Col. Brian G. Miller

Sip and Roost Awhile…

When you sit down with two people who are just a few years into starting up a whiskey brand in Kentucky, you expect to hear certain things. Words like capital, mashbills, equipment, facilities, people, tourism, and flavor all made their way into the discussion.

But my recent conversation with Buzzard’s Roost Sipping Whiskey co-founders Judy Hollis Jones  (CEO) and Jason Brauner (Master Blender) came back to one word, over and over: community. Read the Q&A section below to learn how the communities of Louisville, the bourbon industry, whiskey enthusiasts, barrel makers, and even local orchestra musicians… are all playing a role in the success of this new whiskey enterprise that has taken wing.

Looking for a niche in the marketplace, Buzzard’s Roost is sourcing aged whiskey from MGP, working with new make whiskey from Bardstown Bourbon Company, and also with new make from its onsite pot still called Buzz Cauldron. But the “real magic” happens in the 17 different proprietary toast profiles in secondary maturation barrels that the company has developed with International Stave Company.

(Full disclosure: Buzzard’s Roost had a contest to name the still last year. I was the first of four people to submit what turned out to be the winning name. I’m wearing the Buzzard’s Roost t-shirt from my winner’s swag basket as I write this.)

Playing on the company’s name here; Buzzard’s Roost is more than just a fledgling whiskey enterprise. In just five years the company has opened the Buzzard’s Roost Whiskey Row Experience on West Main Street in downtown Louisville, offers six core bourbons and ryes and a new American whiskey, with more new releases coming, dedicated a 75-gallon pot still, and has its products available in 20 states, with eyes on the rest of the country and overseas.

It’s time to fly for this innovative duo, their creative team, and the growing flock of whiskey fans.

Want to know where the name Buzzard’s Roost came from? Read on.

I was one of the people that said no, that’s really a terrible name. Then about a week later, my husband and I were at Four Roses for an event. As we were driving out, I looked at the one-story rick houses across the street and there were buzzards lined up. I just said, ‘Okay, I guess it’s a sign…it’s Buzzard’s Roost.’Judy Hollis Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of Buzzard’s Roost Whiskey Sipping Whiskey

Q&A Session with the Co-Founders of 

Buzzard’s Roost Sipping Whiskey

Judy Hollis Jones and Jason Brauner

How’s business?

Judy:  It’s good. We have had a lot of growth and a lot of expansion. Jason and I began to work on this about 2016. We did an awful lot of pre-work, (before officially beginning in 2019) which I think has helped us grow at the rate we have.

The story is that you guys met on a barrel pick and, coming from your own areas of interest, decided to start a whiskey company together. Tell me about that.

Jason: I’ve been doing single barrel picks at Bourbon’s Bistro (a bourbon bar and restaurant Jason co-owned) for years. People knew that I had a knack for picking barrels. We would always serve the barrel picks there at the restaurant. Judy asked if she could go on a barrel pick…she was going to buy some for her clients. We did two or three of them over the years and got to know each other.

Judy:  I think we discovered that we had fairly similar palates. We did those picks together and had some thoughts in common and one thing led to another.

Jason: For me it was just a long time coming. I’ve known every master distiller and been in all their warehouses and done barrel picks. It’s like, what is the next move? It just seemed interesting to see if we could try our hands at it.

As co-founders, you each bring your own set of unique strengths, experiences and talent. Tell me how that breaks out.

Judy: I think it goes back to what you just asked, ‘How did it start?’ As Jason said, he’s always been in whiskey and bourbon and it was just natural for him. With me, I have a business background. I took early retirement, then decided it was too early for retirement; I was looking for that next business venture. So it was from a business point of view that I bring something to the party. It’s a natural fit.

Jason: She takes care of all the business side of it and I’m more the bourbon side of it, even though Judy has a great palate too.

Judy: Since Jason and I both have culinary backgrounds, we are all about taste and flavor. It’s got to be high quality, it’s got to be a good product or we don’t want to release it.

How did you choose the name Buzzard’s Roost ?

Jason: Well, there are a lot of buzzards in bourbon country. We got to a point where we were actually looking at farms for a full-blown distillery. The road bordering one farm we really liked was called Buzzard’s Roost Road. We decided to take a different path on the full-blown distillery, at least at first, and kind of work our way into it. I said, man what a great name.  I wanted an older name,  a name that it sounded like it been around for 100 years. But I didn’t want to revive an old label.  Everybody on the team kind of hated it at first. And then they just kind of snuggled up to it.

Judy: I was one of the people that said no, that’s really a terrible name. Then about a week later, my husband and I were at Four Roses for an event. As we were driving out, I looked at the one-story rick houses across the street and there were buzzards lined up. I just said, ‘Okay, I guess it’s a sign…it’s Buzzard’s Roost.’

Jason: Being out in public with it a lot now, people really like the name.

Talk about your business model and the focus on second barrel maturation. 

Jason: A lot of people are sourcing whiskey these days, so how do we differentiate ourselves from them? Seventy percent of the flavor comes from the barrel. We talked to Andrew Wiehebrink (Director of Spirit Research and Innovation) at Independent Stave Company and all the top whiskey with people in the business. Andrew said he had some cool experiments going on and I should come down and try some of them. I was on their tasting panel with some other whiskey people and we just kind of geeked out talking about this. I started listening to what he had to say about the Char #1 and how the different barrels really make a difference. We got into the research of it and the data behind it. Judy agreed. Once presented the data, it’s almost a no brainer. That’s what will differentiate us down the road from everybody else who’s kind of sourcing the same whiskey.

Judy: For all new make that we put into barrels now we’re still staying with that. Now it doesn’t have to be second barrel, now it’s first barrel. But we still use the same barrel profiles. I looked at the data and the charts that showed the flavor differences. Like I said, we’re all about flavor. It made absolute sense to do it. 

How does this second barrel affect the flavor of your whiskies?

Jason: We have 17 different barrels that are proprietary to us that we’ve developed with the help of Independent Stave Company. Each of those barrels could put something in, from sweet, to spicy, to smoky… it’s going to influence the whiskey a little bit.  We have what we call a painter’s palette. If we feel that the the base whiskey maybe is not spicy enough, or smoky enough, or sweet enough, we can put it in a certain type of barrel. 

This is such a beautiful space you opened here on Whiskey Row in April. 

Judy: Thank you. When I come here I feel like it’s inviting and comfortable and that’s what we wanted it to be; upscale, but we also wanted people to feel like it’s comfortable .

Having this space helps us build our brand. As visitors come to town, they can now come in and hear about Buzzard’s Roost. They may not have heard about it in their market yet. So selfishly for us it’s very helpful. The classes, or experiences, really tell the story about why our whiskey is different, why we’re not just another bought-whiskey put in the bottle. That’s not us, and we want people to know that. We also offer some fun things like chocolate and whiskey pairings, cocktail classes, and we do special events. We’ve had a lot of people do bachelor parties, family reunions, and all kinds of things here. So it’s a gathering place,  it’s a knowledge-for-bourbon place. Also we wanted to support the Louisville community; growing tourism is very important to this city. Jason and I are both Louisvillians. I’ve lived a bunch of places but chose to come back because this is home. This is about supporting tourism, supporting Louisville, and supporting bourbonism.

Why did you decide to have a contest to name the 75-gallon pot still you recently installed here onsite? 

Judy: Again, it’s an element of being part of the community. Let’s let people that know us tell us what they think we should name this still.

Jason: Getting people engaged and involved.

It’s hard to say this with so many great bourbon brands, but you always kind of want to be the hometown favorite. We’ve got a long way to go, but it’s a good aspiration I think. Who wouldn’t love to be their hometown favorite?

Jason Brauner, Co-Founder and Master Blender, Buzzard’s Roost Sipping Whiskey

What else are you working on? 

Judy: We are continually working on having the greatest cocktails in the city. With the culinary background, that’s important to Jason. Just getting people in (the door). We want Buzzard’s Roost to be the bourbon that’s friendly. You know you can come in here anytime and be welcome.

Jason: It’s hard to say this with so many great bourbon brands, but you always kind of want to be the hometown favorite. We’ve got a long way to go, but it’s a good aspiration I think. Who wouldn’t love to be their hometown favorite?

You’ve become an important part of the Kentucky bourbon scene pretty quickly. How has that gone?

Jason: The (bourbon) community has been very accepting. You wouldn’t see that in many other industries. It’s competition, at some level, but it is a great community to be in.

Judy: Sometimes people ask me, ‘How do you feel being a co-founder of a brand in a male dominated industry?’ And I say, I don’t think anybody notices. People have been just as supportive of me as I believe they are to Jason and anyone else. It’s not an industry that I feel has any bias.

Jason: Every one of the distillers that we’ve met along the way encouraged us to ask questions. We’ve gotten help from unknown amounts of people that have helped us get to where we are in the industry.

Judy: One piece that I think is is lovely and part of the community is the Louisville Orchestra being upstairs (in the same building). We do so many things together. They had a meeting here a couple of weeks ago for their corporate group. Orchestra musicians played for our dedication and still naming events, and our Prohibition Repeal Day barrel roll. It’s been a terrific relationship.

What are your plans for the future?

Judy: We want to get Buzzard’s Roost all over the US.  I’m already beginning to have talks with Europe, possibly Japan, and maybe other parts of Asia. The distribution of this product is also really the biggest part of the brand. We are now in 20 states; more and more product is moving. The brand is getting known better, so that’s really a lot of the effort that I put in this business. Jason tours the country and speaks and does tastings.

Jason: We have a little slogan internally that says, “Liquid to lips.” About eighty percent of the people that taste it, I think, absolutely love it. We’re not going to please everybody. But it’s really grassroots, getting people to taste it, and seeing it on the store shelves is really helpful, so I’m out there doing that.

Judy: We like having events to invite people in, to say let’s have some fun together. You know bourbon, it’s about camaraderie, sociability, and…

Jason: Community.

Judy: Community, absolutely.

Cheers to you, Holly and Jason. We’re proud to have you as a part of the Whiskey Network community. We look forward to see just how high Buzzard’s Roost will fly in the world of whiskey.

 Barrel Secrets…Revealed – at Buzzard’s Roost Whiskey Row Experience

I recently took part in “Barrel Secrets…Revealed,” one of several hands-on tasting and sensory experiences at the Buzzard’s Roost Whiskey Row Experience on West Main Street in Louisville. The experience for advanced whiskey drinkers promises to let you “Taste how nature and wood craft our fine whiskies.”

Whiskey Educator Tony Thompson did a masterful job explaining how Buzzard’s Roost and Independent Stave Company let the wood that goes into the secondary barrels they use air dry or “season” for 18 months. This compares to the industry standard of six months. Using Char#1 and a wide variety of toasting combinations, Buzzard’s Roost has 17 distinct barrel profiles it uses to create its unique whiskies.

My favorite quote from Tony during the session: “We’re not making the most whiskey, we’re making the best whiskey we can.”

Fun Fact Learned: A single blue jay can scatter enough acorns to produce 3300 new American white oak trees in a year.

When You Go

Buzzard’s Roost Whiskey Row Experience

• 624 W. Main Street, Louisville, Kentucky
• 502-454-4628
• buzzardsroostwhiskey.com
• Hours:
  • Mon-Tues  Closed
  • Wed-Thurs,   11-6
  • Fri-Sat           11-8
  • Sun                  1-6