Taster’s Club Best Bourbon Whiskey Picks to Enjoy in 2024
Written by Emma C | Updated Feb 2024
Welcome to a world where rich aromas meet unparalleled craftsmanship—where each sip tells a story as old as time. At Taster's Club, we've scoured the finest distilleries across the globe to bring you our exclusive selection of the best bourbons for 2024. Whether you're a seasoned bourbon enthusiast, a whiskey lover seeking your next favorite bottle, or searching for the perfect gift, our curated list offers something truly special.
Our selection process was meticulous and passionate. We tasted through an impressive array of bourbons from today’s top producers, guided by decades of experience and an unwavering commitment to quality. Our team evaluated each bottle based on flavor profile, craftsmanship, and overall drinking experience to ensure only the finest made it to our final picks.
Continue reading to explore these stellar bourbons that promise to elevate your collection and tantalize your palate. Let's raise a glass to the art of bourbon-making and the communities who treasure every pour. Here's to the year ahead—one extraordinary bourbon at a time!
Best Small Batch Bourbon
Bookers Small Batch 2024-01 The Springfield Batch
The first Booker’s batch of 2024 is called the Springfield Batch to honor my dad’s hometown of Springfield, Kentucky. This rural town in central Kentucky is where Booker Noe, my dad was born and raised. He worked on many farms when he was growing up, from the hay fields to tobacco patches. The batch is made up of 5 production dates stored in 4 different aging warehouses. The age is 7 years, 7 Months, 8 days and is 124.5 proof.
Four Roses Small Batch Select
Master Distiller Brent Elliott selected and mingled six of Four Roses’ 10 Bourbon recipes, each aged a minimum of 6 years, to handcraft Small Batch Select. Non-chill filtered and 104 proof, our newest permanent product-line extension offers truly unique flavor characteristics.
Best Cask Strength Bourbon
1792 Full Proof
Bourbon insiders have long acknowledged that full proof bourbon has a distinguished and rich flavor. This bourbon underwent a distinct filtering process,forgoing the typical chill filtration and passing only through a plate and frame filter. This allowed the bourbon to maintain a robust proof for bottling, as well as a full, rich and bold flavor. Bottled at its original 125 barrel entry proof, just as it was years ago when the barrels were first filled, 1792 Full Proof Bourbon is exceptionally distinct.
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof
To sip Barrel Proof is to experience Bourbon in its purest form: uncut, straight from the barrel, and without chill filtering. Each bottle is hand labeled with its unique proof and batch number; but the nose, taste, and finish are pure Elijah Craig.
Best Single Barrel Bourbon
2XO Gem of Kentucky
The Gem of Kentucky is the premiere offering from 2XO. The only double barreled single barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey on the market. The barrels are exclusively selected by Dixon from his double barreled stocks of the high rye bourbon mash bill (35% rye) that spend a year in new charred oak barrels before bottling. It is a full-bodied, full-flavored expression that leans on Dixon’s unique double-barreling process for a richer and more viscous mouthfeel. The differing char levels on the secondary barreling allow complex flavors to develop and balance the spicy finish from the high rye distillate.
Baker's 7
No two barrels of Baker’s are the same. Each is as unique as the man the bourbon is named for. Each barrel sits in its own unique place throughout our rickhouses, patiently aging for a minimum of seven years to extract the notes of vanilla trapped within the charred oak.
Best Wheated Bourbon
Larceny Barrel Proof
Larceny Barrel Proof offers a new opportunity to experience our acclaimed wheated Bourbon mashbill in its purest form: non-chill filtered and bottled at full barrel proof. Released three times per year in January, May, and September, each offering is a bold yet balanced special Small Batch Bourbon rich with depth and distinction. Much like Larceny Small Batch and Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Larceny Barrel Proof is a welcome reminder of just how good wheated Bourbons can be.
Jefferson’s Ocean Wheated
Jefferson’s Ocean Aged at Sea is fully matured for at least four years, then placed in rickhouses on ships to travel the globe which hyper-ages the bourbon. The constant agitation, weather conditions, and sea-salt air impart a flavor like no other. As wheat is a softer grain than rye, it amplifies the flavors intrinsic to ocean voyages, in a way that rye spice just can’t.
Best Bottled in Bond
Redwood Empire Grizzly Beast
This rare whiskey was bottled under the strict tenets of the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. Aged in the temperate climate of the Northern California coast, the original distillate was altered only by the addition of pure water from the Russian River Valley aquifer. This is the purest expression of Redwood Empire’s craft.
Old Forester 1897
Old Forester 1897 Bottled in Bond is crafted to honor a watershed moment in bourbon history – the U.S. Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. This expression follows the Bottled in Bond standards that whisky must be aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least four years, the product of one distillation season, one distiller and from one distillery and bottled at 100 Proof. The concept behind these regulations – the idea of ‘sealed in quality’ – was something Old Forester introduced in 1870, as America’s First Bottled Bourbon.
Best Barrel Finished
Yellowstone Rum Cask Finish
Our Special Finishes Collection is an ever-growing exploration of finishes and perspectives on our iconic bourbon profile. And to add to our collection, we created Rum Cask. By finishing for nine weeks in rum cask barrels straight from Havana, Cuba, we impart notes of spice and tropical sweetness on our 4-year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. And we’re excited to include this unique flavor profile with the rest of the Yellowstone family.
Mary Dowling High Rye Tequila Barrel Finish
This high-rye Kentucky bourbon pays tribute to the determination of Mary Dowling ― the "Mother of Bourbon". After its initial maturation in new charred American oak casks, it was finished in reposado tequila barrels.
This Taster's Club list of the best bourbon whiskey picks in 2024 will surely help guide you toward your next favorite bottle. Enjoy shopping from our online store or, for a more curated experience each month, join our Bourbon Club. Each month, we feature bottles from today's new award-winning distilleries and ship them straight to your door.
FAQs: Best Bourbon Frequently Asked Questions
What is bourbon?
Bourbon is a type of whiskey exclusively made in the US. Originating from and being majority-produced in Kentucky, it’s the most popular American whiskey, especially in the South. This type of whiskey is usually sweeter than other whiskeys and comes with flavors like charred spice and vanilla. And, you’ll find several types of bourbon, like corn, rye, wheated, straight, and blended.
How is bourbon made?
Bourbon is a mixture of grain, water, and yeast. Specifically, it contains 51% or more corn and some combination of rye, wheat, and/or barley. Many popular bourbons are 65-80% corn.
The spirit is distilled to 160 proof max with up to 62.5% ABV (alcohol by volume) as it sits to mature for at least two years, then no more than 40% ABV once bottled. This is done in new, charred oak barrels, which are very potent and what give the distinct, deep golden hue, smoky vanilla aroma, and unique, sweet flavor to the final product. Then, at the end of distillation, water (and only water) is added to achieve the desired proof.
What is the history of bourbon?
Dating back to the 1700s, Bourbon is named after its birthplace: Bourbon County, Kentucky. The drink rose to popularity by the 1860s and was shipped via the Mississippi River to New Orleans’ Bourbon Street – the most historic street in the heart of the city’s French Quarter.
Today, the most authentic bourbon still comes from Bourbon County distilleries, and most distilleries outside Kentucky won’t call their product “bourbon” to honor the centuries-old tradition. That said, bourbon can legally be made anywhere in the US.
What is the most popular bourbon on the market?
There are so many popular bourbons around, including expressions like Blanton's, Four Roses, and Jefferson's Ocean Wheated.
What is the smoothest bourbon to drink straight?
If you’re looking for an incredibly smooth bourbon to drink straight, you can’t go wrong with Rabbit Hole Dareringer.
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