Welcome to Taste Test , where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review . At last count, there were almost 3,000 craft distilleries in the United States.
While there’s no real definition for that term, it usually refers to small operations that are not owned by drinks giants like Diageo , Brown-Forman , or Campari (there are also a few like Woodinville Whiskey , which is owned by Moët Hennessy but still operates like a craft distillery). One of the best in the business is Texas’s Still Austin , which just released a very good new bourbon made with a very old Cognac technique. The bourbon is called Tanager Cigar Blend Whiskey , so as you can tell by the name it’s a whiskey meant to be enjoyed with a stogie.
I don’t really care for cigars, but this bourbon, while perhaps not as good as some of the distillery’s other recent releases, is very tasty and can certainly be enjoyed smoke-free. Cigar blends are often finished in a number of different barrels to add layers of flavor, but that’s not the case here. Typically, bourbon is cut to proof after it is dumped from the barrel before bottling, unless of course it’s bottled at barrel proof or cask strength.
But master blender Nancy Fraley and head distiller John Schrepel used a technique called petites eaux , traditionally employed by Cognac or Armagnac makers, to produce this whiskey. This method differ.
