I know a bit about bourbon. What I know is limited by my palate, which is not as keen as many others on BourbonEnthusisast, but it is passable. It is good enough, at least most of the time (I think) to distinguish twixt a good bourbon and a great bourbon, but if you think I would bet my farm (which I ain't got anyway) on that premise, you would be mistook.
I can and do appreciate the bourbons that are rich with barrel flavors, which usually means high proof or barrel proof cut to the limits of my own palate. And, more than most I seem to appreciate the benefits (benefits you say?) of extra ageing.
So, I have before me a bourbon for which I paid (with a small discount) less than $10. It is Ezra Brooks 90 proof (from Heaven Hill distilleries, I believe) and I am throwing it up agin a bourbon that would cost you probably $250 +, if you can find it. That would be A.H. Hirsch 16 YO.
I have before me two glasses ($1 from IKEA that are perfect for bourbon tasting) and I do not know which contains the Hirsch and which contains the Ezra (really I don't know) and I offer (for your benefit) this side by side to see if one is superior to the other.
The Ezra is easily distinguishable, although quite good bourbon it has an edge, especially in the finish, that is sharp. Is the Hirsch 25 times as good. Well, certainly not. Fortunately, when the Hirsch was selling at about $79, I put back several bottles.
So, is it 8 times as good as the Ezra, a 6 year old Heaven Hill bourbon that wins No prizes, ever? Well, that is the $70 question. The answer lies in the infamous realm of the subjective. I would not pay the asking price now for A H Hirsch bourbon (if I could find any), nor would I pay the asking price (if I could find any) for the Van Winkle bourbons. I have a bit left of several Van Winkle bourbons, probably the last I will ever own. I am willing to pay around $90 for the Heaven Hill Parker's Heritage Bourbons (if you can find them) because they are exceptional (really exceptional). But that is outside the current discussion, nicht wahr?
If economic circumstance should change so that it is beyond my financial ability to occasionally purchase whiskey at $90 a bottle, I would not be unhappy to enjoy a bottle of Ezra Brooks 90 proof bourbon at around $10 or so and use my memory to supplement its taste.
I am not a bourbon snob (or am I?). The great American writer (who may well have been an SOB personally), William Faulkner, said that if only Scotch were available, that is what he would drink. Me too!