W.L. Weller bourbon
Smirnoff Vodka
I second Gordon’s gin (and vodka), and Old Overholt. I can’t remember if Overholt is good though, but lots of people seem to like it, and rye is usually overpriced. Also Bombay gin (clear bottle) is decently cheapish, and probably better than overpriced Bombay Sapphire.
Beer, maybe Session. All lagers, regular, black, and red. They’re smaller at 11 oz, but have more alcohol than 5.0. $10/12 pack. Leinenkugel is expensive here.
Trader Joe’s has good deals, but I haven’t been there in awhile. Costco has had some decent deals, like $4 for 750mL Lagunitas and such. They also have pricier ones.
Old Crow bourbon. It’s certainly limited by being a very young bourbon (I think it might be three years old, but it might even be two), but other than that, there is nothing about it that is really bad. I can sip it neat and be perfectly happy with it.
And I agree with thelurkinghorror, Bombay is far better Bombay Sapphire.
I might be biased, too. As a kid I remember seeing the bottles and thinking, “cool, that stuff is blue!” Imagine my disappointment when I find that it’s just the bottle.
Mickey’s is the go-to smoothish malt liquor for suburbanites who want to pretend to be hard. Its brother Olde English 800 is not so smooth. But of course Colt 45 is the only one that’s been in space.
Holy crap, that’s the nice whiskey I buy for special occasions.
The Evan Williams in the black bottle is fine, but the green bottle is kinda gross. It’s only a couple of dollars cheaper and not really worth it.
As far as vodka goes, Dimitri was the absolute cheapest thing to get drunk on in high school, and I’m still kind of fond of it. Tastes better than some middle shelf vodkas, I think.
In my ghetto liquor store, malt liquor is weirdly expensive relative to regular beer so there’s not really a point to getting it. When I lived in Chicago, I was fortunate enough to have $1.50 40s of King Cobra available down the street and I think I’ve drank enough of them to last a lifetime.
I’ll tell you which is the worst, Wild Irish Rose.
My god, I NEVER get hangovers, a bottle of WIR gave me the only and only one that I can remember. The shit FEELS toxic, god knows what is in it. It may very well be a plot to kill the homeless.
Can’t go wrong with Cruzan white rum; it’s something like $12 per bottle, and it’s absolutely fine
for things like mojitos, daiquiris and other white rum drinks. It’s also from the Virgin Islands, so if buying American is your thing, you can do it with them. Cruzan Single Barrel is terrific as well, and priced lower than other similar rums. Flor de Cana is another rum brand in the same price ballpark.
Seagram’s Special Reserve gin is pretty good, and is also inexpensive.
For mixed-drink cognac/brandy, the Chatelier VS or VSOP is excellent and pretty inexpensive. Maybe not E&J Gallo cheap, but light years better.
I don’t really mess around with cheap booze that may get drunk by itself (whiskey/whisky primarily) and I don’t mess around with vodka much; I like my booze to have flavor.
I have to mention Gato Negro wine from Chile. It’s awesome and completely inexpensive, maybe $4 a bottle. It even has a screw-on lid!
The go-to cheap brand of booze when I was in college was Heaven Hill.
I think of Bullet as a damn good bargain. It’s got the flavor of bourbons and ryes at twice the price. It’s one of my regular rotations.
I tried this recently, and was amazed at how smooth it was. My only complaint is that it’s not as complex as others at the same price.
I got a pint of this recently too. I was disappointed the only flavor I could taste was caramel. I can drink it neat, it’s smooth enough for that, but I’d rather throw a splash of something else (maybe weller) on top of it to make it interesting. It’s the best I’ve had at that price though. My next trip to that price level will be Old Overholt.
Mickey’s is my guilty beer pleasure. Every few months, I’ll be driving home, and crave that flavor. Fortunately, it’s everywhere. It’s a bit harsh, but it’s unique. However, I wouldn’t call it “best”. But those other two… (shiver).
My vote for best cheap booze is:
Bourbon: Four Roses. It’s the equal of Bulliet and others at it’s price range, but $4-5 cheaper.
Vodka: Monopolowa, at $13/750ml. It’s so good I don’t see the sense in even trying any other vodkas.
Beer: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Yeah, it’s not exactly cheap, but it’s usually on sale, and usually available in 12 packs. Combining the sale discount with the volume discount, I’m usually saving at least a buck per six pack compared to other American style hoppy pale ales. If I want something cheaper than that, I’ll have my wife play beer roulette with the Trader Joe’s contract brews. It’s always pretty drinkable, and plenty cheap.
How did I forget Four Roses? Yeah, that’s my standby cheaper bourbon, although it’s about $20/bottle (was it always this expensive, or has it gotten more popular? For some reason, I thought I remember it being more in the Old Overholt price range, about $5 cheaper.)
You should try the Four Roses small batch whateveritscalled. It’s very good!
Yeah, that’s why I said that cheap is relative. Bulleit isn’t cheap, but it’s tastes as good as some more expensive whiskeys.
BumWine.com’s take on it. It isn’t even their lowest ranked on many factors!
I guess I am the only fan of Bota Boxes for wine on this board? Good quality wine sold in a box, you get the equivalent of 4 bottles for ~$20, plus it’s environmentally friendly.
I like all the Bourbons mentioned in this thread, but my standby cheap Bourbon is still Wild Turkey 101. It’s what I first started drinking when I started drinking, and I still always keep a bottle on hand. IMO it stands up to everything in its class quite nicely. I have also always been a fan of Old Forester for when I want to mix something into Diet Coke or Ginger Ale. Their high end stuff is good too. Where I live Buffalo Trace is pretty cheap too, but I don’t think it is this inexpensive everywhere ($35 for a bottle?), and it’s pricier than the other two.
For Vodka I exclusively drink Tito’sthese days. For me it’s better than Grey Goose at a fraction of the price. There are cheaper vodka’s out there, but not many that are drinkable let alone outstanding.
ETA: I almost forgot, I have recently developed a fondness for Sailor Jerry Spiced rum. Good stuff that, and at $19 a bottle, easy on the wallet.
We have a serious box wine habit.
It’s way easy to have wine with every dinner!
Yeah, our problem is that it is far too easy to lose track of how many glasses you have had. You don’t have the natural reminder of the empty bottle that maybe you have had enough.
I think it was your recommendation that led to me finally grabbing it. If it wasn’t you, it was another doper. I want to say it’s creeped up a couple of bucks in the last few months, but it’s still my sweet spot for price/taste. If it creeps up another two bucks, then it will lose it’s advantage against the next tier, with Bulliet and it’s pals.
It is really good. It’s big brother, the Single Barrel is an absolute steal. Running about $30/750ml, it’s no longer my idea of cheap, but it is amazing when you compare it to say, $28/750ml Knob Creek, or $29/750ml Elijah Craig. Heck, it’s amazing when you compare it to other Single Barrels (but of course, all the single barrels vary a bit).
Oh, I wasn’t disagreeing at all. Bulliet is plenty inexpensive for a small batch whiskey. I can’t think of one that runs cheaper, and it stands up well to almost all of them. The other small batch that grabs my attention when I’m eying the FR Small Batch and the Bulliet is Larceny. It generally runs about $22/750ml, and is a little more complex and a little more smooth than Bulliet. But, it ends up lacking something by being smoother. Either way, it’s damn good, too.
Off topic: but for my money, the best rye out there is Copper Fox Rye, it makes an amazing Manhattan.