Ale-8 is pretty strong so you don't really need a whole lot, usually I mix a little less than 1 to 1 in favor of bourbon for drink one, the much more on the bourbon side for any additional drinks.
How you compare may not be as important as to whom you are compared
I just opened a bottle of Elijah Craig 18 yr single barrel and it has to be the best tasting bourbon I've ever had. Don't gift it, unless you plan on adding me to your list of gift recipients. I don't think I would want to mix it though.
If you're planning on mixing, as I think you intend to do, shoot go with a Jim Beam.
In my opinion, Wild Turkey 101 is a great bourbon for gifting. It's smooth and delicious enough for drinking neat, but you can still mix it without feeling like a total animal like you might with Woodford or another similarly pricey/tasty bourbon. Plus, it's not super expensive. Plus plus, i'm from Lawrenceburg. Represent.
"And thus dissolute men abandon themselves to excesses which cause them fever and death, because the mind perverts the senses and because the will still speaks when nature is silent."
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
well I went with Woodford, because if they open it in my presence, that's what I want to be drinking. And my opinion on gifts is that you should give what you'd like to receive.
