Pappy Van Winkle and Macallan 25 are among the rarest and most costly bourbons on the market, but you can still get a great whiskey (or whisky, for those created outside of the United States or Ireland) at your local liquor store or online for a more reasonable price. According to Brendan McCarron, Master Distiller at Distell, the most important characteristic of a superb whiskey is its mouthfeel. “The whiskies I like the best have a great deal of variety in taste and scent. Great whiskey must have the distillery’s identity and wood’s influence clearly discernible.

To help you get started, we’ve rounded up some of the best whiskeys from across the world.

Uncle Nearest

Consider learning about Nathan “Nearest” Green, the man who taught Jack Daniel how to create whiskey while he was still an enslaved African-American. The Lincoln County Process, which incorporates a maple charcoal filter and is unique to this way of creating Tennessee whiskey, is said to have been developed by him.

Fawn Weaver established the 1856 Premium Aged Whiskey brand in honour of Green’s legacy after documenting his contributions to the history of American whiskey-making. You can’t go wrong with 1856, a combination of whiskeys aged between 8 and 14 years, with hints of caramel, dried fruit and cinnamon.

Redbreast 12 Cask Strength

Redbreast employs both malted and unmalted barley, and whiskey expert Jim Murray named it the Irish Whiskey of the Year in his 2020 Whisky Bible. The brand matures the pot-distilled spirit in ex-bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry butts. In comparison to the standard 12-year-old Redbreast, the Cask Strength is bottled at a much higher 111.6 proof, resulting in a far more robust taste and fragrance experience. Sweet and peppery with hints of vanilla and a lengthy finish characterize this fruity Scotch.

Glenmorangie Signet

Glenmorangie Signet is a labor of love for the men and women of Tain. It takes a week every year in the Scottish Highlands to distill chocolate malt barley into spirit, a more laborious task than processing the core type.

Afterwards, Glenmorangie blends it with some of its oldest stocks. For those looking for something to enjoy with friends around the fire, this dram is full of dark chocolate, sherry sweetness, and a dash of spiciness.

Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt Whisky

Japanese whiskey has been more popular in recent years, but supplies are running low. As a result, finding a bottle may be difficult. The best thing about Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt is how you can still find it on the stores now. Despite the drink’s lightness, it packs a lot of flavour into a single sip.

This expression, which bears the name of the label’s creator Masataka Taketsuru, is a mix made with an eye toward harmony. Apple and butterscotch flavours mingle with a tinge of spice in this malty concoction. It’s easy to see why Jim Murray dubbed it “the greatest of Japan.”

Wild Turkey

This is the fourth release in the Master’s Keep Series from Wild Turkey, and it’s hard to believe it hasn’t already sold out. Eddie Russell, a master distiller, used a hidden cache of 9 to 11-year-old ryes to create this expression.

Yes, a bottle costs a lot of money, but it’s well worth the money. You can buy this from the single malt shop as well as buy Bushmills online from the same shop. Vanilla, apple, honey, spice, and oak make this a delectable sip. It has a lengthy, sweet, and spicy aftertaste that lingers on the tongue for a long time.

Booker’s Bourbon

Booker Noe, Jim Beam’s chief distiller at the time, hand-bottled the bourbon as presents for his closest friends before selling a tiny quantity to the general public in 1992. To this day, Beam continues to produce exceptional limited-edition releases of Booker’s Bourbon. To commemorate current master distiller Fred Noe’s grandmother Margaret Beam Noe, who became the youngest of Jim Beam’s children and mother of Booker Noe, this batch has been dubbed “Granny’s Batch.

Fred Noe blended this 126.1-proof bourbon using barrels from two separate production dates and six different rack houses. Featuring vanilla as the primary flavour, it’s accented by chocolate, peanut butter, and a sprinkling of baking spice.