Kentucky: Bourbon and rye whiskey

Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Vanilla, toffee, brown sugar and a hint of mint and spice.

Serve: Neat or in an Old Fashioned

Wild Turkey Rye

Spicy rye: pepper, cinnamon, caramel and oak.

Serve: In a Manhattan

Maker's Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Soft and sweet: caramel, vanilla, baked bread and red fruit.

Strength: 45% (40% in the UK) · Age and cask: No age statement, new charred American oak

A wheated bourbon: red winter wheat replaces rye in the mash, giving a gentler, rounder taste. First bottled in 1958 at Loretto, Kentucky, and every bottle is still dipped by hand in red wax.

Serve: On the rocks or in an Old Fashioned

Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

Dried fruit, toffee, cinnamon, cocoa and toasted oak.

Strength: 43.2% (45.2% in the USA) · Age and cask: No age statement, new charred American oak

Made at the historic distillery in Versailles, Kentucky, where whiskey from copper pot stills is blended with column-still bourbon. The official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby.

Serve: Neat, on a large ice cube or in an Old Fashioned

Bulleit Bourbon

Spicy for a bourbon: rye pepper, vanilla, maple, toasted oak and orange.

Strength: 45% · Age and cask: No age statement, new charred American oak

A high-rye bourbon, so it has more spice and less sweetness than most. The brand was launched by Tom Bulleit in 1987 and is now owned by Diageo, with its own distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

Serve: In an Old Fashioned or a Whiskey Sour, or on ice

Four Roses Single Barrel

Ripe plum, cherry, rye spice, cocoa and a long, warming finish.

Strength: 50% · Age and cask: Single barrel, new charred American oak

Four Roses makes ten bourbon recipes from two mash bills and five yeast strains. The Single Barrel uses its high-rye OBSV recipe, and each bottle comes from one barrel, so it changes slightly from cask to cask.

Serve: Neat or with one ice cube

Eagle Rare 10 Year Old

Toffee, orange peel, leather, almond and a long, dry oak finish.

Strength: 45% · Age and cask: 10 years, new charred American oak

Made at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. It is one of the few widely available bourbons with a 10-year age statement.

Serve: Neat, or in an Old Fashioned

Knob Creek 9 Year Old

Rich caramel, toasted nuts, maple and charred oak with a warming finish.

Strength: 50% · Age and cask: 9 years, new charred American oak barrels

Created in 1992 by Booker Noe at the Jim Beam distillery as part of a small-batch range. Bottled at 100 proof, it was designed to taste like bourbon from before Prohibition.

Serve: Neat, on a large ice cube, or in an Old Fashioned or Manhattan

Wild Turkey 101

Bold vanilla, caramel, orange peel, rye spice and toasted oak.

Strength: 50.5% · Age and cask: No age statement, new heavily charred American oak barrels

Made in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, with a high share of rye and a deep 'alligator' char on the barrels. Long-serving master distiller Jimmy Russell has worked at the distillery since 1954.

Serve: Neat, on ice, or in a Boulevardier, Old Fashioned or Manhattan

Elijah Craig Small Batch

Vanilla, caramel, baked apple, nutmeg and toasted oak.

Strength: 47% · Age and cask: No age statement, new charred American oak

Made by Heaven Hill in Bardstown and named after an 18th-century Baptist minister and distiller, sometimes credited in legend with first charring bourbon barrels. It carried a 12-year statement until 2016.

Serve: Neat, on ice or in an Old Fashioned

Old Forester 86 Proof

Classic and lively: caramel, banana, baking spice, orange zest and a dry oak finish.

Strength: 43% · Age and cask: No age statement, new charred American oak barrels

Launched by George Garvin Brown in Louisville in 1870, it was among the first bourbons sold only in sealed glass bottles, to guarantee its quality. It is the founding brand of Brown-Forman, and was made under licence for medicinal use during Prohibition.

Serve: In an Old Fashioned or a Whiskey Sour

Rittenhouse Rye Bottled-in-Bond

Spicy and full: rye bread, pepper, cocoa, dried orange and a long cinnamon finish.

Strength: 50% · Age and cask: At least 4 years, new charred American oak

Made by Heaven Hill in Kentucky, though the name recalls Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia and the old Pennsylvania rye tradition. Bottled-in-Bond means one distillery, one season, at least four years in a bonded warehouse and exactly 100 proof.

Serve: In a Manhattan or a Sazerac

Blanton's Original Single Barrel

Caramel, orange zest, vanilla, honey and baking spice with a long, warm finish.

Strength: 46.5% · Age and cask: No age statement, new charred American oak, single barrel

Launched in 1984 by master distiller Elmer T. Lee at what is now Buffalo Trace, it was the first bourbon sold commercially as a single barrel. Each barrel comes from the metal-clad Warehouse H, and the bottle stoppers show a horse and jockey in eight different poses.

Serve: Neat or on a large ice cube

Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Rye

Spicy and bright: rye spice, black pepper, butterscotch, citrus and toasted oak.

Strength: 42.4% · Age and cask: Straight rye (at least 2 years), new charred American oak, single barrel

Each bottle comes from a single barrel, chosen by Michter's in Louisville. The brand name revives a historic Pennsylvania distillery that closed in 1989.

Serve: In a Manhattan or Sazerac, or neat

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked

Deep and sweet: dark caramel, toasted oak, honey, chocolate and baking spice.

Strength: 45.2% · Age and cask: Bourbon finished in a second, deeply toasted and lightly charred new oak barrel

Fully matured Woodford Reserve is moved into a second new barrel that has been toasted for a long time and charred only briefly. The extra oak brings out more sweetness and spice.

Serve: Neat or in an Old Fashioned

Maker's Mark 46

Rich and spicy: caramel, vanilla, baked fruit and toasted oak.

Strength: 47% · Age and cask: Wheated bourbon, finished with seared French oak staves in the barrel

Finished Maker's Mark is aged a little longer with seared French oak staves placed inside the barrel. The name comes from the stave profile number that gave the flavour the team wanted.

Serve: Neat or in a Manhattan

Four Roses Small Batch

Balanced and mellow: ripe red fruit, honey, caramel and gentle rye spice.

Strength: 45% · Age and cask: Straight bourbon, a blend of four of the distillery's recipes

Four Roses in Lawrenceburg uses two mash bills and five yeast strains to make ten different bourbon recipes. Small Batch is a blend of four of them.

Serve: Neat or in an Old Fashioned

Jim Beam White Label

Light and sweet: vanilla, caramel, corn, oak and a little pepper.

Strength: 40% · Age and cask: 4 years, new charred American oak

The world's best-selling bourbon, made in Clermont, Kentucky. The Beam family has distilled whiskey since the late 1700s, and the brand took the name of James B. Beam when he rebuilt the distillery after Prohibition.

Serve: With cola or ginger ale, or in a Highball