10 Best Affordable Whiskeys for an Old Fashioned in 2026
The Old Fashioned is one of the most classic cocktails in existence. Thanks to its spirit-forward nature, the Old Fashioned will reward (or punish) you for your choice of whiskey, as opposed to the droves of cocktails that mask the base spirit in layers of citrus and sugar. The Old Fashioned puts the whiskey front and center — which means the bottle you choose matters more than almost anything else.
The good news: you don’t need to break the bank. We’ve have curated 10 affordable whiskeys that shine in an Old Fashioned, split into two camps. The bourbon picks lean sweet and smooth, producing a rich, indulgent drink. The rye picks bring spice and structure, producing something drier, more complex and with greater balance. Neither category is better than the other, it’s just a matter of your palate and what you’re after.
Need an Old Fashioned recipe? Click here to find a great one or here for a killer riff on the classic recipe that swaps sugar for maple syrup and utilizes chocolate bitters.
The Bourbon Picks: For a Sweet, Smooth Old Fashioned
Bourbon’s high corn content make it the sweeter, rounder choice for an Old Fashioned. These five bottles bring sweet notes like caramel, vanilla and butterscotch to the cocktail, letting the sugar and bitters amplify rather than compete.
Wheel Horse Barrel Master Select 5 Year Old Barrel Proof Bourbon
Proof: 112.6 | Price: $39.99
Released in July 2025 as Wheel Horse’s first batched barrel-proof expression, this is a limited run of 2,100 bottles blended from 12 barrels of five- to six-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon by Barrel Master Stephen Corrigan. The bourbon is sourced from Green River Distilling and uses Green River’s standard mashbill: 70% corn, 21% rye and 9% malted barley.
The nose is sweet and pleasant, with dark chocolate, cherry candy, tootsie rolls and malted milk balls. The palate brings cinnamon, taffy, cherry, nougat and green apple, and the finish leads with a big hit of cinnamon followed by cherry, apple and pie crust. At barrel proof and $39.99, it represents outstanding value — Green River’s own full-proof bourbon costs $10 more. In an Old Fashioned, the rye-forward mashbill and barrel-proof intensity make for a bold, spice-driven drink with serious complexity.
Maker’s Mark Cask Strength
Proof: Varies by batch | Price: $45-$50
Maker’s Mark’s standard wheated bourbon is already a cocktail workhorse. Cask Strength takes that same soft wheat-forward mashbill and bottled it at full barrel strength — no dilution, no filtering — giving you a dramatically richer version of a familiar flavor profile.
Your mileage will vary by the batch, but in general you can expect sweet notes like molasses, brown butter, vanilla and cherry. Maker’s is a favorite thanks to the soft sweetness imparted by its wheated mashbill. This makes the Cask Strength version a perfect base for an extra-sweet Old Fashioned with some oomph.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Origin Series Wheated Bourbon
Proof: 106 | Price: $49.99
Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Origin Series is the distillery’s opportunity to show what it can do with its own distillate, and the wheated expression is a compelling early statement. The mashbill is 53% corn, 39% wheat and 8% malted barley, aged six years and bottled at 106 proof.
The nose delivers sweet cream, caramel, honey and light batter with some balancing oak and spice. The palate is soft and sweet with caramel and honey taking the lead. Those beautiful wheat sweet notes are perfect to carry your Old Fashioned.
Green River Wheated Full Proof Bourbon
Proof: 109.3 | Price: $49.99
Green River Distilling’s wheated bourbon has earned a loyal following since the distillery’s revival. Released in February 2026, this full-proof version takes the same mashbill — 70% corn, 21% wheat and 9% malted barley, aged five to seven years — and ratchets up from 90 to 109.3 proof, adding body and intensity while maintaining the soft, sweet character the original is known for.
The nose is sweet and inviting: strawberry taffy, hazelnut and cherry danish. The palate is genuinely delicious — salted caramel, graham cracker, milk chocolate, raspberry and light oak. The finish leans into oak and tannin before landing on black cherry and vanilla. In our full review, we noted our belief it would be incredible in an Old Fashioned, and it absolutely deserves its spot on this list. The extra proof delivers the mouthfeel and staying power a cocktail needs, while the wheat keeps it sweet and approachable.
Barrell Foundation Bourbon
Proof: 100 | Price: $55
Barrell Craft Spirits has built its reputation as America’s premier non-distilling blender on high-proof, high-age, high-price releases. Foundation is a deliberate departure from that approach: a 100-proof blend of 5-, 6- and 9-year-old bourbons sourced from Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Tennessee, designed to be a genuine daily drinker. It’s Barrell’s first attempt at producing a bottle that’s more in the mid-shelf price range. The blend’s final mashbill comes out to 73% corn, 23% rye and 4% malted barley, and it’s the first Barrell release bottled below cask strength.
The nose is sweet and creamy, built around oak, toffee, graham cracker and a touch of peanut brittle. The palate is easy-sipping with buttercream, toffee and a pleasant prickle of proof, and the finish is longer than the price tag would suggest, closing on sweet oak, tobacco and pepper. For a cocktail application, Foundation’s complexity holds up beautifully even when diluted, making it a great base for your Old Fashioned
The Rye Picks: Spicier, More Balanced
Rye’s higher rye grain content delivers spice, herbal notes and a drier finish that cuts through the sweetness of the simple syrup in an Old Fashioned and creates a more structured, complex cocktail. These five bottles bring pepper, ginger, cinnamon and fruit to the glass in a way that makes every sip more interesting than the last.
Knob Creek 7 Year Old Rye Whiskey
Proof: 100 | Price: $37
Knob Creek’s rye is a gateway bottle — the kind of whiskey that converts skeptics. Aged seven years and bottled at 100 proof, it uses a Kentucky-style high-corn rye mashbill that softens the spirit’s edges and makes it unusually approachable for the category. The Whiskey Wash called it a rye for people who don’t think they like rye, and that’s a good way of looking at the high-corn Kentucky rye style.
In an Old Fashioned, that accessibility is an asset. The sweet-and-spice mix works beautifully with the bitters in your Old Fashioned, the 100-proof backbone holds up to dilution, and the soft spice gives the drink complexity without aggression. At around $35, it’s a rock-solid value — a bottle you can mix with freely without thinking twice.
Sazerac Rye Whiskey Full Proof
Proof: 125 | Price: $39.99
Sazerac Rye is one of the great American rye whiskeys — a Buffalo Trace staple that’s earned its reputation over decades. This full-proof expression, released in November 2025 as a permanent addition to the lineup, is a product of the distillery’s $1.2 billion expansion and delivers a dramatically more intense version of the classic profile.
At 125 proof and $39.99, Sazerac Rye Whiskey Full Proof instantly cemented itself as one of American whiskey’s great values upon release. Click here to check out our full article and review from November.
The nose is gorgeous: pie crust, molasses, crème brûlée, marshmallow, candied ginger, orange peel and a touch of anise. The palate delivers cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, gingerbread, cocoa, brûléed banana and barrel char. The finish carries brown sugar, gingerbread, pepper, espresso, leather and charred peaches. In an Old Fashioned, the proof opens up beautifully on the rocks. This bottle does all the work.
High Wire Distilling New Southern Revival Rye
Proof: 90 | Price: $45.99
Charleston, South Carolina’s High Wire Distilling is one of the most interesting craft distilleries in the country, and New Southern Revival Rye is the reason why. Made from Wrens Abruzzi rye — an heirloom grain sourced from the Carolinas and processed un-malted to preserve its raw character — this is a rye whiskey unlike anything else on this list. It truly tastes like its own thing — if you haven’t tasted it, you’ve never tasted anything like it.
The nose is wildly distinctive: anise, pine, amaro, orange peel, pear, clove, brioche and almond. The palate carries that forward with anise and brioche joined by cinnamon, almonds, clove, tobacco and black pepper. The finish piles on with blueberry, black tea, cherry, cardamom, lemon poppyseed and sassafras. In an Old Fashioned, this rye transforms the cocktail into something almost akin to an amaro— herbal, complex and endlessly interesting. At under $50, it’s a steal.
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Bulleit 95 Rye Frontier Whiskey 12 Year Old
Proof: 90 | Price: $55
The 95 in the name is a reference to MGP’s legendary rye mashbill — 95% rye, 5% malted barley — and this 12-year expression from Bulleit is the culmination of what that mashbill can do with serious age behind it. Originally released in 2019, discontinued when stock ran out and brought back in 2024, this limited release includes barrels up to 17 years old. At $55 for a 12-year age-stated rye, it’s absurdly underpriced.
The nose is herbal and tropical: pineapple, pear, apple, dill, spearmint, honey and butterscotch. The palate explodes with candied ginger, cracked pepper, herbal rye spice, clove and brown sugar. The finish runs long with pepper, spearmint, butterscotch and a wisp of tropical fruit. In an Old Fashioned, the age gives it an oakiness that plays beautifully against the bitters, and the rye spice keeps every sip lively. Pick up a bottle while you still can.
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Blue Note Honey Rye Cask
Proof: 116.5 | Price: $65
Distilled by an undisclosed Kentucky producer and bottled in Memphis, Blue Note Honey Rye Cask is a straight rye whiskey made from a 95% rye, 5% malted barley mashbill, aged a minimum of three years and finished in honey-infused American oak barrels. It’s unfiltered and bottled at 116.5 proof — a combination that makes for a rich, full-bodied pour with something genuinely distinctive going on.
The honey finishing works here because it doesn’t erase the rye — it meets it. The nose brings honey, butterscotch, cinnamon, black pepper and a vegetal note. The palate balances honey and butterscotch against nutmeg, cinnamon and clove. The finish extends with peppercorns, cinnamon, nutmeg and a sprig of mint.
With the mix of honey sweetness and spicy rye, this whiskey is almost an Old Fashioned in itself — so making an Old Fashioned with it is a fascinating, fun experiment. In an Old Fashioned, the honey character renders the sugar almost unnecessary, and the rye spice keeps the drink from tipping too sweet. A distinctive, well-balanced choice.
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Selections are curated by The Daily Pour’s editorial team and informed by The Daily Pour’s Critics’ Score, a proprietary metric that aggregates and averages ratings from the internet’s most trusted beverage critics.
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