Menthol | Grassy | Light anise | Rye grain | Light oak | Tobacco leaf

Tobacco leaf | Light rye spice | Mixed peppercorn spice | Crème de menthe | Oak

Leather | Charred oak | Hint of smoke | Fleeting cigar box | Building prickly heat | Lingering rye spice

Buzzard’s Roost was created and started by Judy Hollis Jone and Jason Brauner, the latter being the owner of the influential Bourbons Bistro in Louisville, KY. Buzzard’s Roost puts their own unique twist on how they define a cigar barrel whiskey. While most companies finish their cigar whiskey in various used spirit barrels to get a flavor profile they feel would pair well with a cigar, Buzzard’s Roost brings the cigar to them instead…literally. The company states that Buzzard’s Roost Cigar Rye is “finished in new American oak barrels that were cold-smoked with aged tobacco leaves grown in Kentucky.”

Cigar barrel whiskeys come in all varieties and flavors due in part to the fact that there’s no standard definition of what it means to be cigar barrel whiskey. In Buzzard's Roost Cigar Rye Batch 3’s case, the resulting whiskey tastes distinctly on its own compared to other cigar whiskeys in the marketplace. It opens with a light yet interesting scents of methanol and light anise and carries with it an overall grassy aroma. The midpoint brings more traditional rye notes, however tobacco leaf and a not-often-found note of Crème de menthe are also present. Finishing on lingering rye spice, the whiskey also highlights notes that evoke a cigar house, with leather, cigar box, and a hint of smoke making an appearance. Buzzard's Roost Cigar Rye Batch 3 doesn’t taste like other cigar barrel whiskeys on the marketplace, and in this case, that’s a good thing. It’s not as cohesive as I would like, however, it succeeds in bringing a new twist to a standard 95/5 rye mashbill, utilizing its tobacco smoke barrel finish to conjure up memories of a smoldering cigar next to a glass of whiskey.

The bottle in review is number 10831.