Wheel Horse Whiskey has brought back its Cigar Blend Bourbon for fall 2026. The brand calls it the "most awarded limited release of the year." It is a five-year-old bourbon at 101 proof, finished in a mix of wine and brandy barrels. The price is $43.99 a bottle, and only 6,000 bottles were made.
A Headline That Makes a Big Promise
The brand's announcement opens with a bold line: "Our most awarded limited release of the year is back!" That is a lot to live up to. Whiskey drinkers hear "limited release" so often that the words can lose their meaning. Wheel Horse backs the claim with a short list of medals and scores from three well-known outlets.
The Awards Behind the Bottle
The Cigar Blend earned 97 points and a Double Gold at the San Francisco Spirits Competition. A double gold generally means the judges agreed the spirit deserved a top prize. It also picked up a Double Platinum at the ASCOT Awards. WhiskyAdvocate gave it 91 points.
Those scores are all strong. A 97 is close to the top of the scale, and a 91 is still a score most distillers would be glad to print on a label. The company says last year's release was also awarded top marks from some of the most respected spirits competitions in the country. Then it makes a bold statement of its own: "We think this year's release is even better!"
What Is Actually in the Bottle
The Cigar Blend is a bourbon aged for five years. It comes in at 101 proof, or 50.5% alcohol by volume. That is a bit stronger than the 80 to 90 proof bottles many drinkers pick up off the shelf. It gives the whiskey more body and a fuller feel in the glass without being overpowering.
Image credit: Wheel Horse Whiskey
The interesting part comes after the aging. The bourbon is finished for 8 to 20 months in a combination of Port, Cognac, Sherry and Armagnac barrels. Each of those barrels held a wine or brandy before the whiskey went in. Finishing means the bourbon finishes its time in those barrels, picking up flavor from each one.
Using four different barrel types is not a small step. Most finished whiskeys use one type of cask. Here the distiller layered four, and the span of 8 to 20 months suggests the barrels were not all treated the same. The blend is meant to taste like the combination and not like any one barrel.
Tasting Notes
Wheel Horse shares a full set of tasting notes. On the nose, the bourbon is lively, with aromas of cherry and fresh grapefruit peel. That is a bright, fruity opening. It is not the heavy oak and vanilla smell people often expect from bourbon.
Once sipped, bright flavors of rock candy and lemon appear. Next come fresh fruit notes of red grapes and figs. Those fruit flavors fit with the wine and brandy barrels used in the finish.
The finish is long. The brand lists hints of mocha, German chocolate cake and orange gummies. That mix of chocolate, cake and citrus candy sounds like a dessert. It is also the kind of long finish a slow drinker looks for. Anyone who likes to sit with one pour for a while has something to work with here.
Why the Name Says Cigar
The brand calls it a Cigar Blend, and the notes show why. The mocha and chocolate cake flavors, along with the fruit and citrus, give the whiskey a lot going on from start to finish. A drinker who enjoys a cigar in the evening would likely want a pour with enough flavor to stay interesting over a long sit. The brand does not spell out food or smoke pairings in its announcement, so that is left to the drinker. The name alone makes the idea clear.
Limited Production and Price
Only 6,000 bottles were produced. That is not a big run. Spread across the whole country, it will not last long, especially after the awards. Last year's release drew top marks, and this year's bottle arrives with the same reputation behind it.
The price is $43.99. For a five-year bourbon finished in four kinds of barrels, with a 97-point double gold on its record, that is a price many whiskey fans will look at twice. Bottles that win at this level often cost a good deal more. The bottle is standard 750 milliliter size.
Shipping Deal for Bigger Orders
Wheel Horse offers free ground shipping on orders of six bottles or more. Six bottles at the list price comes to $263.94 before any other charges. Shipping is calculated at checkout for smaller orders. A buyer who wants a few bottles for gifts, or who plans to save one or two for later, could use the deal to cut the cost of getting them home.
The Bottom Line
The 2026 Cigar Blend has a lot going for it. It has awards from three respected names, a five-year age statement, a finish in Port, Cognac, Sherry and Armagnac barrels, and a tasting profile that ranges from cherry and grapefruit peel to figs and German chocolate cake. It also has a modest price and a limited run of 6,000 bottles. Whiskey drinkers who want to try it have good reason to act soon, since a release with this many awards is unlikely to sit on the shelf for long.
