Buzzard’s Roost Whiskey is returning to French oak for one of its latest limited releases, bringing back a finishing approach that proved popular enough to sell out in 2025.
The Louisville whiskey company has released its 2026 French Double Oak Bourbon, built around seven-year-old bourbon selected by Buzzard’s Roost co-founder Jason Brauner and finished using French oak sourced from the Limousin region of France.
That choice of oak is what makes this release particularly interesting. Rather than relying on the American oak traditionally associated with bourbon maturation and many double-oaked whiskeys, Buzzard’s Roost turned to 18-month-seasoned French oak for its secondary maturation.
The Limousin oak has an extra-fine grain structure, and Buzzard’s Roost paired it with a very light char designed to draw additional flavor and texture from the wood without overwhelming the underlying seven-year bourbon.
According to the distillery, the resulting whiskey delivers dark brown sugar moving toward toffee, along with baking spice, dark honey and dried apple.
“Our team pulled out all the stops to craft a double-oak bourbon that stands out for its complexity and intense flavors,” Buzzard’s Roost co-founder and CEO Judy Hollis Jones said. “The French oak also imparts a distinct texture to the whiskey that makes it round and luscious on the palate. It’s one of our best yet.”
Experimenting with barrels has become an important part of the Buzzard’s Roost identity. The brand has built much of its reputation around taking mature sourced whiskey and using carefully selected secondary barrels, toast and char profiles to push the spirit in different directions.
French Double Oak Bourbon fits squarely into that philosophy. Instead of simply adding more oak influence, the use of Limousin oak gives Buzzard’s Roost another set of flavors and textures to work with, offering bourbon drinkers something different from the more familiar American oak double-barrel profile.
The 2026 French Double Oak Bourbon became available online Aug. 27 and is also available for wholesale ordering.
