Sazerac is extending its Buckhorn Whiskey portfolio with the addition of Smoked Maple, a 32.5% ABV flavored American whiskey priced at the brand's existing $18.99 suggested retail price for 750-milliliter bottles. The launch coincides with a pair of invitation-only experiential activations in Chicago and Atlanta designed to drive trial in two high-volume spirits markets ahead of the holiday selling season.
The New Expression
Smoked Maple is positioned as a cold-weather line extension, blending Buckhorn's base American whiskey with a smoked maple flavor profile. At 32.5% ABV, it sits below the 40% threshold common to the brand's unflavored peers but consistent with flavored whiskey category norms. The SKU joins an existing lineup that includes Black Cherry, Peach, Honey, Blackberry, and Pineapple expressions, plus a four-flavor ready-to-drink Whiskey Lemonade variety pack — also retailing at $18.99 for an eight-can set. The $18.99 price point places Buckhorn squarely in the value-flavored spirits tier, competing for shelf space and consumer occasions against established players in the flavored American whiskey segment, a category that has posted consistent volume growth over the past several years as consumers trade toward accessible, sessionable formats.
Chicago and Atlanta Activations
To build awareness around the Smoked Maple debut, Buckhorn is staging two pop-up events under the banner of the "Buckhorn Buck Hunt" — a scavenger-hunt-style activation in which registrants receive location clues for hidden bar experiences. The Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago hosts the first event on Friday, November 6, 2026, from 4–8 p.m. CT; Buckhead in Atlanta follows on Friday, November 13, 2026, from 4–8 p.m. ET. Attendance is free but requires advance registration. The format — concealed venue, limited-time window, earned access — reflects a broader industry trend toward experiential marketing as spirits brands compete for engagement in crowded on-premise environments.
"Good whiskey. Good company. A little adventure. That's Buckhorn," said Erica Bovard, Senior Brand Director of American Whiskeys at Sazerac. "With The Buck Hunt, we're saying 'Buck It' to the usual night out and creating something worth tracking down."
Market Context
The Buckhorn rollout is part of Sazerac's ongoing effort to build differentiated brands in the accessible spirits segment, where flavored whiskeys and RTD cocktails have drawn incremental consumers who might otherwise gravitate toward beer or hard seltzer. The RTD Whiskey Lemonade line — offered in Classic, Blackberry, Peach, and Honey variants — directly targets the outdoor and occasion-based consumption occasions that have fueled RTD growth across the beverage alcohol category. For on-premise operators and retailers in Chicago and Atlanta, the activations represent a low-cost trial mechanism: Buckhorn assumes the event expense while bars gain incremental traffic and product exposure. That structure is increasingly common among emerging spirits brands seeking to convert on-premise trial into retail velocity, a dynamic covered in detail in F&B Industry News's spirits retail coverage and RTD market analysis. The flavored whiskey and RTD segments have been among the more resilient corners of the broader beverage alcohol market as consumers have shown continued appetite for accessible, lower-ABV formats in an otherwise volume-pressured spirits environment.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
