Stocking Stuffers: Whiskey Picks Under $35
This holiday season, don’t forget to fill those stockings. Although socks, batteries, and candy canes fit the bill, you can do better. Fill those stockings with something boozy (adults only, of course.) These whiskey picks are all great choices and each is $35 or less.
Dec 11, 2018
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10SweetThis is a Kentucky straight bourbon and is the entry-level bourbon for the brand. Four Roses has two separate mash bills they can use for their bourbons. One is labeled recipe "B" and is 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% malted barley. The other is recipe "E" and is 75% corn, 20% rye, and 5% malted barley. Both mash bills are utilized for this bottling. Additionally, Four Roses uses up to five different yeast strains for their bourbons. All are used here. Over time, the Yellow Label bottle has changed with the label losing the yellow color. Beginning in spring 2018, the name for this product is simply "Four Roses Bourbon".
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9Rich & SpicyAged on average 6 to 8 years this replacement for the Turkey 80 was brought about for a couple of reasons. It has an ever so slight higher proof and a different blend for the 'mixology' crowd and some speculate that it was a way for Jimmy's son Eddie Russell to make his statement on the company. Aged using new American oak barrels with an "alligator char" (char no. 4). Formerly known as Wild Turkey 81, a package redesign and straightforward name change to Wild Turkey Kentucky Straight Bourbon occurred in 2016.
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8FruityProper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey is a brand founded by Mixed Martial Arts Champion Conor McGregor under his Eire Born Spirits company. The name refers to the southwest area where McGregor hails, Dublin 12. McGregor worked in concert with master distiller David Elder, formerly of Guinness, to decide on the final blend selected from almost 100 blends. This is a triple-distilled blended whiskey matured in former bourbon barrels. Notably, the company will donate $5 for every case sold to local first responder organizations & charities up to $1 million annually.
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7Rich & SweetJameson Caskmates is a collaboration between the distillery and nearby brewery Franciscan Well. Brewmaster Shane Long asked to borrow some used Jameson casks to use for stout aging. When the casks were returned, they were refilled with cask strength blended Jameson and aged for about 6 months. 3,500 bottles were produced. Update: In 2019, the brewery used is Eight Degrees Brewing. Check the back of the bottle find info.
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6Fruity & VanillaAlso known as Dewar's 12 Year Double Aged, The Ancestor is comprised of whiskies from over 40 malt and grain distilleries. The heart of the malt component hails from Aberfeldy, the distillery Dewar's built back in 1896. Dewar's states on their bottles that the blend goes through a double aging. After the blend has been made, it then spends more time, around 6 months or so, in oak barrels to properly marry the blend together. Note: As of autumn 2022, Dewar's 12 Year has been reformulated and packaged with updated labels and a clear glass bottle.
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5Spicy & VanillaThat's right, folks, a Bonded version of Old Overholt. Distilled in one season, at one distillery, and bottled at 100 proof. This straight rye whiskey is aged for four years in new, charred American oak. Product launched in February 2018 with availability limited to the US.
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4Fruity & SweetThe name Monkey Shoulder originates from an injury that the maltmen (those that hand turn the grain in a malthouse) would get as the task would leave one arm hanging. This is a blended malt whisky which means it's comprised only of single malt whiskies. As the brand is owned by William Grant & Sons, you can expect to have whiskies from Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, and Kininvie to be included in the bottling. After blending, the whisky is allowed to marry for up to six months before bottling.
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3Sweet & RichLarceny Small Batch is a brand extension of Heaven Hill's Old Fitzgerald line. According to their story, back in the day, John E. Fitzgerald used his privilege of holding the keys to Pappy Van Winkle's bonded warehouse, where the Old Fitzgerald bourbons were kept, to steal the best casks for himself. These became known as the "Fitzgerald Barrels." Larceny is a wheated straight bourbon made from a blend of selected barrels made in honor of this legend. It bears no-age statement and is bottled at 92 proof. Note: Packaging update in summer 2024 to feature the key and keyhole as well as the wheated bourbon mash bill.
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2Fruity & SweetGentleman Jack was first introduced in 1988 and after tweaking the recipe slightly, reintroduced in 1990. The difference between it and Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 is a second pass through the sugar maple charcoal filter after its maturation in new, charred oak barrels. Gentleman Jack is bottled at 40% ABV.
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1RichKilbeggan Small Batch Rye is a limited edition Irish whiskey available beginning mid-November 2018. It is made from a mash bill of malted and unmalted barley and around 30% rye. Since Single Pot Still whiskeys cannot have more than 5% of any grain other than barley, it doesn't qualify as such technically. It is double distilled in copper pot stills, one of which was made in the early 1800s and is the oldest working pot still in the world. Rye was used by Irish distillers in the late 1800s, but it disappeared around the time of Prohibition and the Irish War of Independence. It is the first Kilbeggan whiskey to be 100% distilled and matured at the Kilbeggan Distillery since it was restored in 2010.