Still Austin Tanager Cigar Blend 750ML

Still Austin Tanager Cigar Blend 750ML is a 107.5-proof (53.75% ABV) Texas bourbon blended from three distinct corn bourbons using the rare French Petites Eaux aging technique. Hailed by The Daily Pour as "one of the strongest American releases of 2025," this expression achieves remarkable depth without relying on a single finishing barrel — a genuine outlier in the cigar blend category.

Quick Facts: ABV: 53.75% (107.5 Proof)  |  Origin: Austin, Texas, USA  |  Style: Cigar Blend Bourbon  |  Distillery: Still Austin Distillery

Production & Heritage

Still Austin Distillery, based in Austin, Texas, grain-to-glass distills every drop on-site using exclusively Texas-grown grains. The 2025 Tanager Cigar Blend is composed of 53% blue corn bourbon, 25% red corn bourbon, and 22% white corn bourbon, with rye and malted barley rounding out the mashbills. What truly separates this release is the Petites Eaux technique — an ancient method borrowed from Cognac and Armagnac production in which the spirit is proofed down to 50 proof and rested in barrel for at least one additional year before final blending and proofing. This extended low-proof maturation extracts more caramelized wood sugars and develops a longer, richer palate. Crucially, no finishing barrels from sherry, rum, or cognac are used; every layer of flavor comes from the interplay of Texas grain and American oak.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: The nose opens with lemon tea and orange juice before settling into a warm center of caramel, peanut brittle, and overripe strawberries. Deeper inhalation reveals coconut, raspberry, and a subtle fruitcake sweetness that signals the complexity underneath.

Taste: On the palate, cherries and raspberry preserves arrive immediately, layered over butterscotch and honey-candied almonds. The mid-palate develops stone fruit, dried apricot, and cherry compote, while cinnamon and hazelnut liqueur build toward a rich peak. At 107.5 proof, the mouthfeel is dense and oily without becoming harsh.

Finish: The finish is notably long, unfolding salted caramel, brown butter, cocoa, and pipe tobacco alongside pear tart and Luxardo cherry sweetness. Lingering cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla, and black pepper close out the experience with a warming, tobacco-laced fade.

How to Drink Tanager Cigar Blend

This bourbon rewards neat sipping at room temperature; give it five minutes in the glass to let the Petites Eaux-driven complexity fully open. A few drops of water soften the proof and amplify the fruit-forward mid-palate without diluting the long tobacco finish. For cocktails, the Tanager's intensity and dark fruit character make it a strong candidate for an Old Fashioned, where its caramel and cherry notes shine against a simple syrup and bitters backdrop; a Boulevardier, where the bourbon's tobacco and cocoa tones stand up to Campari and sweet vermouth; and a Manhattan, where the ripe berry and cinnamon flavors complement dry or sweet vermouth beautifully.

Best For

• Pairing with a full-bodied cigar on a slow evening — the tobacco and cocoa finish was designed for it
• Gifting a bourbon collector who already owns the usual shelf staples
• Side-by-side tastings comparing cigar blend techniques across American distilleries
• After-dinner sipping as a standalone dessert course

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Tanager Cigar Blend taste like? It leads with dark fruit — cherry, raspberry preserves, and stone fruit — layered over butterscotch, cinnamon, and honey-candied almonds. The finish is long and warming with pipe tobacco, cocoa, brown butter, and salted caramel.

How does Tanager Cigar Blend compare to Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend? Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend relies on a combination of finishing barrels — typically sherry, cognac, and Armagnac casks — to build complexity, while Still Austin's Tanager achieves its depth entirely through the Petites Eaux low-proof aging technique and a tri-color corn bourbon blend with no finishing barrels. Both sit at a premium tier, but Tanager's all-Texas, no-finish approach represents a fundamentally different philosophy of cigar blend construction.

Is Tanager Cigar Blend good for sipping neat? Absolutely — at 107.5 proof it carries serious weight, but the extended low-proof maturation creates a surprisingly smooth, oily mouthfeel that makes it very approachable without water.

Where is Tanager Cigar Blend made? It is distilled and blended at Still Austin Distillery in Austin, Texas, using 100% Texas-grown grains including red, white, and blue corn varieties along with rye and malted barley.

What foods pair well with Tanager Cigar Blend? Dark chocolate truffles complement the cocoa and brown butter finish. Smoked brisket mirrors the bourbon's tobacco undertones. Blue cheese and honeycomb play off the salted caramel and candied almond notes. Pecan pie echoes the butterscotch and brown sugar sweetness. Dried fruit and nut charcuterie boards bring out the apricot and hazelnut character.

What sizes does Tanager Cigar Blend come in? The standard release is available in the 750ml bottle size.

Is Tanager Cigar Blend worth the price? Tanager positions as a premium limited-release bourbon, and its unique production method — Petites Eaux aging, tri-color corn blend, zero finishing barrels — gives it a genuine point of differentiation that justifies its place among high-end cigar blend bourbons.

Why Tanager Cigar Blend?

In a category dominated by finishing-barrel strategies, Tanager Cigar Blend stands alone by drawing all of its complexity from raw materials and an aging technique virtually no other American distillery employs. The Petites Eaux method — resting spirit at 50 proof in barrel for over a year — extracts a different spectrum of wood sugars and produces the long, layered finish that cigar blend drinkers seek. Artfully Bourbon flagged it as "one we'll be revisiting when Whiskey of the Year conversations begin," and the 2025 critical reception suggests this release has moved Still Austin firmly into the conversation alongside established premium blenders. For drinkers who value grain-driven flavor and production innovation over cask-finishing shortcuts, this is one of the most compelling American bourbons released this year.