Cheap Alternatives

I have been reading a lot of comments about people looking for cheaper alternatives to the go-to popular whiskeys. So I decided to make a post about a few of the ones that I recommend to most people. I know that I already spoke of the huge savings you get when switching to Ten High, but this post is going to be about cheap bourbons that you can drink straight, not ones that are cheap mixing whiskeys. The whiskeys I am talking about replacing are going to be the popular bourbons, there are alternatives to popular brands of other whisk(e)ys, but I will save this task for other posts. Right now I will focus on replacing bourbons like Jack Daniels, Wild Turkey, and Jim Beam. These are the whiskeys you hear advertised everywhere and sang about in songs. All of this coverage has made them them synonymous with the word whiskey itself. Kind of like Kleenex for tissue paper. Just because people say pick me up a bottle of Jack instead of a bottle of whiskey doesn't really mean that you should be going out and buying a bottle of Jack Daniels. There are some people who really do enjoy the unique tastes of these specific  bourbons, but for the most part a lot of people wouldn't really care if the taste of their whiskey changed slightly. If it was about producing the same exact taste for a lesser price, then these whiskeys might not compare; however, most people aren't so picky that they won't drink anything without that trademark charred flavor that Jack Daniels has. I personally love this flavor, but it isn't enough to warrant me spending the extra $10 per bottle. There are other unique tastes in other whiskeys that are fantastic and cost a fraction of the price.

The first replacement whiskey that comes to mind is Fighting Cock. It is about $18 a bottle and has a flavor that will immediately remind you of Wild Turkey. It will have the same nice kick from the 103 proof and the nice spicy notes as well. Switching from Wild Turkey to this should be seamless, I know I was able to do this and Wild Turkey was my favorite/go-to whiskey for a while. The Replacement I would recommend for something like Jack Daniels is Old Forester. The first thing I would like to bring up is that these whiskeys do not have the same taste. Jack is a Tennessee with a charred taste and Old Forester is just a plain bourbon. If you're not attached to Jack's signature flavor though, this is an option that can save you some money and still taste fantastic. It's only slightly cheaper at about $20 a bottle, but the savings will buy you another bottle after four purchases. I can't really explain how great this bourbon is for the price, all I can say is that you will be pleasantly surprised that a bourbon this cheap tastes just as good as any mid to top shelf bourbon. Ezra Books is also another cheap bourbon that could replace your current popular brand. It is also the cheapest of the ones I have suggested. I haven't checked in a while, but I believe you could get a handle of Ezra for the price of a bottle of Jack. It is definitely worth checking out considering it has a decent flavor, worthy of sipping, and is a fraction of the price.

I know I listed Jim Beam in this post, but as you already know it is pretty cheap. I just listed it because people seem to think that it's the only cheap alternative. So even though you won't save a lot switching from Jim Beam to one of these whiskeys you can at least get a different flavor. I hope this post helped some of you looking to save a little money on your whiskey purchases. I will probably do one on mixing whiskeys soon.