As countless young bourbon distillery programs fight for recognition and shelf space in an increasingly crowded market, one gets the sense that there are fewer ways than ever to genuinely stand out, without resorting to particularly garish gimmickry. Take the wide field of secondary barrel finishes, for instance: What might have been a novelty a decade ago now feels like it surrounds us on all sides. How many relatively youthful bottles are out there, with the chief selling point being that they were finished in port casks, or sherry puncheons, or another round in newly charred oak? Ditto for toasted barrels, a trend that was quickly adopted into the mainstream. The consumer’s challenge becomes not finding novel or unique “finished” expressions, but ferreting out the companies that are doing something interesting from ones that are just riding the buzzwords. And thankfully, Buzzard’s Roost has, in my opinion, managed to establish itself as one of the companies getting the best mileage out of toasted barrels in particular–a skill they’ve applied toward the release of their new Buzzard’s Roost American Whiskey.
The entire Buzzard’s Roost business model is based around secondary finishes in toasted and lightly charred proprietary barrels, and this is a field where I think they’ve unlocked some of the style’s most promising potential. On releases such as their barrel-strength bourbon, the use of those toasted barrels is able to propel a quality sourced spirit (bourbon from MGP of Indiana) to new heights, contributing an assertive but not unreasonable degree of toasted oak aromatics and spice. Perhaps most importantly, their releases (both bourbon and rye) tend to avoid some of the “toasted barrel” pitfalls that I’ve encountered in far too many other brands, such as an unpleasant degree of tannin extraction. The average Buzzard’s Roost release pulls out everything we were promised toasted barrels were supposed to provide, without the style’s most frequent downsides, and this is quite a delicate line to walk in this industry. It seems like whiskey geeks have been slowly discovering this reality, raising the company’s profile.
The latest Buzzard’s Roost expression, meanwhile, clearly was designed with a value proposition in mind. This is a younger sourced MGP bourbon from one of their classic high-rye mash bills, at only 3 years old. Like all Buzzard’s Roost expressions it is then given a secondary finish in their proprietary toasted and lightly charred barrels, but in this case the company is for the first-time utilizing re-used barrels for this secondary finish. This allows for a lower price point of $40, compared to the company’s other expressions at $55 and above, which the distillery says makes a better “appeal to the on-premise.” Clearly, they’re hoping that Buzzard’s Roost American Whiskey will serve as a foot in the door for curious drinkers who want to try a less expensive expression, and then hopefully trade up to their flagship products. It also means they’re presumably relying on their toasted barrels here to contribute a lot of flavor oomph in a relatively immature spirit.
An odd note: This apparently has to be labeled as “American whiskey” rather than bourbon, thanks to its secondary finish in re-used bourbon barrels, despite the fact that this follows an initial period of 3 years in newly charred oak, which legally would allow it the “straight bourbon” designation by U.S. law. This is in contrast to finishing a bourbon in say, re-used sherry or port casks, which doesn’t affect the ability to still label that spirit as “bourbon.” It seems that re-used bourbon casks are a special exception–one that likely is intended to stop a company from aging in newly charred oak for a very short period (say a couple of months) before then transferring to re-used oak for several years. We wouldn’t want that theoretical product to be called “straight bourbon,” but denying the label to this particular product feels somewhat nonsensical considering that it had already met every requirement to be labeled as straight bourbon before entering the re-used barrel for its secondary finish. But hey, it’s the U.S. government, right?
So with that said, let’s get to tasting this new Buzzard’s Roost expression.
On the nose, Buzzard’s Roost American Whiskey displays dry, aromatic spice notes first and foremost: Toasted cinnamon sticks and nutmeg, along with toasted oak and faint vanilla. There’s some rye spice tickling the nose here, along with traces of pine and a little something akin to cornbread. You still do get plenty of the toasted barrel impression, despite it being used for the second time.
On the palate, first impressions here are of toasted maltiness and milk chocolate. I’m getting those warm baking spices again and gentle toasty oak, along with vanilla cream. I’m also getting Granny Smith caramel apple and some rye spice, and the “malty” character is returning in the form of malted milk balls. There is definitely an overall youthful impression, and in some aspects the booze in particular feels a little on the raw side–any whiskey this age presented at 105 proof is probably going to evoke that on some level. But all in all, the secondary finish is doing yeoman’s work in adding spicy complexity and making this whiskey feel significantly more complete than it would have otherwise. It certainly doesn’t feel like those barrels had run out of character to contribute by any means.
With all that said: At a $15 difference between this expression and some of the other core Buzzard’s Roost bottles, my personal inclination would likely be to simply pony up a few bucks more for a significantly more mature profile that more clearly evokes the original, intended spirit of the brand. As an introduction to the charms of their barrel finishing process, however, Buzzard’s Roost American Whiskey likely achieves pretty much exactly what the company was going for.
Distillery: Buzzard’s Roost
City: Louisville, KY
Style: American whiskey
ABV: 52.5% (105 proof)
Availability: 750 ml bottles, $40 MSRP
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.