The 10 Best Bourbons Under $50 You Can Buy Right Now

Fifty dollars is a magic number in bourbon. Below it, you’ll find the workhorses — bottles that serious whiskey drinkers actually reach for on a Tuesday night. Above it, you start paying for age statements, single barrels and hype. The good news is that the sub-$50 shelf has never been stronger, and several bottles in this price range would hold their own against releases costing twice as much.

The rankings below are determined by The Daily Pour’s Critics’ Score, a proprietary metric that aggregates and averages ratings from the internet’s most trusted beverage critics to produce a holistic, unbiased score for every bottle, with some editorial curation applied. We’ve narrowed the field to 10 standout picks, presented from No. 10 down to No. 1.

10. Maker’s Mark 46 French Oaked

Proof: 94 | Price: $40

Maker’s Mark 46 is the brainchild of Bill Samuels Jr., son of the distillery’s founders — and the first new major expression since classic Maker’s launched in 1958. The process takes emptied Maker’s Mark barrels, inserts seared French oak staves and uses them to finish the wheated bourbon for an additional aging period. The result is a more complex, oak-forward version of a familiar profile, with subtly layered bourbon notes built on a mashbill of 70% corn, 16% wheat and 14% malted barley. For $40 it’s an easy recommendation for anyone who loves classic Maker’s and wants more depth.

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9. Green River Wheated Full Proof Bourbon

(Photo: Green River)

Proof: 109.3 | Price: $49.99

Released in February 2026, this is a full-proof version of Green River’s popular Wheated Bourbon, stepping up from 90 to 109.3 proof on the debut batch while maintaining the same mashbill: 70% corn, 21% wheat and 9% malted barley, aged five to seven years. The nose is sweet and soft — strawberry taffy, hazelnut, cherry danish. The palate delivers salted caramel, graham cracker, milk chocolate, raspberry and light oak. The finish leans into oak and tannin before landing on black cherry and a hint of vanilla. It’s priced about $15 higher than the standard wheater, but the extra proof adds a mouthfeel and staying power that makes it well worth the bump.

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8. Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Proof: 90.4 | Price: $39

Few bourbons at this price point are as universally dependable as Woodford Reserve. Produced by Brown-Forman using a mashbill of 72% corn, 18% rye and 10% malted barley, it’s one of the most recognizable bottles on the shelf — and one of the most consistent. The higher rye content gives it a pleasant spice that keeps it interesting, while the distillery’s pot still distillation process adds a richness you don’t always find in column-still bourbons at this price. It’s a reliable everyday pour and an outstanding cocktail base.

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7. Blue Note Juke Joint Uncut Bourbon

Proof: Varies | Price: $45

Blue Note is one of the more intriguing independent bottlers working today, sourcing and bottling out of Memphis with a sharp editorial eye. Juke Joint Uncut is the brand’s flagship barrel-proof bourbon, made from a mashbill of 70% corn, 21% rye and 9% malted barley, bottled uncut and unfiltered. That means what’s in the glass is exactly what came out of the barrel, with no dilution and no filtration stripping the texture.

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6. 1792 Single Barrel Bourbon

Proof: 98.6 | Price: $47

Barton 1792 Distillery is one of the most underrated operations in Bardstown, and the 1792 Single Barrel is its calling card. As a single barrel product, no two barrels are exactly the same, which adds to the fun of trying it more than once — it’s a great bottle to always have on your bar for cocktails. The result is a bourbon with concentrated flavor that consistently outperforms its price point.

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5. Green River Full Proof Bourbon

Proof: 117.3 | Price: $49.99

It should be no surprise that Green River — one of the best value brands in America — lands on this list with both of its Full Proof products. This full-proof expression, released in June 2024, blends 5- to 7-year-old barrels distilled from a mashbill of 70% corn, 21% rye and 9% malted barley. Batch 1 clocked in at 117.3 proof, and at $49.99 it’s one of the strongest values in the barrel-proof category.

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4 Old Grand-Dad 7 Year Bottled in Bond Bourbon

Proof: 100 | Price: $40

The Old Grand-Dad brand dates to 1882, and the Bottled-in-Bond designation means this whiskey plays by strict rules: produced at a single distillery, in a single distillation season, aged at least four years and bottled at exactly 100 proof. This 7-year-old expression goes well beyond the minimum. The 2025 release was barreled in spring 2018, uses a high-rye mashbill and delivers at every level. The nose brings vanilla bean, cinnamon roll, Smarties and Granny Smith apple. The palate serves tart cherry, chopped peanuts, fudge, custard and waffle cone. The finish is the highlight — dry, tannic and long, moving through walnut, leather, crème brûlée, black cherry and sweet tobacco before a final mineral note. For $40, this is outstanding bourbon. It sips beautifully neat and is a total a cocktail rockstar.

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3. Castle & Key Small Batch Bourbon

Proof: Varies | Price: $40

Castle & Key is one of the most compelling distillery revival stories in Kentucky. Operating out of the historic Old Taylor Distillery — a landmark property that sat abandoned for decades (if you haven’t been, it’s worth the trip; it’s a legitimate, actual castle) — the team has been producing thoughtful, distinctive whiskey since reopening. The Small Batch Bourbon is built on an unusual mashbill: 73% white corn, 10% rye and 17% malted barley. That high malted barley content is distinctive and contributes a cereal richness and complexity that sets it apart from most Kentucky bourbons. Aged four years, it’s an impressive early statement from a distillery still finding its ceiling. Proof varies by the batch but generally sits in the upper 90s.

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2. Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon

Proof: 100 | Price: $50

Four Roses is one of the most interesting distilleries in Kentucky, operating with two mashbills and five proprietary yeast strains that produce 10 distinct bourbon recipes — each with its own flavor character. For years, the Single Barrel expression exclusively featured the OBSV recipe, prized for its rich fruit notes and subtle rye spice. At the end of 2024, the brand began offering other recipes in single barrel form as well, giving consumers the rare opportunity to taste different Four Roses recipes side by side. Whatever recipe is in your bottle, the quality floor is high, and collecting different recipes and comparing them is some of the most fun a bourbon nerd can have. This is top shelf flavor at a mid-shelf price.

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1. Maker’s Mark Cask Strength

Proof: Varies by batch | Price: $50

Maker’s Mark Cask Strength is the best argument for buying the full-proof version of any bourbon you already love. The standard Maker’s is an excellent wheated bourbon; Cask Strength takes that same spirit, skips the dilution water and bottles it straight from small batches aged a minimum of seven years — when the distillery judges it to have reached the perfect balance of flavor. Each batch is unique in proof and character, but every drop is unmistakably Maker’s, just amplified. The nose opens on rich brown sugar, cake batter, praline and tobacco. The palate brings honey, vanilla bean, toffee and cherry with an ethanol presence that is, impressively, almost imperceptible. The finish runs long and decadent — honey, toffee, tobacco, plum wine and molasses. At $50, it’s the top-scoring bottle on this list for a reason: it delivers a cask-strength experience with the polish and approachability of a distillery that has been refining the same recipe for decades.

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