Everybody has a go-to bourbon, but sometimes, whether by choice or by limited selection at the liquor store, a backup bottle is needed. OG Jim Beam — the one with the white label — is about as popular as a bourbon can get. It’s the most popular bourbon worldwide and one of the most popular stateside. Aged a minimum of four years and available widely from $15 to $20, it’s the epitome of macro-bourbon. But drinking one whiskey for the rest of time isn’t exciting. Here are three whiskeys to reach for next.
Knob Creek Small Batch
Price: ~$30
Proof: 100
Older Sibling: Get Knob Creek if you don’t like drastic change. A part of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection (which also includes Baker’s, Booker’s and Basil Hayden’s), all Knob Creek bourbon is made using the same mashbill — or recipe — as good ol’ JB. Plus, the Small Batch expression is in the same proof neighborhood. The biggest difference is maturation time; where Jim Beam is aged four years minimum, Knob Creek Small Batch containes whiskey older than nine years.
