When you first start your bourbon journey, it’s all about getting exposed to as many bourbons as possible. The first thought for beginners is that’s “Smooth”, never mind the nose, palate, and finish or types of bourbon. “Smooth” usually means, easy to drink with little burn. So how do you get as many chances to experience “smooth” bourbon that’s easy to find, well known, and not too expensive?
Smooth Bourbons
The heat from bourbon is caused by the ABV or alcohol by volume. The higher the ABV to more kick per ounce. Most beginners don’t like the burn and prefer a nice, rich, and settle flavor profile. Luckily bourbons with low ABV are common. The higher the alcohol by volume, the more expensive each ounce is.
Easy to Find Bourbons
Now that we defined “smooth” bourbon for you, it should be relatively easy to find. Most liquor stores or food markets sell the traditional names, but that doesn’t make them bad. As your progress through your bourbon journey, you’ll start to gravitate to the rare or allocated bourbons because you’ve tried most of the common picks. The focus is to try as much bourbon so you can start to figure out what you like.
Well Known Bourbons
Life is about connections and bourbon is no exception. Bourbon is often referred to as the “water of life”, so it’s natural to connect with other bourbon drinkers. You need to start building your bourbon vocabulary to gain that respect. It’s easy to spot a poser that clearly doesn’t know what they are talking about but be humble. Start a conversation with a friend or new acquaintance, you probably want to start naming a few brands to share your experiences. You have a lot of time to understand the types of bourbon that each distillery produces and the small batches and limited releases. Next time you’re sitting at the bar, ask the bourbon drinker next to you, “how do you like that Buffalo Trace? I’m new and I heard good things.”
Good Priced Bourbons
Unless you’re loaded, bourbon can get expensive real quick especially once you got the itch to broaden your bourbon knowledge and passion. Good thing, most smooth, easy-to-find, and well-known bourbons are cheap. That doesn’t mean the limited releases and store picks are better, they are just unique and hard to get. So soak up the bottom shelf bourbons and find a friend to split bottles with or meet up to share. Get a few of those small 2 oz. glass bottles and start sharing testers with your friends. So now it’s clear what Bourbon beginners typically look for, here are my picks that are smooth, easy to find, well-known, and well-priced.
Best Bourbons for Beginners
This is an easy-to-find bourbon that has a nice warm caramel and traditional bourbon flavor profile. This is such an easy-drinking bourbon for beginners. The low ABV ensures there is no burn. The price point is for beginners and the bottle shape stands out from the crowd.
ABV: 94
Price: $35
Great brand recognition and is such an easy-drinking but sweet bourbon for beginners. You can’t go wrong with the well-balanced and flavorful feeling. Easy to find at most stores and well-priced too. There are not many types of Four Roses, so just the name will grant you that bourbon respect.
ABV: 90
Price: $35
You probably remember drinking Wild Turkey in your younger years. How can this be something to enjoy and sip. The 101 line has so much more complexity than the standard black label with a sweet finish that is very recognizable. This may be your daily sipper for a while.
ABV: 101
Price: $30
A less recognized brand, but well respected amongst the more seasoned bourbon drinkers. This is a daily sipper for the more mature audience, and you will gain points with the 9-year age statement. Most common bourbons will have no age statement and are housed in barrels between 6 – 8 years. With this choice, you’ll start to recognize the maturity when the juice is exposed to oak longer.
ABV: 100
Price: $30
Buffalo Trace may not always be that easy to find as it’s starting to have the allocated feel, but once you try it you’ll know why. This is a good expression to start testing your nose and palate.
ABV: 90
Price: $30