Can’t Find Stagg? 5 Barrel-Proof Bourbons You Can Always Buy

What’s the appeal of Stagg? Well, it’s made by Buffalo Trace, has an incredible flavor profile of chocolate, dark fruits, charred oak, and roaring barrel spice, is typically bottled at around 130 proof/65% ABV, and has a reputation for being some of the best liquid around.

Put all of this together, along with the hype and awards, and it becomes hard to get. If you’re bored of entering lotteries and just want to walk out of a shop with a bottle, we’ve put together five alternatives that can easily compete with some of the best barrel-proof bourbons on the planet.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, 60%+, $43 / £100 

A bottle of bourbon that is so widely available it sometimes seems to get overlooked. The hazmat bottles (70% ABV+) get a lot of attention, but it’s not all about huge numbers.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof shares so many tasting notes with Stagg. There are waves of sweet, toasted American oak, silky milk chocolate, salted pretzels, cinnamon, ginger, and as much caramel and vanilla as you could want. Add water and the spiciness calms down, while the oak and chocolate step forward a little more. It’s every bit as complex and interesting as the Stagg comparison.

If you can find this for its $75 MSRP, it’s quite the bottle to have in the cupboard and something that can compete with far more hyped releases.

Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style, 57.5%, $50 / £80 

Okay, hear me out. This isn’t barrel proof. I know. However, it’s one of the best-value high-proof bottles you can buy, especially when comparing it with some of the biggest names in American whiskey.

This thing is hard to get in the UK, and I had someone bring a bottle over for me. I’m eternally grateful. Side by side, it doesn’t have the crazy ABV or stumpy bottle that Stagg does, but the flavors are remarkably comparable. Buckets of caramel, wood spice, charred oak, rye spice, and sweet dessert notes. Add water and everything calms down, but you still have a flavorful, full-bodied bourbon that can fulfill whatever sweet and spicy notes you need for the evening.

You can find this for anywhere between $55 and $65 a bottle, and I think that’s an absolute steal for the flavors you’re getting, as well as the history behind Old Forester and what the brand has done for the bourbon industry. When it becomes more readily available in the UK, I’ll be stocking up.

Smooth Ambler Old Scout, 56%+, $34 / £70

You can find this in either single-barrel or small-batch formats. It has a lower percentage of corn than the other bourbons on this list and around three times the amount of rye, but it can compete with Stagg in so many ways.

I’ve got a bottle of a 9-year-old single barrel, and it’s massive in flavor. In fact, when I first opened it, the words that fell out of my mouth were, “This is just Stagg, but more available.” It’s full of honeycomb, milk chocolate, cinnamon gum, spearmint, fresh oak, toasted wood, black pepper, and some licorice notes that keep everything in balance.

The taste delivers wave after wave of milk chocolate, sea salt, and honey. It’s such a decadent thing to pour into a glass that it scents the room better than any expensive candle.

Again, you can find this for anywhere between $55 and $65 a bottle, and for that money it’s something I’d buy straight away. A fabulous product from a newer distillery that delivers across its different product lines, and one of the best high-proof bourbons you can lay your hands on.

Wild Turkey Rare Breed, 55%+, $49 / £58 

A $55 bottle of barrel-proof bourbon from one of the best distilleries in the world. Bold words, and they’re my own, but I stand by them.

Wild Turkey rarely misses with these releases, and if I’m honest, it’s hard to beat Wild Turkey 101. But as far as value goes, Wild Turkey Rare Breed is one of the best barrel-proof bourbons you can find.

It has Wild Turkey’s classic combination of welcoming sweetness, with stroopwafels, caramel, and toffee sauce, alongside rye spice, green herbs, barrel spice, and fresh oak. It’s complex, rich, and spicy while remaining readily available on the shelves of specialist retailers.

If you like to add ice or water to your barrel-proof Wild Turkey, then you’re essentially proofing it down toward Wild Turkey 101 or 81 at home. That’s a fabulous option to have. Despite the lower ABV compared with Stagg, the profile runs alongside the famous bottling while still having plenty of style and swagger of its own.

1792 Full Proof Bourbon, 59%+, $39 / £55

Now we’re into the ridiculous part of the list, because in some states you can get this for as little as $45 a bottle. Things in the UK went a little crazy with this release after it won some awards, with some retailers charging as much as £200 a bottle. That’s pretty wild.

Back to reality, though, and this is one of the best-value bottles of whiskey you can buy. It’s a low-rye, high-proof release from a well-regarded bourbon distillery.

This bottle is all about power and intensity, even more so than bottles like Stagg and Elijah Craig. There are massive dollops of caramel, vanilla, candy corn, and concentrated oak. The taste is almost sherry-esque, with raisins, sultanas, sugar syrup, butter, pastries, and plump fruits. The finish is spicier and much more driven than some of the other styles, but it hits it out of the park when it comes to making its presence known on your palate. An incredible high-proof bourbon.

Is The Chase Worth It?

Yes and no. If you see a bottle of Stagg on a shelf for a normal price, then you should get it. It isn’t a bad decision to make. However, if the price is inflated or it simply isn’t there, you don’t need to drive across state lines trying to find one.

The options available to us when it comes to barrel-proof and high-proof bourbon are incredible. Buffalo Trace makes excellent bourbon, but there are plenty of bottles from both well-established and lesser-known brands that are packed with flavor and have plenty of character of their own.

Stagg is good, but you don’t need to chase it.