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Van Winkle Dominates
Small-Batch Bourbons

Beauty before age. That's the consensus of Cocktail.com's panel of small-batch bourbon tasters. Our experts put a highly-decorated 15-year-old blend ahead other older (and more expensive) bourbons. Old Rip Van Winkle's got high marks for its complex nose, mellow palate and smooth finish. Second-placed Knob Creek wasn't far behind, winning accolades for its sweet, full flavor and subtle, somewhat smoky finish.

Our bourbon-sippers were impressed by the overall quality of these spirits. The products were, without exception, first-rate. Even Maker's Mark, which the editors of Cocktail.com put at a significant handicap, exceeded expectations. In fact, we would gladly stock our personal bar with the lowest-rated of the small-batch bourbon's, the Elijah Craig 12-year-old - which, we believe rated poorly only because it tasted so different from the others.

When the quality of small-batch bourbons is this uniform, the only real differentiator becomes price - and by that criteria, we're sold on Maker's Mark, which easily wins our price-performace award.

Rank Brand Price Score Tastes Like ...
1

Old Rip Van Winkle
15-year-old

$49 99 Caramel
2 Knob Creek Aged 9 years $35 98.5 Vanilla
3 Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 23-year-old $171 98 Brown Sugar
4 Old Fitzgerald $30 97 Clove
5 Basil Hayden's Small Batch $38 96 Cherry
6 Booker's Small Batch $54 95.5 Molasses
7 Maker's Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon
 $29 94 Cinammon
8 Woodford Reserve, Distiller's Select
$45 93 Walnut
9 Baker's Aged 7 years
 $42 92.5 Maple
10 Jefferson's Reserve, very small batch $47 92 Candy
11 Sam Houston,
very small batch		 $27 90 Cherry
12 Elijah Craig 12-year-old $20 89 Citrus

The editors of Cocktail.com would like to thank the manufacturers of the aforementioned bourbons for allowing us to evaluate their products. We are grateful to Liquor.com for supplying price information.