By category
Rittenhouse Straight Rye Bottled-in-Bond leads, ranked by cost per litre of pure alcohol.Bourbon's value proposition is strong until allocation distorts it. Where a bottle is allocated we say so, because a recommendation you cannot buy at the stated price is not a recommendation.
By WhiskeyCask Editorial · Prices observed 2026-07-30 · 9 bottles considered
| # | Whisky | ABV | Age | RRP | Per 10cl | Per L alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rittenhouse Straight Rye Bottled-in-Bond | 50% | 4 years | £32 | £4.27 | £85 |
| 2 | Wild Turkey 101 | 50.5% | No age statement | £32 | £4.57 | £91 |
| 3 | Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon | 45% | No age statement | £32 | £4.57 | £102 |
| 4 | Four Roses Small Batch | 45% | No age statement | £34 | £4.86 | £108 |
| 5 | High West Double Rye! | 46% | No age statement | £38 | £5.07 | £110 |
| 6 | Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select | 45.2% | No age statement | £38 | £5.43 | £120 |
| 7 | Elijah Craig Small Batch | 47% | No age statement | £43 | £6.14 | £131 |
| 8 | Eagle Rare 10 Year OldAllocated | 45% | 10 years | £42 | £6.00 | £133 |
| 9 | Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon | 45.7% | No age statement | £58 | £8.29 | £181 |
rye · Kentucky, United States · 50% ABV · 4 years · spicy, full-bodied, oaky
Sharp rye spice and cinnamon at 100 proof. The bartender's rye, and rightly so.
Bottled-in-Bond legally requires exactly 100 proof and at least four years in a federally supervised warehouse, so the 4-year figure may be the statutory floor rather than a distinct age statement. It also keeps the Scottish spelling 'whisky' despite being Kentucky rye.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 50.5% ABV · No age statement · spicy, full-bodied, oaky
Big vanilla, rye spice and heat. The best value proof-per-pound in bourbon.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 45% ABV · No age statement · sweet, spicy, oaky
Brown sugar, vanilla and a clean pepper finish. The bourbon benchmark for the money.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 45% ABV · No age statement · spicy, sweet, oaky
Red fruit and rye spice, cleanly made. One of the few bourbons that tells you its recipe.
Four Roses is one of the very few American distillers to publish actual mash bills: this blends recipes B (60% corn / 35% rye / 5% barley) and E (75% / 20% / 5%). Its single-storey rack warehouses vary only about 8°F from top rack to bottom.
rye · Utah, United States · 46% ABV · No age statement · spicy, full-bodied, sweet
Mint, dill and pepper. Two ryes of different ages married, and it tastes like it.
High West discloses two distinct mash bills — a sourced 95% rye / 5% malted barley and its own 80% rye / 20% malted rye — but gives no component ages, so the 'two ryes of different ages' claim is never quantified.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 45.2% ABV · No age statement · sweet, spicy, oaky
Dried fruit, mint and cocoa. Rounder and less sweet than most at the price.
Woodford is the rare Kentucky bourbon distilled in copper pot stills. The 45.2% we list is the producer's own figure (90.4 proof); a 43.2% UK/EU bottling is widely reported but we could not verify it on any producer or retailer page. Despite common belief, Woodford publishes no mash bill percentages anywhere.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 47% ABV · No age statement · sweet, oaky, full-bodied
Vanilla, toffee and charred oak at 47%. Still one of bourbon's better value propositions.
Heaven Hill removed the 12-year age statement in the week of 27 January 2016 and now ships an 8-to-12-year blend — it chose to hold the price and keep wide distribution rather than let the bottle go scarce, which is the opposite of what most brands did.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 45% ABV · 10 years · sweet, oaky, fruity
Toffee, orange peel and dry oak. Excellent at RRP, poor value at what it usually sells for.
Contrary to a widely repeated claim, the 10-year age statement has never been removed — it moved from the neck to the back label in a 2012 redesign, and 'Single Barrel' was dropped when bottling was automated. Eagle Rare 12 launched in June 2025 as a separate SKU, which is the likely source of the confusion. Allocated in the US; the UK is not similarly constrained.
Allocated in most markets — the RRP above is a reference point, not a price you should expect to pay.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 45.7% ABV · No age statement · sweet, oaky, full-bodied
Rich caramel and baking spice with unusual depth for the strength. Genuinely small batch.
Actually small batch, unlike most bottles using the phrase: Michter's states each batch is held in a tank sized for a maximum of twenty barrels. It also publishes a barrel entry proof of 103 against the 125 legal maximum, which is unusually low and unusually disclosed.