Tl;dr: The best smooth whiskey for a beginner is a blend or a wheat forward bourbon. Try Buffalo Trace or Four Roses. You won’t be disappointed.
We get it. You’re looking for the smoothest whiskey for beginners. Having approached a certain age, the level of your Maslow’s Pyramid scheme wherein you seek establishment. You’re looking to collect a chain of personal ornaments that define you. The books you’ve read. The bands you’ve seen live. A couple of watches and a low table in your dining room loaded with a handful of eyebrow-raising bourbons.
But you staggered into your adulthood drinking Fireball and Jamesons and (oh god, no) pickle shots. You have not been kind to your palette. Your throat is torched. All your memories of whiskey are on fire. How in the hell can you find a whiskey that doesn’t taste like you’re drinking a TikTok fire shot accident?
Here is how you find a smooth whiskey for beginners
Just read the list below. We did all the work for you. See, our palettes are honed to an edge you only get in the finger five star Michelin joints and we’ve applied that refinement to finding you a list of whiskies so smooth you’ll find it hard to believe there’s a drop of alcohol in them. But there is, little unicorn. There is.
The best starter whiskey is gonna be made with wheat
Wheat is the vital ingredient in Pappy, Weller, and other famous smooth whiskies. The reason people love these whiskies is because their flavor explodes in your mouth without melting your teeth. Wheat is sugary. It’s the note in the whiskey that makes you think about pancakes. you couldn’t ask for a better,. smoother, easier starter whiskey than one with a wheat forward mash bill.
The best smooth bourbon for beginners
Since you’re reading this, I’ll assume you are new to whiskey and to bourbon in particular. So let me help you out. Most liquor stores, hell most pretty good grocery stores, sell decent bourbon. You may be tempted to grab a bottle of Jack or Beam but hold up. Don’t do that. They’re affordable for a reason. Instead, reach for a bottle of Buffalo Trace or Four Roses. We don’t normally promote the big brands on this site, but they’re big for a reason and you’re in the starting gate for great whiskey. These two brands are multi-grained, wheat forward bourbons with decades of practice in making consistently smooth bourbon with amazing flavor.
Here are six of the smoothest whiskies under 100 bucks
BUGGY WHIP WHEAT WHISKEY
This single grain whiskey is made from Michigan grain. I am a huge fan of Last Feather Rye. The unique yet classic way they develop their mash bill is evident in this oddball spirit. It smells wonderful, a fact that makes it such a good sipping whiskey. As soon as you bring it up to your lips, the bouquet leaps out of the glass and dances around in your nose. The flavor is soft, which is not a flavor word but trust me this is correct. If you’re from Florida, you’ll recognize the extraordinary profile of orange blossoms, a kind of citrus vanilla taste. It’s amazing. Get it now.
JOHN E. FITZGERALD SMALL BATCH BOURBON
Larceny was my introduction to smooth wheated whiskies and honestly, I don’t know why you’d spend $500 on a bottle of Pappy’s when you can drink this. It’s velour. Veluta. It is the lips of your lover at three in the morning. It’s the smoothest, most delicious whiskey out there and you can get it anywhere without taking out a loan.
WHEATED BOURBON
One of the smoothest whiskies for beginners is Redemption’s wheated bourbon and look; I don’t know what makes it better than the others, but it is. Redemption uses a mash bill that’s 45% wheat and everything else is pretty standard. Yet . . . yet it’s sublime. An absolutely perfect sipping whiskey.
FOUR GRAIN STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY AGED 8 YEARS
A bottled-in-bond bourbon that’s not wheat forward, though wheat is in the mash. There’s something about how this whiskey is aged in those charred 53-gallon barrels, how it’s made from grain grown in a single season, and how it all comes together in their rickhouse. Laws is a legendary smoove whiskey. Get it now.
WHISTLE PIG HOMESTOCK RYE
Whistle Pig is one of the most creative distilleries in America. Their expressions are wingnut and madcap (aging whiskey in barrels on the road?) and we love them. Homestock is a take on their Farmstock Rye. However, this one was blended by the magic of crowdsourcing to come up with this smooth sippin’ rye pre-approved by hundreds of home blenders. It’s nuts, but it’s good.
OLD ELK STRAIGHT WHEATED BOURBON
Here’s the thing, it’s not just smooth. The addition of malted barley gives this bourbon that slightly gnarly, slightly candy-store sort of overdone pancakes flavor that is so good and so hard to find. Old Elk is a truly soft, imminently sippable bourbon you should have in a chair by the fire with your dog.
Beginner’sWhiskey F.A.Q.
You want a blended whiskey aged in a barrel with a sweet flavor profile. Look for a Tennessee whiskey, as they are filtered through a sugar maple char. Look for a port barrel aged whiskey, or a white oak aged whiskey. A blend of American single-malt and whiskey can be wonderfully sweet.
Get a bottle from one of the big name distilleries. They are global for a reason. Start with Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, or Four Roses. Once your palette is established, please move explore the independent expressions listed in our pages.
