The Best Bourbons You Need To Try In 2022

New year, new you, right? Okay, by mid-January a bit of the luster has worn off those shiny new resolutions. In fact, National Today says that January 17 is actually the official Ditch New Year's Resolution Day. Still, even if all your grand plans to walk 5 miles a day, save half your paycheck, and subside off nothing but kale, quinoa, and spring water have come to naught, that doesn't mean you can't make some revised resolutions that will be both easier and more fun to follow. Like, how about you simply resolve to try a few new things? This is hardly likely to hurt, particularly if you choose things you already enjoy, such as sampling a few new bourbons.

Sure, the #1 guy in your drinking life might be named Jack or Jim, but there's lots more bourbon out there, you know. Kentucky Bourbon Trail says there are currently 10 million barrels of the stuff aging in Kentucky alone, which works out to be about 2 ¼ barrels per every man, woman, and child in the state, per recent U.S. Census data. Well, you know the infants, children, and heretic gin drinkers won't be consuming their share, so come on, help Kentucky out! Not to mention Tennessee, Indiana, Wyoming, and wherever else fine bourbons are distilled. It's practically your patriotic duty, after all! To get you started, here are our suggestions for a few of the best bourbons you should be seeking out.

Belle Meade Bourbon is a product of the Greenbrier Distillery, which is not in Kentucky but Nashville, Tennessee, aka Music City. If we wanted to be cheesy here, we'd say something about how their products "sing to your tastebuds," but nope, we're not going to go there. (Oh, wait ...) Anyway, Belle Meade Reserve is that company's premium brand, known for its high proof (108.3, according to the label) as well as its high rye content.

According to Bourbon Inspector's tasting notes, Belle Meade Reserve sounds as if it might be the pastry stout of bourbons. They first detected a strong "eau de maple syrup" (which, oddly enough, is also what Canadian money smells like, or so ABC News tells us), but they then found its taste to be reminiscent of caramel, cinnamon, pie crust, and unspecified baking spices with a few hints of oak and pepper. They did caution, however, that while this bourbon is a great buy if you can pick it up for around $70, it might not be such a bargain if the price creeps up too much higher than that.

Booker's Bourbon is a brand named for master distiller Booker Noe, a sixth-generation bourbon maker. His own offspring are now running things at the Jim Beam-owned distillery that bears his name, making for at least 7 generations in the bourbon business. Kentucky-based Booker's specializes in small batch bourbons, a concept that they were the first to introduce back in the '90s.

In 2021, Booker's Bourbon released 4 different batches, the third of which was dubbed the "Bardstown Batch." In case you're wondering, yes, there are still bottles available -– as of the time of writing, we found it offered by Vintage Grape for $129.99, which is somewhat inflated from the original $90 price tag, but isn't too bad for being a few months post-release. When the Bardstown Batch first came out back in October, Paste Magazine reviewed it and found it "wonderfully rustic" and full of character, something different from Beam's more typical offerings and yet in keeping with that brand's consistent levels of quality. As for the flavor profile, they detected brown sugar, cinnamon, espresso, fruit compote, hazelnuts, oak, and tannins, and pointed out that this batch's high (125) proof was also quite noticeable. Basically, this is a bourbon that starts out sweet, comes on strong, then finishes on the dry side.

If you want a high-quality bourbon at a brown paper bag price, well, dream on. Costco's Kirkland bourbon may come from George Dickel, but it's not one of their better blends. If you can pony up about $30 a bottle, though, then Elijah Craig Small Batch is the bourbon for you. Despite the name, it's not one of those hard to come by limited releases — in fact, you can even find it on the shelves of grocery stores like Pick'n'Save. That being said, though, Elijah Craig Small Batch is still a decent sipping bourbon rather than one that cries out to be masked with cocktail mixers.

Vinepair calls Elijah Craig Small Batch "a quality but affordable weekday sipper," while Liquor.com considers it to be a gateway drug for bourbon newbies wanting to expand their horizons. Should you go exploring, some of the flavors you might encounter in a glass of this bourbon include apples, bananas, butter cookies (Trefoils, perhaps?), caramel, and vanilla. Elijah Craig Small Batch is not too complex, nor, at 94 proof, is it terribly boozy for a bourbon. What it is, however, is a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Larceny Barrel Proof comes out several times per year, typically in winter, spring, and fall. While the 2022 batch from Bardstown, Kentucky's Heaven Hill Distillery does not appear to be out yet, the C921, which was the September 2021 release, is something well worth seeking out. What's more, its quality gives us high hopes for this year's batches.

While Larceny's barrel proof bourbons vary in proof, the C921 was on the high end at 122.6. It is a blend of bourbons aged from 6 to 8 years and contains a blend of corn, wheat, and barley. Breaking Bourbon, while not overly impressed with Larceny's 2021 winter and spring barrel proof bourbons, was quite taken with the C921 and determined it be the best this brand has offered to date. They found it to be extremely flavorful, noting hints of black cherry, browned butter, charred oak, cream soda, maple syrup, molasses, oak, plum, raspberry, and vanilla. While the original retail price for this bourbon was around $50 a bottle, bottles are now on the scarce side and their prices are correspondingly higher. If you can't find it, or it's now beyond the reach of your budget, don't despair — the first of the Larceny Barrel Proof batches for 2022 should be coming out fairly soon.

If you're a fan of limited-release top shelf bourbons as well as millenium-spanning folk-rock icons, then have we got a whiskey for you: Heaven's Door Master Blender's Edition! Okay, so there's something just a teensy bit creepy about naming a booze brand after a Bob Dylan song with a title that's a euphemism for dying (via YouTube). Dylan does own the distillery, though, and presumably drinks the whiskey as well, and he's still knock-knock-knockin' right along in his 80^th year. By all accounts, the man is quite the whiskey aficionado, so he's not going to attach his name to any old plonk. While not all celebrity-branded booze lives up to the hype, Heaven's Door Master Blender's Edition seems to be well worth the price. You can still pick up a bottle for around $100, which is not bad at all considering its striking Dylan-designed artwork.

Heaven's Door Master Blender's Edition is a 100-proof 10-year bourbon that has been finished off in a sherry cask. The Whiskey Wash says this bourbon won 2 gold medals at last year's World Spirits Competition in San Francisco, and they did not disagree with the judges. They found this whiskey to be, while not overly complex, sweet and very enjoyable. While most of its flavors are on the sugary side –- caramel, oatmeal raisin cookies, and white chocolate –- there's also a hint of tobacco that helps to balance things out.

While Stellum Spirits launched just last year as an offshoot of Barrell Craft Spirits, they've already been making waves in the spirits world. It seems that their original releases, all mid-priced barrel proof bottles, were extremely well-received, so a few months later Stellum decided to go big by releasing a premium brand. According to the company website, Stellum Black is made from the distillery's reserve barrels, and is meant to present a flavor profile both robust and complex.

Whiskey Raiders feels that Stellum has hit this one right on the maple-scented nose. They tasted this bourbon and found Stellum Black to be reminiscent of butterscotch, corn syrup, nougat, peanut brittle, pecans, pound cake, tobacco, and toffee. It's clearly superior to earlier Stellum releases, as befits the increased cost — at $99 bottle, Stellum Black has a price tag double that of Stellum's cheaper offerings. It may also be a better bourbon than many of Barrell's offerings, as well. In fact, Whiskey Raiders mentioned more than once that Stellum Black has a similar taste and feel to a 15-year-old bottle of Knob Creek, something Wine Searcher says could run you over $140 a bottle.

Three times each year, Elijah Craig drops a limited-release barrel-proof bourbon, meaning that the bourbon gets bottled straight out of the barrel instead of being diluted with water to reach a specific ABV. These barrel-proof bourbons tend to be on the strong side, and Elijah Craig's A122, the year's first batch, comes in at 120.8 proof. High, but not too high, at least not compared to previous releases that Robb Report says have ranged up to 140 proof. That could also be the verdict on the price, as well -– while the bottle was meant to be listed at around $60, limited amounts soon drive prices up, and this proves to be the case here. Fine Cask is, as this goes to press (or the digital equivalent thereof), selling for $99.99, but as bourbon price inflation goes that's really quite reasonable.

So what kind of bang are you going to get for your Benjamin? Robb Report gives the A122 a rating of 91, which falls into their "great" category. They detect notes of black currant, cherry, chocolate, oak, peaches, and vanilla, none of which are overwhelmed by the overproofing. If you want a bourbon that's strong yet sippable, this one is a best bet.

Henry McKenna Single Barrel is another Heaven Hill Distillery product, one that takes its name from an Irish immigrant who brought his family's whiskey distilling techniques to the New World. This is one of those increasingly rare bourbons that still announces its age on the label, and at 10 years is among the longest-aged of today's bottled-in-bond bourbons –- or whiskeys of any type, for that matter. In addition to holding this distinction, it's scooped up a bunch of awards as well, including being named "Best Single Barrel Bourbon Up to 10 Years" at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Henry McKenna Single Barrel is a fairly standard 100 proof, and its well-balanced but not overly complex flavor hints at caramel, herbs, honey, oak, spice, and vanilla. Drizly users rate it 4.7 stars, with just a few complaints that primarily revolve around its price point. While Drizly is currently selling this bourbon for $69.99 as of May 2022, if you shop around you might find a better bargain. Lighthouse Wine & Spirits, for example, is selling it for only $54.99, although shipping might set you back a bit if you're not within driving distance of Beverly, Massachusetts.

With a name like Old Forester 1910 Extra Old, it seems the distillers are really trying to emphasize the age of this bourbon. So how old is it, anyway? Not 112 years, that's for sure. While this bourbon, like so many others, does not reveal its actual age (we can relate to that), Drinkhacker does explain that the "extra old" part of the name refers to the fact that it's aged 18 months longer than the original 1910 Old Fine Whisky. The 1910 part itself commemorates a particularly memorable warehouse fire whose results, at least the positive ones, they attempt to replicate by aging these bourbons in charred barrels. Turns out that's a very good thing, indeed.

This 93-proof whiskey doesn't taste overwhelmingly of burnt wood, however, but rather, has a flavor pallet that includes baking spice, chocolate, coffee, figs, pepper, tea, and salted caramel. Drinkhacker describes it as "quirky," but if you're looking for a bourbon that's a bit out of the ordinary, they say it's lovely stuff if you let it sit in the glass for a bit before drinking. 

While it retails for around $50, its limited availability has driven up the price substantially. 

New Southern Revival's Jimmy Red Corn is made with one of the most unique ingredients you're going to find in any bourbon: a nearly extinct strain of corn that was originally grown by a single South Carolina moonshiner. High Wire Distilling Co. partnered with a professor at Clemson University to grow a few acres of this rare corn, then they put their heritage crop to good use by doing what they do best: distilling it. The corn itself is something they describe as having a sweet and nutty flavor as well as a very high oil content that makes the resulting bourbon exceptionally creamy. According to the tasting notes supplied by Casker's, the whiskey also tastes of caramel, cherry, cinnamon, tobacco, and vanilla.

While Jimmy Red Corn certainly isn't cheap -– Casker's price for it is $118.99 as of April 2022 -– those who've tried it have nothing but praise for it. One reviewer calls it "one of the best bottles for the price I've had in a long time," while another urges "You gotta have this one on your shelf."

Wigle Pennsylvania Wapsie Valley Bourbon is another bourbon that comes from a place not often associated with this spirit: it's distilled in Pittsburgh. As distiller Wigle tells it, though, Pittsburgh is actually the birthplace of American whiskey, and they boast of the region's long history of rye making. Wigle naturally offers a few ryes in addition to their bourbons (they've got more than just the one), and they also have a few oddball offerings like a pickle-flavored whiskey. They venture into non-whiskey territory, as well, with a range of rums, gins, liqueurs, and even absinthe.

So what makes Wapsie Valley Bourbon worth seeking out? Whiskey Wash praises it as "truly distinctive" as well as "highly enjoyable." They say its flavor profile is too complex to easily pick apart, but they detect notes of baking spices, butter, cocoa, and tobacco. (Wigle themselves describe the flavors as brown sugar, butterscotch, and leather, go figure.) The price for this bourbon is listed as a reasonable $58 a bottle, but the only real issue is that at present, you can only purchase it from one of Wigle's Pittsburgh locations or have it shipped to an address in Pennsylvania or the District of Columbia.