5 Single Barrel Bourbons BETTER Than BLANTONS

Hey y'all, welcome to SLB Basement Bourbon Bar. My name is Kurt. Today we have one of the most iconic bourbon whiskeys on the bar top, Blanton's Single Barrel. Millions and millions of people would trip their mother to get in front of the line to be able to pick up one of these bad boys. Now, let's talk about it for a second. It's a Buffalo Trace release. Buffalo Trace, you know, as everybody knows, is widely known and hugely sought after for their releases. Blanton's is just one of those releases. I think it's very, very good. We're fortunate here because we'll see this probably, in my area, we'll see this probably two or three times a year or so, and we are able to get it for retail price. So, I have a couple of these available and we get them here for around $60. Now, you'll have people out there that'll actually pay $250, $350 and even more for this particular bottle. Is it worth it? I don't think so. The bourbon is actually pretty good. I enjoy it. It's a good pour. I really don't have anything I can say bad about it. It's fairly enjoyable. Would I put it on some of my top lists? No, I wouldn't, but I find it very enjoyable. It's got a beautiful bottle, grenade style bottle. It's got the little horsies on top that if you collect them all, it'll spell Blanton's. I think that's pretty cool. It's got a lot of neat stuff about that particular bottle. So, is it worth having for your bar or your collection at home? Absolutely. Is it worth paying $250, $350 for? No, man. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. So, what we're going to discuss today and what I want to show you is I have picked five different single barrel bourbon whiskeys that I feel is as good or better than Blanton's and it won't cost you an arm and a leg. So, let's get started with that list. I'm The very first bottle on my list I'd like to show you is the Knob Creek 9-Year Single Barrel. Now, as you all know, Jim Beam releases a Knob Creek 9-Year Small Batch, which is excellent for about, what, $30 or something like that. So, what they did is they extended that 9-Year to another release and so they're going to release the Knob Creek 9-Year Single Barrel. The Small Batch is released at $100 proof and the Single Barrel is released at $120 proof. So, this particular bottle is $120 proof. It's going to cost you around $50, give or take, wherever you're at, but I truly believe this bottle is head and shoulders above the Blantons. I really do. You got some maple in there. You got some vanilla, a little bit of a toasted oak thing going on. It's got some really, really nice flavors. I particularly, myself, enjoy this over a block of ice. I have had it neat. I feel it's a tad hot for me personally on my palate. Neat. So, I enjoy it over a block of ice and as that ice melts a little bit into that bourbon whiskey, man, I'll tell you what, it is fantastic. So, that's my first choice. Single Barrel that I feel is just as good or better than Blantons for a lot less money and a lot more available. All right, my next choice, number two, I've got the Jack Daniels Barrel Proof Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey. What can I say? Jack Daniels really stepped up their game when they started releasing some of their Single Barrel and Barrel Proof products. So, this particular Single Barrel is Barrel Proof. The proofs on this vary. This one here is 130.6 proof. Yeah, that's a little hot. Now, truthfully though, I can drink this neat. Me personally, I can drink this neat a little bit easier than I can drink the Knob Creek neat, but I also will enjoy this over a block of ice as well. Just depends on my mood for the day, but this particular bottle, you just got the quintessential bourbon type flavors, and even though it's a Tennessee whiskey, I mean, you've got the vanillas, the caramels, the brown sugars, it's all there. It's all there right up front and center. It's nice and bold, nice bold flavor to it. A beautiful, beautiful choice. You can find this anywhere for around 50 some bucks, give or take, wherever your area's at. The next Single Barrel offering I'd like to show you today is Four Roses Single Barrel. Hey, this is truly one of my favorite Single Barrels, reason being is because the flavor profile is just a little bit different than your standard bourbon profile. It's going to be a little bit more fruity, a little bit of chocolate in there. It's just got some really, really neat flavors. Sure, this one here, 100 proof. Yeah, they're all 100 proof. My bad. They're all 100 proof. So they're 100 proof Single Barrel releases. I have yet to pick up a store pick, something like that. So all I've ever tasted on the Four Roses Single Barrel is the standard flavor profile that they mix. So one of these days, I hope to pick up a store pick and get a little bit more adventurous into this Four Roses label for the Single Barrel. All right. One of my favorites. This one would have to be, if not on the top of the list, it's knocking on the door to number one. Russell's Reserve Single Barrel. Now, this is the bottle that I have right now. I don't have anything else backing me up. So it's not your typical. This is a store pick. It's from Total Wine. So I was fortunate to get that. This particular bourbon is 110 proof. It's going to be closer to the $55 to $60 range, I'm pretty sure. But hey, when it comes to wild turkey and anything Jimmy and Eddie Russell, I'm in. I am in. And this is no slouch by any means. This is top notch. This is wonderful, wonderful juice. You got some cinnamon, some oak flavors in there, some baking spices. It's just a real complex bourbon with a lot of layered flavors. And if I want to spoil myself, this is the bottle that I picked, that I reach for when I want to mix up a really, really nice old fashioned, just simple with a little bit of bitters, a little bit of sugar. But I want this to be the star of the show. So when I'm not using a, you know, a $20, $25, $30 bourbon, more of a mixing type bourbon, I will reach for this Russell's Reserve Single Barrel every single time because it is fabulous. The last bottle, the number five, I want to show you today. This is relatively new to me. And with all truth here, this is not my bottle. This is Trenton's bottle. But this is the Rebel Yell 10 Year Single Barrel. This Rebel Yell is really, really good. When I'm over at his house, I usually try to go for a pour of this because I find it to be fantastic. I really, really do. It's kind of neat because they have it right on the front of the label. They got the barrel number and the barrel fill date. This one is particularly is filled in 930 of 09. Yes, a little bit of leather and tobacco, but a little bit of vanilla in there too. But it's just a, it's got kind of a charred feel to it. Really, really viscous, a beautiful mouthfeel. Now, Trenton, if I'm not mistaken, I think you said you paid upwards almost $80 for this particular bottle. You know, I personally honestly don't know how available that particular bottle is. I have been looking for it since I had a pour of this over at Trenton's house. I have not found it yet. So all I can tell you is if you do find it, and if you do see it, you have to pick one up. And I apologize up front if this is a little bit more exclusive than what people can see. But for me, I was going to include a list of five single barrel bourbons that is my opinion to be as good or better than Blanton single barrel. I couldn't leave this particular release out. I just could not. It's that good. That's what we have for today. Five single barrel bourbons that should be easier to find. Definitely more reasonable than the elevated prices that you'll find on this Blanton single barrel. So thank you so much for watching today. We appreciate each and every one of you. As always, we ask you to please drink responsibly because that's very important to this show. And then we'll see you next time right down here with me in the good old basement bourbon bar. See you later.