-depth review.
Best For
Woodford’s feature cocktail, called the Woodford Spire. Ingredients include bourbon, lemonade, and cranberry juice over ice with a lemon twist.
Wild Turkey 101
Proof: 101
Price: $30
This iconic bourbon once represented Kentucky’s Ripy Brothers at the World’s Fair in Chicago.
The distiller claims a higher proof at a lower price, with a bourbon perfectly aged in deep-charred American White Oak barrels.
Wild Turkey 101 is the spiciest bourbon on this list in my opinion. It has a high percentage of rye in the mash and has all kinds of flavor for a $30 bottle. But it doesn’t make the top of the list simply because it’s not the best for all bourbon beginners.
If you happen to know you like spice and/or rye, though, this is a great option.
Tasting Notes
Here’s what to expect:
Aroma: Undertones of deep vanilla and oak, with traces of citrus and toffee
Taste: Rich with vanilla and caramel with notes of toffee and light smoke
Finish: Long, rich, and full-bodied
Click here to read our in-depth review.
Best For
Wild Turkey says, “there’s more than one way to enjoy a classic.” Straight up, neat, or on the rocks. (And maybe in a cocktail if you’re feeling fancy.)
Bulleit
Proof: 90
Price: $30
In the 1830s, Augustus Bulleit was a tavern-keeper and distiller in Louisville, Kentucky. But his distilling career came to an abrupt end on the fateful day he disappeared while transporting his barrels of bourbon to New Orleans.
Inspired by his great-great-grandfather, Thomas E. Bulleit, Jr. revived the family recipe and started Bulleit Distilling Company in 1987.
Bulliet brands its spirits as “Frontier Whiskey.” For beginners, it’s a great choice.
Bulleit has gained tons of traction due to its inclusion in the show Yellowstone. But its claim to fame really stops there.
It’s a solid bourbon for beginners, no doubt, but it doesn’t particularly stand out. The main reason to grab a bottle is because of its balance of sharpness and maple notes.
If that sounds delicious, then you should grab a bottle.
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Gentle spiciness and sweet oak
Taste: Smooth with tones of maple, oak, and nutmeg
Finish: Long, dry, and satiny with a light toffee flavor
Best For
Straight up, in an Old Fashioned, or mixed with ginger ale.
Beginner Bourbon: Where Will You Start?
Your next step is to pick a bottle (or three) and begin your tasting journey.
Whether you’re brand new to drinking bourbon or looking to expand your palette, this list should provide you with many hours of sipping satisfaction.
And if you need some guidance about how to make the most of your new bottle of bourbon, check out our post about How to Drink Bourbon.
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.