In 2025, bourbon as soon as once more proved its world pedigree, amassing medals and accolades on the world’s prime spirits competitions. However whereas many award-winning bottles include triple-digit worth tags, nice bourbon doesn’t have to interrupt the financial institution. There’s a complete host of price range bourbons on the market that ship award-winning high quality with out the hefty price ticket.
Too typically, the bourbons that win massive additionally price massive, placing them out of attain for on a regular basis drinkers who simply need one thing glorious within the glass. That’s why we’ve rounded up 5 standout bourbons that not solely earned main awards this 12 months, but in addition stay surprisingly inexpensive.
Bear Struggle Kentucky Reserve Bourbon
Bronze Medal – ADI Worldwide Spirits Competitors 2025, A Cask Completed Finances Bourbon (From $37.99)
Incomes a Bronze Medal on the 2025 ADI Awards, Bear Struggle Kentucky Reserve might not (but) have the status of older bourbon labels, however it’s already making a reputation for itself.
Crafted from a high-rye Kentucky bourbon base and completed in Reposado tequila casks, Bear Struggle leans into spice, vitality, and originality. On the nostril and palate, you’ll discover a spice-forward profile layered with vanilla, cinnamon, and a delicate kick of tequila-influenced herbaceousness. It’s a taste mixture that’s a little bit surprising, and all of the extra fascinating for it.
At round $40, this bourbon is implausible worth for cash, in the event you imagine the knowledgeable judges on the American Distilling Institute.
A enjoyable, conversation-starting pour, it’s preferrred for bourbon drinkers who like a little bit of edge and youth of their glass.
Redwood Empire Pipe Dream
Platinum Medal – San Diego Worldwide Wine & Spirits Problem 2025, Worth & Sustainability (From $40)
Redwood Empire Pipe Dream was a giant winner on the San Diego Worldwide Wine & Spirits Problem 2025, clinching a Platinum Medal. Crafted in Sonoma County, California, this straight bourbon blends whiskeys aged between 4 and 12 years, bringing depth and nuance with out the premium price ticket.
Tasting it reveals a wealthy and expressive profile: notes of maple, dried apricot, and sandalwood unfold with every sip, providing a easy, barely fruit-forward expertise that’s simple to get pleasure from but removed from unusual.
Our very personal Phil Dwyer counts himself among the many rising variety of followers, and it’s simple to see why.
Past the flavour, Pipe Dream can also be rooted in sustainability. For each bottle bought, the corporate vegetation a tree. It’s a uncommon case the place you possibly can drink properly and do good on the similar time.
At round $45, you’re getting a scrumptious bourbon at worth, and making a distinction to the atmosphere, too.
1792 12 Yr Outdated Bourbon
Double Gold Medal – San Francisco World Spirits Competitors 2025, A Nicely-Aged Discover (From $68.99)
This bourbon from Barton 1792 clinched a Double Gold Medal at this 12 months’s San Francisco World Spirits Competitors. Produced in Bardstown, Kentucky, this straight bourbon incorporates a high-rye mash invoice and is matured for a full twelve years in new charred oak barrels, remarkably lengthy for a whiskey nonetheless hovering across the $70 mark.
Removed from being ‘over-oaked’, this 12 12 months outdated bourbon is layered and sophisticated. Count on wealthy caramel, toasted oak, and darkish fruit, with a dry, nutmeg-laced end that balances sweetness with construction.
What units this bourbon aside is its mixture of age, high quality, and worth. Age-stated bourbons, particularly ones aged so long as 12 years, are more and more uncommon beneath $100, not to mention close to $70. It’s a nice value-for-money pour.
Barton 1792 isn’t any stranger to awards, both. In actual fact, it appears to moderately constantly seem in prestigious spirits competitions yearly (see right here). So, in the event you really feel like branching out, why not attempt the Small Batch launch as properly?
Early Occasions Bottled-In-Bond
Silver Medal – Worldwide Spirits Problem 2025, Finances Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon (From $12.99)
With a Silver Medal on the 2025 Worldwide Spirits Problem, Early Occasions Bottled-In-Bond reaffirms its place as probably the most reliable and underrated bourbons on the shelf. This bourbon brings collectively heritage, affordability, and authenticity.
Count on basic bottled-in-bond character right here: cornbread heat, mild spice, and only a trace of cola on the end. It’s a easy, no-nonsense pour that delivers greater than you’d count on for its worth.
Why do bourbon followers hold coming again to this bottle? As a result of it affords all the things that bonded bourbon ought to: 100 proof, at the very least 4 years outdated, and the product of 1 distillery and season, with not one of the sticker shock. It’s usually priced below $30, making it not solely nice worth, but in addition a super solution to discover the Bottled-in-Bond class and not using a main dedication.
Evan Williams Black Label
Silver Medal – Worldwide Spirits Problem 2025, A Finances Bourbon Staple (From $13)
With a Silver Medal on the 2025 Worldwide Spirits Problem, Evan Williams Black Label proves that worth and high quality aren’t mutually unique. Produced by Heaven Hill, this straight bourbon has lengthy been a go-to for bartenders and residential drinkers alike.
It affords a basic, no-frills taste profile: easy vanilla, mellow oak, and only a contact of smoke. It’s not flashy, however it’s reliable, and typically that’s precisely what you need in a bottle.
At below $20, it’s among the best price range buys in American whiskey. That is the bourbon you advocate to a pal simply entering into the class, the one you retain readily available for cocktails, and the one you attain for once you need one thing simple and drinkable.
Finances Bourbon Can Be The Finest
If 2025 has proven us something, it’s that nice bourbon doesn’t have to return with a collector’s price ticket. From a 12-year-old powerhouse to daring newcomers and beloved on a regular basis staples, these 5 award-winning bottles show that excellence and affordability can go hand in hand.
So why not decide up a bottle or two and see what the excitement is about? There’s real satisfaction in discovering a bourbon that overdelivers. Bonus factors in the event you share your individual favourite inexpensive award-winner with fellow bourbon followers. We’d love to listen to what’s earned a spot in your shelf.
