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20 Of The Most Expensive Bourbons In The Good, Old US of A

Bourbon
By Nino Marchetti / September 1, 2016
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This list is updated as of September 1, 2016.

Alongside our post detailing 50 of the most expensive whiskies in the world, one thing stood out from this list: there were only a few bourbons listed. Regardless of how high a bottle value you think a Pappy Van Winkle might hold, it is but a drop in the bucket compared to most Scotches. This got us wondering though about what some of the most expensive bourbons might be on sale right now, and for this we turned once again to our friends at wine-searcher.com for details.

Below you’ll find from them a list of 20 of the most expensive bourbons currently sitting at retail. This list, it should be noted, is based upon the average price of a standard bottle excluding taxes, with information for it being drawn from a database of prices from tens of thousands of wine and spirits stores all around the world.

Van Winkle bottles

image via Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery

The Top 20 Most Expensive Bourbons Avg. Price (USD)
1 Michter’s Celebration Sour Mash Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $3,690
2 Old Fitzgerald Very Old 8 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $3,416
3 Parker’s Heritage Collection 2nd Edition 27 Year Old Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $3,103
4 A.H. Hirsch Reserve 16 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $2,890
5 Old Rip Van Winkle ‘Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve’ 23 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, USA $2,794
6 Old Rip Van Winkle ‘Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve’ 20 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, USA $1,924
7 John E. Fitzgerald Very Special 20 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $1,748
8 Willett Distillery Family Estate Bottled Single Barrel 22 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $1,347
9 Old Rip Van Winkle ‘Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve’ 15 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, USA $1,343
10 Michter’s 20 Years Old Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $1,339
11 Willett Distillery Family Estate Bottled Single-Barrel 9 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $1,010
12 Buffalo Trace Distillery William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, USA $907
13 Willett Distillery Family Estate Bottled Single-Barrel 11 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $872
14 Jefferson’s Presidential Select 18 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, USA $862
15 Orphan Barrel Old Blowhard 26 Years Old Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $798
16 Jack Daniel’s Monogram Tennessee Whiskey, Tennessee, USA $744
17 George T. Stagg Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $732
18 Colonel E.H. Taylor Cured Oak Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $698
19 Buffalo Trace Distillery Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, USA $675
20 Jefferson’s Presidential Select 25 Years Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Kentucky, USA $654
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About the author

Nino Marchetti

As the founder of The Whiskey Wash, I'm crazy about whiskey, I can tell you, and I aim to share this passion with you through this site. As for my professional background, I’m a writer and journalist by trade and an Internet dot-com veteran prior to that. My most recent venture prior to this was as the founder and editor-in-chief of EarthTechling, a leading consumer focused green technology news website. I also have an extensive collection of whiskies from both start up distilleries and centuries old operations in Scotland alike, sprinkled with some other odds and ends from around the world, that have provided me with a unique picture of what’s going on with this wonderful spirit.

  • Taylor Whiskey

    No Colonel E H Taylor Tornado Survial ??? The pappy tour guide told me easy $1000 each and only going up “worth it’s weight in gold or more in 5-10 years” aka roughly 32k!!! It can never be made again ever!!

    • Trevor

      No whiskey can ever be made again. The prices are way overinflated. Pappys retails for 250. These are uninformed buyers with too much disposable income.

  • whiskynate

    Pretty every single one of these prices are wrong. What you’re listing are secondary market prices and I have no idea what the prices after that are all about. Pappy 23 at it’s correct prices goes for $240…

  • Hugh Brown

    Where’s AH Hirsch 20 year old?

    • David Rowland

      Got the 20. Should be on the list for sure…

  • whiskey consumer

    who ever wrote this article doesnt have a clue between secondary and retail pricing 90% of the list is secondary pricing not retail the links are to secondary sites. come on Nino do your due research at real retail not secondary pricing.

    • Paras Arora

      Nino your prices are on point!
      Thanks buddy

  • SNS77

    These prices are bullshit.

    • Don Naylor

      They are here in Kentucky. If and when you can purchase Pappy 23, it’s just under $300 and that’s numero uno on this list.

      • Steve Book

        You FIND me a 300 bottle anywhere. Clears the shelves as soon as it comes out.I I’ll stick with my $35 eagle rare 10 year

        • Don Naylor

          When they announce that there will be X number of bottles available at a certain location(s) (mainly Louisville & Lexington) people line up before the stores open to draw a numbered ticket and they draw as many names to purchase one as they have bottles. I know guys that have done it, but not me. Pappy 23 is around $285. Remember this is Kentucky, the heart of bourbon distillers in the world.

  • JohnFKennedy

    The “max price” of $12,000 for the Parker’s Heritage 13yo Wheat Whiskey?!?!? I really want to know more about that!

    • john

      I have a full bottle of rare bourbon its Thomas Jefferson or George Washington.patriot addition. . And it looks pretty old and the whiskey was aged 10 years before sold the bottle has original tags and seal never broke. U help me with what its worth and its for sale too!!

  • Ben H

    My grandfather gave me a bottle of a 10 year aged bottle of old rip van winkle Kentucky bourbon whiskey bottled in 1987 and 1994. Does anyone know the values of these bottles?

    • Paras Arora

      $1200

  • Bill Richardson

    Just an FYI, Just missed a pappy sighting in OHIO….. My local store had gotten it in. 3 bottles, but it was owned by the Rocksino up the road. Another thought, love to see the suggested prices listed with these.

  • disqus_WYtyZQ8Dxh

    Nino, buddy, hire some bourbon experts to write your content. I’m thinking you just threw this list together.

    First,Jack Daniel’s is not a bourbon! – it’s a Tennessee Whiskey. Jack Daniel’s is dripped slowly – drop-by-drop – through ten feet of firmly packed charcoal (made from hard sugar maple) before going into new charred oak barrels for aging. Bourbon doesn’t do this step.

    Second, the last bottle of Elijah Craig 18-year-old I purchased was around $50 and that was only about a year and a half ago. But I have to admit, that’s the last time I’ve seen it. Yet, your price range still seems a little grandiose for some of the brands.

    Now the brands of bourbon you list are fine bourbons; but I’m thinking Nino, that you’re just trying to create a headline for click-bait. I took the bait. Now, I’m off to look for a good article on bourbon.

    • andre

      EC18 is ~$120 retail in MD, at least when I found a couple bottles 3 months ago.

    • Rob

      Jack Daniels in fact is classified as straight bourbon whiskey and meets all criteria for bourbon, the mellow charcoal filter does not Change classification . Jack Daniels purposefully doesn’t add bourbon to the label .
      Bourbon is no less than 51% corn spirit aged in new chard oak barrels, that’s it ,and that’s what it is.

      • Dave Ripplinger

        Jack Daniel’s is not a bourbon – it’s a Tennessee Whiskey. Jack Daniel’s is dripped slowly – drop-by-drop – through ten feet of firmly packed charcoal (made from hard sugar maple) before going into new charred oak barrels for maturing.

  • Keith

    Does anyone know how much a unopened 750ml bottle of 1979 Kentucky silk with all original labels and tilt stand display would be worth?
    Thanks