TOP 5 Whiskey's Under $50

It has been a couple weeks, I know it has, but we're back today, ladies and gents, and we're going to be taking a look at a few of my favorite whiskeys. So strap in folks, and let's talk about some man ----. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of man ---- Monday. I hope all of you are doing well. I'm perfectly aware. There has been a slight shortage of content over the past couple of weeks, and I do greatly apologize for that. I had some kind of eye thing. I don't know. My eyelids swole up. I don't know if it was like a stye type thing, but for like a week and a half, my eye looked like Rocky when he went 12 rounds with Apollo Creed. I mean, it was just swollen, puffy, Rocky Balboa situation. I had going on. You guys wouldn't have been able to pay attention to the video because the whole time you've been staring at my eye going, what in the hell is wrong with his eye? But moving right along from that, and today we're going to be looking at whiskey. We're going to be taking a look at five of my favorite whiskeys for around that $50 price range. So pretty affordable whiskeys, a few caveats. You know, you can't really list it as the five best whiskeys under 50 bucks. I don't think that's fair because taste is so subjective. Who's to say they're the best. So the way I'm going to put this is these are just five whiskeys that I'm really currently enjoying. Even in saying that in two or three months, this could change my palate changes constantly. I'm always finding new whiskeys and trying whiskeys that I had tried before that I didn't like. And now all of a sudden my palates kind of shifted. So I like them a lot, even though this is my own list currently as of a, what are we in October of 2019 probably by the early 2020 I'll have a different list and maybe we'll do this video over again. Next caveat going to this is I am not super detailed and I don't have a super advanced palate with whiskeys. Just like you might've heard me talk at some of my cigar videos. If you guys want a really detailed deep dive into pulling out individual little nuances of whiskeys, a great channel for that. And I've mentioned these guys multiple times, but it's because I love their channel, the whiskey vault or the whiskey tribe whiskey vaults, kind of their whiskey kind of review channel. And then whiskey tribes kind of more their community channel where they do lots of stuff. Those guys, Rex and Daniel and that channel are fantastic guys. They're very entertaining, both extremely knowledgeable when it comes to whiskey. So if you really want to do a deep dive on any of the flavors of some of these whiskeys, search out their channel, check those guys out because they are going to give way better tasting notes on all this stuff than I am. These are just my opinions of the whiskeys I'm enjoying and what I get out of them. Prices are going to vary depending on where you live. You may be able to get these whiskeys a little cheaper or they may be a little bit more, but in my area I can usually get these whiskeys for around $50 or less. There are some whiskeys that I probably might like a little more and would probably be in my top five, but they're not readily available in my area. Good example is I've got some Buffalo trace up there. I've got some Weller up there, both excellent bourbons, well under $50, but they're super tough to find. Also Eagle rare. Talked about that in a previous video. Another really excellent bourbon that I love that would probably have been in my top five, but again, it's kind of rare. Eagle rare, rare. Imagine that Jesus, it's getting cheesy already. If it's a whiskey that is really hard for me to find, I didn't include it in the list. I tried to stick to whiskeys that are readily available. So if you guys are interested in trying them, you can find them. Also this list is in no particular order. They're all really interchangeable with the ranking. I am, however, going to start off with an Isla Scotch. That's because if you guys know anything about Isla Scotches, this thing's pretty strong. It's pretty aggressive. And if I drink this first, all the rest of them are just going to taste like candy. It's going to be fantastic. If I drink a bunch of sweet bourbons and stuff and go to this, this thing's going to be a little, now some would say this is going to blow my palate out and the rest of them are going to be good. But I've actually found that if I go from aggressive Isla Scotch and then I switch over to some other more tame whiskeys, those whiskeys just taste buttery smooth and delicious. So I'm starting out with an Isla. So the first one we're going to go over today is Ardbeg 10. Now this is an Isla Scotch. It is a single malt 10 year Scotch. Before we go any further into details on Ardbeg, if you're not a whiskey person, you know anything about Isla Scotches or Ardbeg, this is probably not for the faint of heart. If your favorite alcoholic beverage is like a strawberry daiquiri, this is going to ruin your day. It's going to totally, I'll actually try to insert a clip of my wife tasting this. This is not a Scotch or a whiskey that I would recommend jumping right into. If you have been in your whiskey journey for a little while and you're up for some more challenging, if we'll say, some challenging flavors and you're looking to kind of expand your palate a little bit. If you're the kind of guy that likes espresso, you like bitter flavors, you smoke cigars, you're used to stuff like that. This might be your guy. Pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris and you like a lot of sugar in your coffee. This, this is going to ruin you. It's, it's going to be way too aggressive. This thing is going to smack you around like Chris Brown did. I can't, that's a horrible joke. I'm just going to stop that joke right here because that's a horrible joke and I do not condone violence. But you get the point. Let's just pour a little, this guy. Oh, and by the way, having a little Kuwaiti diplomat with all these Bert, with all these whiskeys tonight. Oh yeah, baby. It's smoke. It's, it's like a barbecue grill. Like when you go out after, uh, before you light your girl for the day and you go out and smell your girl after it's been sitting for a couple of days, maybe a little bit of tire. And I know that all sounds really horrible, but my wife smells it and she's like, why the hell would anyone want to drink that? It's like the color of almost like a white wine. It's not very dark at all. Don't let the color fool you. This thing has got a ton of flavor. Now the Ardbeg, this thing comes in at 46% alcohol by volume. So what's that? That's like 92. Yeah, 92 proof. It is kind of the entry into the Ardbeg line. They have a whole bunch of other Ardbegs. One I've got up there. That's really, really good is the Oogadale, Oogadale, Oogadale. It's really, everybody pronounces a little different. It's Oogie, Oogadale. Really good. Probably actually even like that one a little more than this one, but that one's going to run you probably close to $90 a bottle. So it didn't fit in our price range, but this one's still really, really excellent and you can get it for around 50 bucks. But let's give this guy a taste. It's really strange because the flavors when I describe them or the flavors that people say you wouldn't think it's pleasant, there's a lot of Pete in it. So it's a very Petey smoky, maybe a little medicinal. It's got a little sweetness on the back end, which is kind of nice, but it's a very full flavor and it's, it's delicious. It, I don't know what it is about it. Probably two years ago, I wouldn't have liked this, but now I find when I'm getting ready to pour a glass of whiskey for the night, a lot of times I reach for this or I'll reach for a Lagavulin. I think the medicinal flavor is way stronger than Lagavulin. One of my good buddies, Tom says Lagavulin reminds him of chloroceptic, which after he said it, I'm like, man, that is like the perfect description. There is a very strong chloroceptic flavor. Remember chloroceptic when you're a kid? This one I feel like is a little smokier than Lagavulin and less medicinal. A little bit of brininess in there, a little bit of salty, briny kind of flavor. Really, really delicious. Now I will warn you that with the cigar, you're going to have to go something pretty stout. Maybe like a Kentucky Fire Cure if you've ever had one of those cigars, because that's a super smoky, strong cigar. This is going to just blow out most cigars. I was smoking a Davidoff with some of this the other night, actually some of the Oogadile. The Davidoff tasted like air. I couldn't even taste the Davidoff over the Ardbeg Oogadile. Definitely if you're going to pair this with a cigar, pair it with something that is very robust and strong, or this is going to totally drown it out. But really, really excellent stuff. It's just good. Some of the guys on Whiskey Tribe say that people describe a lot of Islas as a mermaid's bathwater. So, I mean, if you're in for something to challenge your palate a little bit and you want to take kind of your whiskey experience to the next phase, if you've been drinking whiskey for a while and you're ready for something kind of bolder and new to really kind of spark a little interest, Ardbeg 10. Sorry, Taylor. I know Taylor, my buddy from Best Damn EDC. Lagavulin is his favorite. He says Ardbeg makes his whole mouth go numb. And that is actually another interesting kind of artifact of Ardbeg. I have found that it does kind of give you a little tingliness in your mouth, which I actually find kind of pleasant. Definitely well-deserving of its place in my top five, I think. Next up, we're going in a very different direction. We're staying with Scotches, but we're going in a very different direction. Number two on the list is Dalmore 12. Dalmore 12 is way friendlier and a way easier introduction into Scotch if you're interested in starting to explore Scotch or even a first whiskey if you haven't tried whiskeys. It also probably wins the award for coolest bottle. I mean, look at, it's got the stag on there. That's a cool looking bottle. They've done a really, really good job. I was originally a bourbon guy. I was born in Kentucky. I've said it on the videos before. I literally cut my teeth on bourbon. I love bourbon. Transitioning into Scotch was a little tough for me just because I wasn't used to the flavor. Scotch flavors are very, very different from bourbon in general. I feel like Dalmore 12 is probably one of the closest Scotches I've ever personally tried to bourbon. I get a lot of the same stuff. I get a lot of the same smells, a lot of the same tastes out of Dalmore that I get out of bourbon. Again, tastes are subjective. Some people might be on here screaming the screen going, Jeremy, you're a moron. No, it doesn't. To me, I get a lot of those same vanilla-y, sweet, kind of candy type smells and flavors in the Dalmore that I get in bourbons a lot of time. The wood though, not near as much as I get in bourbon, but a lot of the other flavors, very much so. It's a lot darker than the Ardbeg was. There's some controversy because of some people, I think they add coloring to Dalmore though, which kind of bums a lot of people out. I don't really care if I can't taste it. It doesn't matter to me. If you're not into that kind of thing, or that bums you out, then that's something to consider. Now Dalmore for the name is a 12 year single malt scotch. The other one we did Ardbeg was an Isla. This one is a Highland scotch. So very different flavor profiles in those two different types of scotches. This is way friendlier, way more approachable, less smack you in the mouth kind of flavors. It's not going to hurt you in any way. Part of that might be because this is only 80 proof, so pretty low on the proof. But I have to say for a lower proof whiskey, it still packs a ton of flavor and it's really enjoyable. It doesn't taste watery or kind of bland or boring like some 80 proof whiskeys can give it a little taste. There's a little bit of smoke. The smoke is for me is way dialed down on this one. I get mostly out of this sweet caramel-y kind of vanilla sweetness kind of thing going on, which is why it reminds me of bourbon because there's a lot of the same kind of things and flavors I get out of bourbon. No bite whatsoever. It's really just a really easy drinking, easy sipping whiskey. It is delicious. I love it. I think you could get away with a lot of different cigars with this. This would be one that you could absolutely smoke a Davidoff. I usually find that Davidoffs are very kind of mild cigars and can get overpowered really easily. This is a little friendlier, kind of more approachable whiskey, and you probably want to maybe pair this with a slightly milder, more approachable cigar, so to speak. Dalmore 12, highly, highly recommend. Next, we're going to jump across the pond over here in the good old US of A where I'm at, and we're going to take a look at Michener's American Whiskey. Michener's is probably best known for their bourbons. Their bourbon is actually one of my buddy Tom's chloroseptic guy with a log of wool. And the Michener's bourbon is one of his favorite whiskeys. He loves this stuff. Me and him are always arguing. He actually likes the Michener's bourbon better. I think the Michener's American whiskey is actually the better one. It is called an American whiskey because in order for it to be considered a bourbon, it has to be aged in new oak barrels. Well, this stuff is made from what I understand, pretty much the same way they make their bourbon except for it's aged and used oak barrels. So they have to call it an American whiskey, not a bourbon. Nevertheless, this stuff is delicious. Michener's is made in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. So I got to give them a little extra props for that. They make a rye, they make a bourbon, they make this American whiskey. There's a whole bunch of them. So definitely check any of theirs out. You'd probably enjoy all of them, but this American whiskey is by far my favorite that I've tried from them. The Michener's you can usually get for, I'd say 45 to 50, 40 to $50 a bottle, depending on what, which I think is a really good price for this stuff. And it comes in at about 83 proof. This stuff is just all sweet vanilla. I almost, I've been getting maple a lot in bourbons lately. I don't know if there's something wrong with my nose or if it's just something, you know, taste and smell is subjective, but I get a lot of like a mapley brown sugary kind of smell. Really, really good stuff. Yeah, man, you can't be mad at that. If you don't like that, we can't be friends. There is nothing wrong with that at all. Reminds me of if you took bourbon and stripped away most of the wood notes, if I had to compare, I would say this reminds me a lot of Dalmore. Now, I know a lot of people are just going to like, they're watching on a phone. They just threw their phone down. They're like, I can't listen to this anymore because one's a Scotch and one's a American whiskey. But I get a lot of the same kind of things, you know, taste is subjective. I get a lot of that with a lot of bourbons. I feel like the wood is a little more forward this. I feel like the wood is kind of pushed to the back a little bit and you get more of those vanilla, creamy brown sugary kind of flavor. Good easy sipping whiskey. This one is far as cigar pairing. This is a good middle of the road whiskey. Any good medium bodied cigar, maybe like a Rocky Patel in 1990. That's a fairly medium bodied cigar for me. At least it is something along those lines. It's going well with this Kuwaiti diplomat. Maybe like an H Upman something like that. Can't go wrong though. I would definitely give old Michter's American whiskey a try for sure. We've hit two Scotches. We hit an American whiskey. Next we're on the train to bourbon town. First bourbon we're going to take a look at is one that I am ashamed to admit for the longest time I overlooked because I was being a bit of a snob. Elijah Craig small batch. Yep. I was being a big old snob. And for the longest time, I ignored good old Elijah Craig, even as a self-proclaimed bourbon man such as myself, because it was, it's really affordable. I'd say 25 to 30 bucks is probably the average going price for this stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with bourbons in the 25 to $30 price range, but just in general, I found that you get into a different quality of bourbon probably around that 40 to $50 price mark. You're really starting to get into really interesting good bourbons. I kind of in the past have kind of ignored stuff under the $30 price mark until about a week or so ago, I finally got a bottle of this stuff just because I kept hearing people talk about it. And I've got to say, I'm a jackass. I should have tried this way, way sooner because this stuff is really, really good. Probably one of the best examples of what I would consider a classic bourbon in my brain. When I think of bourbon, this kind of epitomizes the flavor profiles that you would assume you would get out of bourbon. It's got all the stuff. It's got the cinnamons and the vanillas and the caramels. It's got the oak and I mean, it's got all the good stuff and it comes in at 94 proof for that price. I feel like at 94 proof for like 30 bucks with as good as this stuff is. I mean, I can't believe I haven't been drinking this stuff longer. This is going to be one that I keep in my bar all the time now. You see this one way more wood forward than any of the other whiskeys we've had so far, which is typical of a lot of bourbons. You can definitely taste that oak. Then when you give it a minute, it's got a little bit of heat. It gives you that little bit of a Kentucky hug, that little bit of burn. It's just got a little more bite, which is kind of good because sometimes you want to know you're drinking something and with this one you definitely can. It's got a nice full body to it, but still very approachable. And so when I say a little bite, don't think of like cheap well liquor that gives you that like, you know, like burn that's uncomfortable. This is that nice, just warm feeling, that wood up front and then that slowly kind of fades a little bit and then more of the sweetness comes in, more of the vanillas and maybe a little bit of a little bit of cinnamon or some baking spice or something like that. Very stereotypical bourbon flavors. Now for cigar, this dude's got a little bit of ass on it. So I think this would hold up really well. I think this would actually pair really, really well with say like a Liga Privada T52 and with the money that you saved on only spending $30 on a bottle of bourbon, you can afford to spend the extra cost to buy one of them damn things. Cause Liga Privadas are not cheap cigars. They're about 14 to $16 a stick usually. Get you a nice bottle of Elijah Craig small batch, get a Liga Privada T52 and you're welcome. Thank me later. Pretty much guarantee you that's not going to be a bad afternoon or evening. Next up last, but certainly not least. Like I said, these were no order. This is probably one of my favorite all time most recommended bourbons. Woodford Reserve Double Oat. I've recommended this to more people than probably any other bourbon out there. And oddly enough, it's another one that for a long time I looked over because they call it double oak and I'm not a fan of like overly woody bourbons. I don't just want to taste like I got a bunch of wood in my mouth. Just that does not come across right. Don't want to come across like, I have a lot of wood in my mouth. Good one, Jeremy. So yeah, I, I don't mind, you know, bourbons that are a little more wood forward, but some bourbons I found, it just tastes like you're sucking on a fricking barrel stave and I'm not a huge fan of that. So I stayed away from the double oak and just drank regular Woodford for the longest time because I thought this was going to be overly woody. What I found is that's not the case at all. This stuff is just, it's maple syrup to me. It, this, some people are probably going to say they don't get that. But to me every time I smell this, all I smell is like syrup, pancakes, waffles, butter, like that whole thing. It just reminds me of breakfast. It's, it's really, really good. Maybe a little bit of vanilla too. But God, it's just so good. This stuff, they call it double oak because it goes through a double barrel process. So they take the normal Woodford that's already been aged in a barrel for a while. And then they put it in a second barrel. That's been, let me look at my notes to make sure I get the wording right. Cause this is their terminology here. A second barrel that has been deeply toasted and lightly charred. So I don't know what that means exactly because toasting and charring sounds kind of similar. It goes into a secondary barrel that has a special charring process, which gives it this unique flavor profile and color. It's a little darker than the normal Woodford. A lot of people say they get a lot more wood out of this one than they do out of the normal Woodford. I guess maybe my taste buds are broke. I don't get that at all. I find that the normal Woodford actually has more wood flavor. I get more maple syrup out of this one. I mean, that's really what this reminds me of. Yeah. That's just like breakfast waffles, maple syrup. I would imagine this is what Canadian whiskey would taste like. I'm sorry. That was, that was a low. All Canadians don't like syrup. I'm maple syrup. I'm sure you guys do like syrup though, right? If you're in Canada, you guys are pretty big into the syrup. You guys would like this whiskey then. This stuff comes in at a 90 proof. So pretty respectable proof on it. Sometimes this might be upwards of 55 ish, 45 to 55, depending on your market down where we talked about early, or also that one sometimes can push just 45, 55, sometimes depending on the market. So a couple of these are maybe a little over 50, but nevertheless, for a 45 to 55 bucks, you can tell from the bottle, it's the most empty one. And that is not the first bottle of double oak that has met its demise at my lips. And it won't be the last. I love this stuff. On a side note, if you ever get a chance and my cigar has gone out like 15 times because I've been sitting here talking, if you ever get a chance to go on a distillery tour, I highly recommend Woodford Reserve being one of them. That is a beautiful, beautiful place. It's in a beautiful part of Kentucky. The distillery is a beautiful place. Oh, and by the way, all you guys, butane, it's a butane insert. I swear to God, I did a cigar video a little while ago and I lit my cigar with a Zippo and the people that lose their minds over how you light your cigars, you guys, Oh Lord. Even if this wasn't a butane Zippo, who gives a crap? Everybody makes the biggest deal about what you light your cigars with, but it's a butane insert. Okay. So for any of you guys that are losing your minds right now, watch me light this cigar with a Zippo. It's got a butane insert. Calm down, sip your whiskey, relax and enjoy your cigar. It'll be okay. The distillery tour is beautiful. It's a great tour. They let you try the whiskey when it's a white dog, I think is what they call it before it's been aged. When it's basically moonshine and they let you taste it through the process of being matured and all that stuff. Really kind of a cool thing. And that distillery is beautiful. Really. I suggest if you ever get the opportunity to go on a distillery tour, pick Woodford. It's a really good one. I've been on a few and Woodford's been my favorite so far. Number five on the list, Woodford Double Oak, probably one of my most highly recommended bourbons or whiskeys period out there. Just really, really delicious stuff. But that about wraps us up. That's my list. Those are my five. I tried to, like I said, cover the gambit. I did a really smoky, aggressive Isla Scotch. I did a little more easy going Highland Scotch. I did a couple of bourbons. I did an American whiskey. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. I think give them all a try. Be mindful of the Ardbeg though. Respect the Ardbeg. Don't, don't go into the Ardbeg lightly. Don't go into any Isla Scotches lightly. They're very good, but respect them when you go into them because they will rough you up a little bit. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this list. As always, I'll definitely list the details down below. So if you're interested in giving any of these a try, you know all the details and you can definitely find them. So that's it. That wraps this one up. That is another Man Shitting Monday that's probably going to be released on Tuesday or Wednesday. Hope you got some good information. You enjoyed this list and enjoyed hanging out with me for a little while today and having a cigar and a few whiskeys. Can't go wrong with that, right? Feel free to smash that like button. That always helps us out. If you're not a subscriber, please consider doing so. We'd love to have you on board. I hope everyone is having a fantastic week and we'll see you in the next video. And we're double open. I ain't never met a limitation. Got to go to Google for the information. I'm a superstar. So I got to shine top dollar.