Taste Test: Smoke (and Sip) ‘Em if You Got ‘Em—This Bourbon Is Meant to be Paired with Cigarettes

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.

Less people are smoking cigarettes these days, and that’s a very good thing. Less people are drinking alcohol as well, and that’s also a good thing based on recent medical reports (despite the irony that this is a whiskey review column). This new healthier reality didn’t stop whiskey brand Lasso Motel from releasing a new bourbon that’s meant to be enjoyed with a smoke or two, but the good news is that it’s an enjoyable pour even if you are not inclined to suck down a few coffin nails.

The name of the new bourbon is Darts, which is a slang term for cigarettes that seems to be more common among Canadians and Australians than Americans. The concept of pairing a whiskey with smoking has been, until now, mostly relegated to the world of cigars, with many brands putting out cigar blend expressions that are often a marriage of cask-finished whiskeys designed to be enjoyed while puffing on a stogie. Personally, I don’t care for cigars, so while I’ve enjoyed some of these whiskeys from brands like Joseph A. Magnus, Old Elk, and the Dalmore, I prefer not to be surrounded by a ring of acrid smoke while I sip.

Releasing a cigarette blend almost feels a little bit edgelord, or at least kind of like goodnatured trolling. Lasso Motel is a new brand—Devin Odell of Dynasty Spirits founded it last year—so this is probably a good way to get some attention (I’m writing about it, so it seems to be working). Its 18-year-old American Whiskey took home the best in show award at the New York World Spirits Competition last fall (full disclosure, I was a judge, but we tasted everything blind), a pretty good start for a newcomer to the crowded whiskey world.

Darts is not likely to win an award like that, but it’s a pretty good bourbon blend nonetheless. It’s a blend made up of bourbon finished in three types of barrels: armagnac, sherry, and Cognac. The whiskey was distilled at Green River in Kentucky (which is now owned by Bardstown Bourbon Company) from a mashbill of 70 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and 9 percent malted barley, and bottled at 100 proof. There is no age statement, but it’s likely somewhere in the range of 4 to 6 years old.

I figured the only way to try this whiskey was how God and Philip Morris intended, so I fired up a Marlboro Light to puff while I sipped. The three cask finishes used are all pretty common, but the flavors each brings to the palate are balanced with notes of fig, raisin, black pepper, dried apricot, and dark chocolate. It had been a while since I last smoked a cigarette, so there was a bit of a head rush happening while I tasted. I’m not sure a Marlboro Light has as much complexity and nuance as a fine Cuban cigar, and I wouldn’t go so far as to say that smoking enhances the experience of drinking this whiskey, but it’s a decent pour on its own merits.

Through its branding, Lasso Motel is trying to make Darts appeal to people who enjoy drinking in dive bars, calling it a bottle that captures “the rebellious spirit of a classic whiskey-and-cigarette ritual refined for today’s drinker.” That’s an admirable vibe, but one that is more suited to a shot of Jameson or Jim Beam rather than a “refined” $70 bottle that involves the word “armagnac.” Still, I’ll definitely revisit Darts again (in the nonsmoking section this time), and I’m looking forward to tasting whatever else this creative whiskey brand has in store.

Score: 84