Evan Williams Bourbon

The Evan Williams collection at Bourbon Central is the full lineup of Heaven Hill's flagship bourbon line — a distillery family that's been continuously distilling in Bardstown, Kentucky since 1935, and the second-largest bourbon producer in the United States behind only Beam Suntory. Evan Williams himself was, by tradition, the first commercial distiller in Kentucky (1783), and that founding date is now stamped on one of the lineup's signature bottles.

What makes the Evan Williams catalog interesting as a whole is the price-to-quality ratio: Heaven Hill's high production volume and deep barrel inventory let them put genuinely well-aged bourbon (and a 100-proof Bottled-in-Bond expression) on shelves at prices well below comparable Kentucky distilleries. For a daily-pour bourbon that doesn't compromise on body or finish, the Evan Williams lineup is one of the most under-rated category leaders in American whiskey.

The Evan Williams lineup, walking the price tiers

Evan Williams Black ($24.09). The black-label expression — Kentucky straight bourbon, 86 proof, aged a minimum of 5 years. The textbook cocktail-bourbon foundation: enough oak and caramel to stand up in an Old Fashioned, soft enough to mix with ginger or lemonade for porch drinking. At under $25 it's the best-value daily-pour in the broader Heaven Hill catalog and a regular fixture in our Best Bourbons Under $50 recommendations.

Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond ($38.09). The 100-proof, Bottled-in-Bond expression — meaning the bourbon is the product of a single distillery, a single distilling season, aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse. White-label bottle (often called "Evan Williams White"). For the price, it's one of the most decorated everyday bourbons in the country — rich vanilla, caramel, baking spice, and a long finish that punches well above the $38 price tier. A staple in serious cocktail bars across the country and a regular feature in our Father's Day Under-$60 Bourbon Guide.

Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch ($38.09). Named for the year Evan Williams started distilling in Louisville. 90 proof, small-batch blend, aged on the longer side. More vanilla and butterscotch than the Black or BiB, with a softer mouthfeel and a slightly fruit-forward finish. Where the Black is the cocktail bottle and the BiB is the high-proof daily-pour, 1783 is the sipping bourbon of the lineup at this price.

Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage ($58.09). Heaven Hill's single-barrel expression of the Evan Williams line. Each bottle is from one specific barrel, dated by the year it was filled and the date it was bottled (so the bourbon in your bottle is, in a real sense, traceable back to one specific cask in one specific rickhouse). 86.6 proof, typically 8–10 years old. Drinks above its price tier and lands as a memorable gift for a bourbon-curious dad without crossing into allocated-bourbon prices. See our Father's Day Single-Barrel Bourbon Guide for the comparison against Eagle Rare, Four Roses Single Barrel, and the other major single-barrel bottlings in this price range.

How Evan Williams fits in the broader bourbon world

Heaven Hill is the parent distillery for several other flagship lines you'll find in our catalog — the Larceny wheated bourbons, the Henry McKenna 10 Year single-barrel Bottled-in-Bond, the Elijah Craig small batch, and the Old Fitzgerald spring/fall releases. All are produced at the Bernheim distillery in Louisville from one of two Heaven Hill mash bills (a high-rye for the Evan Williams / Elijah Craig / Henry McKenna lineage, and a wheated for the Larceny / Old Fitzgerald lineage). Once you know one bottle in the Heaven Hill family, you'll start recognizing the house style across the rest of the catalog.

If you've worked through the Evan Williams lineup and want to keep exploring, the natural next moves are: the main bourbon collection for the broader category, the whiskey collection for rye and Tennessee whiskey adjacent to bourbon, and the best-sellers list to see what's moving fastest week-over-week. For gifting specifically, the Father's Day bourbon bundle collection includes Evan Williams-pairings curated for June 21.

Every Evan Williams bottle ships from our New Jersey warehouse via UPS Ground, reaching most of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in 1 business day. Adult signature (21+) required on delivery.