I will add, that just because a whiskey is expensive, doesn't necessarily make it good. There is no accounting for taste: everybody likes what they like. Personally, I don't like Scotch (it tastes like dirt to me, but I'll still drink it) and you couldn't PAY me to drink rye. Some of the whiskey that tasted really good to me was home made (it's legal in Missouri, according to state liquor laws, a qualified person can make up to 100 gallons per year for personal consumption, & if there is 2 people in the household, they can make 200 gallons per year). Home made, very high quality, whiskey can be made extremely low cost, so price does not factor in... for me.
For me, the grain bill is where good bourbon starts. Many modern distilleries use a very similar grain bill, (each has their own recipe) and the distillate from a certain distillery may be all/nearly all the same right off the still. The different brands/labels may be made up of different AGES of distillate. The older aged stuff typically is "better" so it gets bottled & marketed as higher priced labels. This is appropriate marketing, in my opinion. Older bourbon should be better than younger stuff; better in color, smell, taste, finish. But not necessarily so. Generally speaking, yes. But I admit that I do like the smell & flavor of some very inexpensive bourbons. Evan Williams, and Buffalo Trace for example.
This brings back my thought about the grain bill they start with. I tend not to like the flavor of Jim Beam family of products, nor the Jack Daniels line. I do like Heaven Hill and Buffalo Trace flavors. So... If you happen to enjoy a certain brand of bourbon/or whiskey, you may want to investigate the other brands that particular distillery offers, often the other more expensive brands will simply be the same distillate/recipe, just older. Just a suggestion, my opinion.
