What’s the best bourbon around $40? My team and I sought this answer not through public voting.

For the past three months, we’ve asked in surveys and open questions: What is an everyday bourbon? And what price feels right?

The answers varied, but the debate came down to $60 vs. $40, with the latter winning the majority. I was surprised on how difficult choosing an “everyday” price was. Many felt that if the bourbon is in stores and available across the U.S., it should be considered. Perhaps this is the story of our time: Some can buy $200 bourbons every day. And most cannot.

In addition, pricing varies per market, because of state taxes and how distributors set case sales. Rare Breed is a great example. Many believed it should be in the vote. However, it’s more than $45 in most of the country, while controlled states keep Rare Breed around $40. So, this examination of price point led to an interesting snapshot of time of bourbon pricing. With inflation and wheat prices on the rise, who knows if these prices hold?

For determining the bourbons for this list, we applied the $40 price point on Total Wine & More’s website, easily coming up with hundreds of products. Then, we culled whiskeys, narrowing it down by availability, price and allocation. We considered products that would sit in the “bourbon” aisle; thus, we allowed straight bourbons, bottled-in-bond, blends of straight bourbon and barrel finishes in this data grab. From there, we triple checked allocation and availability status.

Lastly, we put it to a vote.

After more than 5,000 votes, here are the winners, as ranked by the public. On March 18, I will blind taste the Top 10 to determine my favorite of the list.

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