Working for The Whisky Shop in Manchester for a decade allowed me to sample and talk about a huge range of whiskies. I’ve honestly lost count of them all, but the number must easily top 300 separate releases.
Looking back, it’s quite remarkable how lucky I was at that time. This was before auctions went crazy, when you could still find many of these bottles sitting on shop shelves at their recommended retail price.
We now live in a very different time. The days of trying everything are gone. Realistically, who can afford to?
So, after all those years, which bottles would take the top spots for me? It’s a tricky question, but I’ve managed to narrow it down.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that I tried all of these, or at least had the chance to buy them at retail. And, you’ll be pleased to know, Wild Turkey 101 won’t feature here. I’ve spoken about it enough already, and I never actually tried it in the shop. That one was a solo discovery.
#10. Four Roses Single Barrel, 50%, $43 / £46
This will come as no surprise to anyone who’s read my bourbon articles before. This single barrel experience was genuinely life-changing for me.
It came during a bourbon tasting at the shop. I’d said I’d only have one sample that night as I had to be up early the next day, so I chose this. It also happened to be my first ever experience of Four Roses.
It hit me like a Kentucky, flavour-fuelled lightning bolt. Butter, popcorn, caramel, and then that welcome ABV rounding everything off at the end. This is one of the bourbons that made me fall in love with the style.
From that point on, the head office got quite annoyed with me constantly requesting it, as we kept selling out. A case would last a day on the shelves, and that’s if I wasn’t buying one myself. I would have loved to do a shop single barrel of this.
#9. Woodford Double Oaked, 43.2%, $49 / £45
I was lucky enough to know the Woodford brand ambassador well in Manchester. The legend of Nate Booker will always live on. He isn’t dead; he just works somewhere else now.
We hosted a launch night for this bottle. It was the first release in the regular Woodford bottle shape but with that orange, glitter-style label. Thankfully, even with the newer upside-down Mjolnir-style bottle, the liquid is still incredible.
The decadence of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked is hard to match. It’s dense, rich, and sticky in the best way, and it just lingers with you for what feels like hours.
#8. Maker’s Mark 46, 47%, $24 / £35
Another first.
Being on the shop floor when Maker’s launched their first new product since opening was quite an honour. The Manchester shop sold far more bourbon than most others in the country, so we were often first in line for new releases.
The first time I tasted this, I’ll never forget it. Spiced coffee, buttermilk, chocolate, pecans, all layered with that classic Maker’s red winter wheat.
It’s a bottle I still keep on the shelf. The original taller, Cognac-style bottle was stunning. I’m less keen on the newer design, but I understand why they changed it.
For me, it’s the perfect autumn bourbon. Warm, cosy, and always takes me back to the day and a half I spent at Maker’s Mark in Kentucky with the legendary Amanda Humphrey.
#7. Booker’s, 60%+, $75+ / £65+
Our first real cask strength experience.
This was at a tasting night for a customer who was moving back to Hong Kong. He’d shown us incredible hospitality over the years, and that continued at his house party. I still have a list of everything we tried. This was first.
A bold way to start.
To this day, I’ve not found a bourbon that captures that combination of chewing tobacco and the smell of a top-floor rickhouse quite like Booker’s. It’s powerful, but somehow still subtle and chewy.
I know that sounds like a contradiction, but you know what I mean. Beneath that intensity, there’s cherry, coconut, charred wood, bubblegum, brown sugar, and spearmint. A stunning bottle that fully deserves its reputation.
Unfortunately, I have no idea which batch it was. However, Booker’s produces some fantastic bourbons, so I don’t think you can go wrong here.
#6. W.L. Weller 12 Year Old, 45%, $70 / £13
This is where the wheated bourbon obsession really begins, so bear with me as it becomes a theme.
Back in 2015, I managed to get two bottles of this for £70. At £35 a bottle, this was the absolute pinnacle for me at the time.
It was the older, shorter, dumpy bottle, but the liquid inside was something else. Weller has this incredible combination of caramel corn, milk chocolate, golden honey, and malted milk ball notes that just align perfectly.
As I write this, I’ve got a glass poured, and it still feels like a perfect product.
The downside now is the price. Auction prices have softened, so let’s just get it back to something sensible and open it like we’re meant to.
#5. Maker’s Mark TWS Private Select 002, 54.95%
This one has a slightly unusual origin story.
The first time I met Amanda Humphrey was in Glasgow in 2018. I arrived on a sweltering July day to help create the UK’s first Private Select bottle for The Whisky Shop.
We ended up producing two casks. This was the second.
The first was an absolute monster, but this one leaned softer and sweeter, still cask strength but far more rounded. I’ve got two bottles left, and honestly, it drinks like a sherry cask matured bourbon.
It’s full of red fruit and raisin notes. I tend to pour a little on good days, just to remind myself how special that programme and experience really were.
You will find it very hard to get your hands on one of these. But I couldn’t leave it out.
#4. Parker’s Heritage 2014 13 Year Old Wheated, 63.4%
Now we’re getting into serious unicorn territory.
I split this bottle with a friend, not fully knowing what it was at the time. We only had one in the company, and at that strength I couldn’t pass it up.
It remains the most chocolate-orange driven whisky I’ve ever smelled. I still have about 20cl left, and even now, years later, it hasn’t lost that character.
For something so powerful, it was remarkably balanced. I know Parker’s released another similar expression later, but I never saw or tried it. This was very much a right place, right time bottle, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.
#3. Maker’s Mark TWS Private Select 001, 55.05%
Here it is. Private Select 001.
I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but as soon as I tasted this combination, I pushed hard for it. We had to bottle it and bring it to the UK.
This was a bruiser. Not something Maker’s is usually known for. Their cask strength releases are typically flavourful but approachable. This was something else.
The stave combination transformed it. The wheat gave that familiar sweetness, but the influence of the staves almost made it feel like there was rye in there as well.
I’ve got one bottle left. It will be opened, I just don’t know when. That project completely changed what I thought bourbon could be. Again, this is a unicorn bottle. If you can find it, well done to you!
#2. George T. Stagg 2014 BTAC, 69.05%, $1,750 / £2,000
This goes back to the days before allocated bourbon became what it is now.
This was just sitting on the shelf at £150. A must-buy at the time. Different days.
Like most people’s first experience with Stagg, the flavour made me sit down. The complexity was staggering.
Cherry tobacco, caramel, burnt sugar, smoked corn, baked green apples, nutmeg, Irish coffee, Chantilly cream, lemon zest, maple syrup. It just kept going.
I knew I was lucky to get it, and I’ve shared as much of it as I could. There’s about 10cl left, and if all goes well, that’ll be finished in 2026.
#1. William Larue Weller 2014 BTAC, 70.1%, $4,688 / £3,750
Here it is. The best bourbon I’ve ever tried, let alone bought.
Like the Stagg, this was sitting on the shelf at retail a week later. Given my love for the standard 12 and my experience with Stagg, I didn’t hesitate.
I honestly don’t think this will ever be beaten.
It’s incredibly flavourful, yet somehow you get none of the intensity you’d expect from 70.1%. It drinks closer to 45%. The finish is endless, and the depth of sweet wheat and corn working together creates these huge, rich, saccharine notes.
A deathbed bottle, without question.
Why Bourbon Still Means the Most to Me
As you can probably tell, I lean heavily towards wheated bourbons.
I was fortunate to get into retail just before everything changed. When things did shift, it wasn’t always for the better, but it did give us the chance to see some incredible bottles come and go.
Bourbon was my first real whisky love, before Scotch, Irish, and everything else. It will always hold a special place for me.
More than anything, it’s the memories. Sharing these bottles, these moments, with so many people along the way.
Read the full article at I’ve Tasted Hundreds Of Bourbons, These 10 Are The Best
