Since no one seems to watch television any more, I wanted y’all to see a nice story that KXAN reporter Jaqueline Ingles did about the distillery yesterday. Though a few minor facts are off, she did a “really nice” piece, and we enjoyed showing her around.
Please forward to your bourbon drinking friends.
KXAN Business News Story
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/handmade-texas-bourbon-hits-hillco
Elsewhere in the good ol’ U. S. A., Texans are known for tall tales, going off half-cocked and gross elaboration. To assure I don’t perpetuate this hurtful and baseless stereotype, I’m not going to blow any wind up your skirt regarding the Pre-release of Garrison Brothers Texas Bourbon Whiskey. I will just relate the facts:
So, I guess y’all were parched!
Sincere thanks to everyone who bought a bottle, a case, or more. Heartfelt apologies to anyone who wanted one but could not find a bottle. Barring any unforeseen disaster, our next release — Garrison Brothers 2008 Signature Vintage — will be available this fall.
As a courtesy to the wonderful folks at the local liquor stores out here, please do not place any more calls to stores in Blanco and Gillespie Counties. I promise you they have no more to sell and we don’t either.
Yeah, you ruthless bourbon-drinking bastards took my babies! Every single one of them. I miss them already. Please treat them well. Teach them respect and kindness and moderation.
Now I’d like to do something that really takes brass balls. From those of you who bought bottles — and only those who bought bottles — I want to know what you think of our bourbon.
As the moderator of this blog, you have my word as a fellow Texan that I will NOT delete any comments unless they are offensive to other bourbon whiskeys, bourbon makers, or other people. I’ll also eliminate any comments that disparagingly include names or phone numbers. Everything else, including and especially our bourbon, is fair game! Feel free to rant anonymously, if you wish, but rant nonetheless.
So, Texas, what do you think of our bourbon?
Traditionally, I’ve sent this newsletter out on Texas Independence Day (March 2). This one’s a little pre-mature — but there’s good reason for that:
I have always promised those who read my newsletter that they would be the first to know when and where they could get a bottle. Now I’ve lived up to that promise.
INTRODUCING GARRISON BROTHERS™ TEXAS BOURBON WHISKEY
INTRODUCING GARRISON BROTHERSâ„¢ TEXAS BOURBON WHISKEY
Garrison Brothers Distillery™, the first and only pure bourbon whiskey distillery in Texas, is pleased to announce the pre-release of 1,000 bottles of the first bourbon whiskey ever made in the great state of Texas.
This unique small batch bourbon is composed of a few superior barrels I personally selected from our distillery’s growing inventory of aging barrels. Each bottle will be hand-filled, numbered and signed. It is an unfiltered, 100-proof, one-year-old that will come in a 375-ml half-bottle with a suggested retail price of under $50 a bottle.
We produced just 125 barrels in 2008. A few have matured more quickly than the rest. So before we start selling bourbon elsewhere, we’re going to tap these early bloomers and share them with our friends and neighbors in the Hill Country.
Five hundred bottles from this first bottling run have been reserved for Texans who have been friends and supporters of ours over the past half-decade. These first bottles are for the Blanco and Gillespie County electricians, plumbers, masons and construction workers who helped us build the distillery. They deserve the first taste. We’ll give these away as gifts. A few dozen will also go to key mentors and friends in Kentucky.
If you let the Pre-release bourbon breathe before you take your first pour, you’ll discover a surprisingly complex nose of gun smoke, caramel, dried cherries, figs, and apricots. But don’t let the sweetness fool you. This rebel has a well rounded finish that’s crisp, with a little bit of sizzle.
The 1,000 bottles that aren’t given away will be distributed to local liquor stores in Blanco and Gillespie Counties on Texas Independence Day (Tuesday, March 2). That’s why I’m telling you about it now.
If you want a bottle, you should contact liquor stores in Blanco and Gillespie Counties (Blanco, Fredericksbrug, Hye and Johnson City) quickly. Many of the stores out here already have started waiting lists. On Monday, a press release announcing the introduction goes out statewide. I’m fairly sure the bottles will sell out by the end of the day.
Please consider buying two bottles; one to hold onto and one to enjoy. Those bottles you hold onto might be pretty valuable some day.
FLAGSHIP BOTTLE, APPROVED AND ORDERED!
Signature 2008 Vintage
With help from our Old 300 Members, in the spring of 2009, we were able to nail down a final bottle design for Garrison Brothers™ Flagship Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
Unfortunately, that’s the easy part of getting a bottle made. We still had to obtain approval of the design from the Federal Tax and Trade Bureau and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. We had to identify a manufacturing plant, bottle decoration plant, printers and costs for all of the above. I’m happy to report that this effort is complete. The feds and the state have approved our bottle and I have issued a check.
We will have 40,000 of the flagship bottles in Hye and ready to be filled by June. We will begin filling these bottles in the early fall with our 2008 Signature Vintage and will release 250-plus cases to a distributor, and on to liquor stores, in the fall of 2010.
Yes, our flagship — Garrison Brothers™ Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey — will be on liquor store shelves throughout Texas by Christmas!
Our Signature 2008 Vintage is the smoothest bourbon whiskey I’ve ever tasted. In just over a year, it had matured into a handsome spirit with more taste, sophistication, and elegance than we had ever hoped to achieve. Â It has a rich velvety nose of caramel, butterscotch, vanilla, nutmeg, and coconut. But the real character is revealed in the finish — long, smooth, and buttery, like warm caramelized sugar crackling and melting across your tongue.
I have a few friends who would love a case for the holidays. How about you? If so, please tell your local liquor store owner or your favorite bar, hotel or restaurant manager to reserve a few cases for you. These, too, will go quickly.
PARTNERSHIP WITH REPUBLIC NATIONAL DISTRIBUTING COMPANY
In January, we entered into a long-term distribution agreement with Republic National Distributing Company. Republic is the second largest distributor of distilled spirits in the United States. Reaching an agreement like this — one that appeals to both companies — was a major milestone for our little business. We want to thank Republic for making a big leap of faith in bringing our small company onto their roster. We also want to thank the many Republic personnel who worked to make the deal happen. We look forward to a long, profitable and mutually rewarding partnership.
BARREL BARN UNO
Expansion is well underway at the distillery and I could not be happier with the progress.
We started construction of our Showcase Barrel Barn (Barrel Barn Uno) in December and it is almost complete. Now we’re building the ricks (barrel racks) inside that will hold the barrels.
When complete, this barn will be capable of housing more than 1,600 barrels. That’s more than 80,000 bottles of bourbon. For the financial geeks out there, who might be keeping score at home, that bourbon will have a retail value of, well, lots.
Fred, Donnis and I have set a ridiculous, unrealistic and audacious goal of filling that barn with premium barrels of our outstanding bourbon by the end of 2010. It will take a miracle to make it happen, but then, miracles are what we’re all about.
Once the ricks are complete, we’ll clean the place up a little and send along some photographs of the finished barn. I think you’ll like it.
The next steps in the expansion plan are to build a new kitchen, a visitors center, and then to install our new boilers and stills. With any luck, phase one will be complete by year’s end, and the distillery will be capable of producing enough bourbon to meet statewide demand, and also begin selling our fine bourbon elsewhere. We’ll be talking to a few well-heeled friends in the next few weeks to see if they’d like to play a role.
GARRISON BROTHERS’ DRY GOODS STORE
Every month we’re cooking 20,000 pounds of the most expensive corn in the world and we’re filling 50 slow-growth northern American Oak barrels with our fine bourbon. So, yeah, we’re still burning through some cash.
If you’re willing, we’d like your help offsetting some of these expenses by buying a Garrison Brothers Distillery DRINK TEXAS BOURBON bumper sticker or T-shirt. We’ve launched Garrison Brothers’ Dry Goods Store on-line and you’ll find some nice Garrison Brothers Gear there.
Please take a look and consider buying something. Each time you buy something there it enables us to make more bourbon.
JOIN THE OLD 300!
If you really want to get involved, consider joining our ambassador association, The Old 300. Old 300 Members help spread the word statewide about our bourbon, letting bartenders, hotel managers and retail store owners know that they should carry Garrison Brothers. What’s more, Old 300 Members have pretty much free run of the distillery premises and buildings for tours, tastings, camping, hunting, special events and our annual Bourbon Camps. They also get to make their own bourbon and they’ll own their own barrel.
If you choose to join at Join The Old 300, I can personally guarantee you’ll soon know more about fine bourbon whiskey than anyone else in Texas and you’ll have a great time learning.
THE BOURBON BLOG
For months now, my kids, wife and friends have been hounding me to spend more time “social networking” on Facebook, Twitter and their ilk.
Well, I don’t Twit, I hate networking and I can’t stand being social. Really, I don’t like people all that much. Rednecks, dogs and livestock are more trustworthy and rarely take offense.
Nevertheless, I’ll start making my private rants public next month. We’ll discuss bourbon, business, bullshitting and bureaucracy. You can subscribe at www.garrisonbros.com.
TOURS AND TASTINGS
The distillery will be closed for tastings and tours for a while so we can focus on barreling, building and bottling. Once we get everything cleaned up, we’ll open up to the public again on March 4. To schedule a tour, please email us at sitandsip@garrisonbros.com
As always, thanks for your support.
Kind Regards,
Whiskey Road 290 Speed Trap
If you’ve been here lately, you’ve felt it. Hye, Texas (pop. 105) is smack dab in the middle of an awe inspiring spiritual, cultural and economic renaissance like nothing we’ve seen since Gore invented the Internet.
Sure, subtle signs of normalcy remain, if you look hard enough: Ranchers still gather at sunrise down at the Pipe and Feed to load feed and talk about the rain while trying to stomach Mike Buck’s Folgers coffee. The guys down at Deike’s Garage still haven’t moved a single rusting vehicle from their parking lot. And, the Post Office still opens at 9, most of the time.
But change is underway and everybody knows it.
For one thing, there’s soon to be a new business in town. Over the past few months, half the antique store next to the legendary Hye Post Office has been slowly transformed into a star-studded retail mecca. That’s right; we have arrived! Hye’s going to have its own liquor store.
HYE SPIRITS will open this November just in time for deer season. Rumor has it they’ll have an excellent selection of rare, hard-to-find bourbon whiskeys. In fact, I insisted that bourbon whiskey should be the only thing they sell, but the bourgeoisie owners have other ideas. They want to bring in froo-froo beverages like beer from Real Ale in Blanco and wines from Becker Vineyards, Torre Di Pietra and Woodrose Winery. They’re also going to offer locally-made gourmet food. They’re even talking about hosting bourbon and wine tastings on the front porch on Friday afternoons. What’s next? Crepes? It all sounds a little hoity-toity to me. Even so, I’ll probably show up early at those bourbon tastings and occasionally will bring along a few bottles of my own.
In June, strangely enough, we were contacted by two different television production companies from Dallas. The producers of Body Shots wanted to come to our distillery with two beautiful swimsuit models. Though the offer was intriguing, parting with so much good bourbon was out of the question. We respectfully declined.
The second production company had an exciting idea. They wanted to create a documentary style pilot program about artisan distilleries in America: who is making what, how they’re making it, and what the experts think of the product.
"Action" Scene from the TV Show
The trucks, campers, lighting equipment and cameras rolled into little old Hye the last week of July. They filmed at our distillery, in Fredericksburg, Stonewall, Hye and Austin. As part of the production, they interviewed the director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the owner of Twin Liquors, the former master distiller at Makers Mark, and a number of chefs from famous Hill Country restaurants.
The production is in editing now in Dallas. The producer’s plan is to pitch the series as a replacement for the spring 2010 television line-up and they are already in discussions with the Travel Channel and other networks. Well, we’ll see if it works. We all think it might be kind of fun to see little Hye on the TV.
Another prime example of changes taking place in Hye happened the second weekend in September. A cavalcade of shiny Cadillacs, Mercedes and Lexuses from big cities across Texas descended on Hye for the commencement of Texas’ First Bourbon Camp™. Fifteen founding members of Garrison Brothers’ Old 300 Ambassador Club rolled into town to learn how to make and enjoy fine bourbon whiskey. We had a spectacular dinner Friday night with Johnny Nicholas at the The Hilltop Cafe. Saturday morning started early with bourbon and breakfast at the ranch. Our guests sampled a wide variety of bourbon whiskeys throughout the day, even as we cooked and distilled a barrel of our own.
That evening the Old 300 Ambassadors rejoined us at the distillery for more bourbon, along with butlered appetizers such as boneless breast of quail in a bacon & jalapeno wrap and tiny tarts of Blanco goat cheese with handmade onion jam. Dinner was spectacular. Guests enjoyed Caesar salad in a parmesan tuile with homemade dressing & croutons, grilled bone-in rib eye steaks with braised shallot and Garrison Brothers bourbon demi glace, potato & garlic chive griddle cakes, roasted harvest vegetables, and Dutch-oven cornbread. Dessert was out of this world: croissant-white chocolate bread pudding with Garrison Brothers bourbon sauce.
That night we danced in the rain to live music from acoustic guitar player Scooter Pearce of the Gypsy Cowgirls, who happens to be a Hye native. Did I mention we enjoyed a little bourbon?
If you’re an Old 300 Member and you couldn’t make Bourbon Camp 2009, please plan on attending the second gathering in the spring of 2010. We’ll let Old 300 Members know the date soon.
All that “change” and “hope” may be fine in metropolitan Hye. But up the hill at The Best Little Still-house in Texas, we don’t like change much. The three rednecks — Fred, Donnis and I — are still out here every day making fine bourbon and we wouldn’t change that for all the money in the world. This month we filled our 400th barrel and placed it in the barn to mature. By year end, we’re shooting for 687 barrels (more than 30,000 bottles). We’ll make that goal easily but we’re not going to rush things. Barrel #6 reached its one-year-old birthday in May. We brought it in from the barn, said a little prayer, and then gathered around as the bung was hammered out. We transferred the dark, crimson-colored liquid (darkest bourbon I’ve ever seen) into a stainless steel tank and eagerly put our noses over it to smell what we had. To be honest, we were a little disappointed. There were subtle hints of vanilla, licorice, and plenty of oak, but she just wasn’t yet the alluring ambrosia we’d hoped she would be. Dejected, we went back to work.
I returned to the same tank just thirty minutes later and nosed the aroma again. Lord what a difference a few minutes can make! I let out a yell that had Fred and Donnis running to the tank.
Like a fine 1982 Bordeaux, the bourbon had come into contact with oxygen and had quickly evolved into a glorious spirit. As she breathed the surrounding air, her bouquet opened up to reveal peppermint, almonds, caramelized brown sugar, and heavy doses of fresh coconut, butterscotch and vanilla. After enjoying a few samples and sharing a few pats on the back, we were in agreement that we had created something special. Barrel # 6 — at only one year of age — was bottled, then and there, as our benchmark, our profile — the finest bourbon whiskey I’ve ever tasted. All the Kentucky and Tennessee bourbon whiskey bottles we’d been testing ours against were removed from the distillery. From then on, the new standard that the other aging barrels would have to live up to was our own.
What this means to you — the discerning Texas bourbon drinker — is that bottles of Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey™ WILL be available at your favorite restaurant, bar or liquor store by the fall of 2011. Once you’ve tasted it, I know you will share my enthusiasm.
Three Rednecks
Since May, the quality of dozens of our barrels has been tested. Many, at just one year of age, have neared or surpassed Barrel #6 in terms of color, aroma, legs, taste and finish.
Barrel #6 Sample
We make our bourbon one batch at a time and one barrel at a time. As the White Dog comes off the still, we’re taking each gallon and running a number of quality control tests to assure the quality. Only the sweetest, fruitiest White Dog makes the cut. If it meets our high standards, it goes into a barrel for maturation.
As it matures, the bourbon attempts to evaporate from the barrel, soaking deep into the wood on hot Texas afternoons. When it does, it mingles with the sweet chemical compounds in the wood (guaiacol, eugenol, furfural, oak-lactone and vanillin) that give the bourbon its buttery caramel and vanilla flavors and its amber color and earthy texture. The bourbon escapes the wood when it’s cold and returns to the inside of the barrel, taking these flavors along with it.
Master Distiller Dave Pickerell
Dave Pickerell was the master distiller at Maker’s Mark for the past fifteen years. He was very much responsible for the outlandish growth of the brand, which continues to grow at a clip of about 10% per year. He’s also a good friend of Garrison Brothers and was the first master distiller to genuinely welcome us to Kentucky back in twenty-aught-six. During his visit for the television production, we poured Dave a sample of our one-year-old. Here are Dave’s unedited tasting notes:
Every month we’re cooking 20,000 pounds of the most expensive corn in the world and we’re filling 50 equally expensive northern White American Oak slow-growth barrels. So, yeah, we’re burning through some cash.
If you’re willing, we’d like your help offsetting some of these expenses. We’ve launched Garrison Brothers’ Dry Goods Store and you’ll find some nice t-shirts and bumper stickers there. Please take a look and consider buying one. Each time you do it enables us to make more bourbon.
If you really want to help or get involved, you can join our ambassador association, The Old 300. If you choose to join, I can personally guarantee you’ll soon know more about fine bourbon whiskey than anyone else in Texas and you’ll have a great time learning.
No one wants to sell a bottle of Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey™ more than I do. The bourbon in our barns is getting better every day. Donnis, Fred and I visit the barn once a week and take samples. We’re not convinced we’re ready yet but we’re getting very close. Complexity and character come quick around here, but – we will not bottle any bourbon before its time! We’re going to give it all the time it needs to become truly spectacular.
As soon as the bottled bourbon leaves our distillery on its way to stores, restaurants and bars, we’ll let members of The Old 300 know first where they can buy a bottle. They’ll help spread the word. And I promise you, the whiskey will be worth the wait!
Dan Garrison
Proprietor and Distiller
With the news of late from Wall Street and Washington, “happy” is not a word we’re accustomed to hearing. But we’re pretty darn happy in Hye. Maybe it’s that nostalgic feeling that comes over me every March 2nd. Maybe it’s the warmer weather. Maybe it’s because we’re producing 12 barrels a week and now have 175 barrels of the finest bourbon ever made aging in our barn.
Whatever it is, it’s working.
In November ‘08, we sent out a little announcement that we’d filled our 100th barrel. Apparently, some folks were as excited as I was. We got calls from all over. We were on the radio in Amarillo, Austin, Kerrville, San Antonio, and statewide across the Texas State Radio Network. There were newspaper stories in Austin, Bremond, Coleman, Dallas and Fort Worth. We even made the Lexington Herald-Leader in Lexington, Kentucky (they seemed a little upset about something).
But best of all, hundreds of visitors came out to see our little distillery.
The nicest story came from Austin. Patrick Beach of the Austin American-Statesman spent an entire day at the distillery. We put his butt to work too. He was filling barrels and hammering bungs even while taking pages of notes. But he didn’t hold a grudge. He went back to the office and wrote a story that made us all real proud. We’ve put Patrick’s story along with others on our website at www.garrisonbros.com.
One of the unexpected outcomes from the publicity is that everyone wants to buy one of our bourbon barrels. By law, of course, we can’t sell full ones. But we’ve been offered (and have accepted) outrageous amounts for the empties. We were also besieged with emails from people who wanted to come learn how good bourbon is made. Plus, I’ve always had this wild idea about annually convening a tasting panel of Texans at the distillery who would be the first people in the world to taste our bourbon. (Unfortunately, Texas liquor laws prohibit that too.)
At long last, all these ideas have come together in a membership program we’re calling The Old 300™. Named after the first 300 families to homestead in Texas, The Old 300™ is our bourbon education, appreciation and ambassador association, and is your chance to help shape the future of a truly remarkable bourbon. Not only will The Old 300 members be invited to visit our distillery and hand-select their own personal barrel, they’ll also receive an extensive education on making and enjoying bourbon. Members will learn everything they ever wanted to know about American whiskey, including those made in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Benefits and privileges include:
Once members of The Old 300™ better understand how Garrison Brothers™ is made, they will become our ambassadors, helping us spread the word about our bourbon. Additional membership privileges include:
Membership is not cheap and it shouldn’t be. Membership is for five years and only 300 members will be accepted. Those interested in joining The Old 300™ can find more information at www.garrisonbros.com or pick up an application at the distillery in Hye.
If you choose to join, you’ll play a significant role in helping us make Texas history and you’ll have a keepsake that damn-sure verifies you were part of it.
How’s Our Bourbon Coming Along?We make our bourbon one batch at a time and one barrel at a time. As it comes off the still, we’re taking just one gallon at a time and testing the quality. If it meets our criteria, it goes into a barrel for maturation. As it matures, the bourbon tries to escape the barrel, soaking deep into the wood on hot Texas afternoons. When it does, it mingles with the sweet chemical compounds (guaiacol, eugenol, furfural, oak-lactone and vanillin) that give the bourbon its buttery caramel and vanilla flavors and its amber color and earthy texture. The bourbon escapes the wood in the cold but takes these flavors along with it.
With temperatures in the 40s in the morning and the 80s in the afternoon, the bourbon has matured remarkably well this winter. I’ve tasted samples from Hye against quite a few from Kentucky and Tennessee, and I can honestly say I’ve never tasted anything smoother, richer or more delicious than ours.
Every month we’re cooking 15,000 pounds of the most expensive #1 organic yellow dent corn in the world and we’re filling 50 new White American Oak barrels. So, yeah, we’re burning through some cash.
We’d like your help to offset some of these expenses. We’ve launched Garrison Brothers’ Dry Goods Store at www.garrisonbros.com and you’ll find some nice t-shirts and bumper stickers there. Please take a look and consider buying one. Each time you do it enables us to make more bourbon. If you really want to help, you can also join The Old 300 there. We’d truly appreciate anything you can do.
Believe me when I tell you no one wants to sell a bottle more than I do. The bourbon that is aging in our barns is getting better every day it remains there. Complexity and character come quick around here. I visit the barn once a week and take samples, and I’m not convinced we’re ready yet. We’re going to give our bourbon all the time it needs to become truly spectacular.
We’re hopeful the first bottles will be shipped in 2011. As soon as the bottled bourbon leaves our distillery, we’ll let members of The Old 300™ know where they can buy a bottle and they’ll spread the word. The whiskey will be worth the wait!
Anyone is welcome to come by the distillery. However, since we work our tails off and always have construction projects underway, we ask that you call first so we won’t disrupt production. Also, in exchange for the tour, know in advance that we’re going to ask you to buy a t-shirt! Have a happy Texas Independence Day and a great spring and summer. We’ll send another note in the fall.
Kind regards,
Dan Garrison
Proprietor and Distiller
P.S. A bill is on its way through the Texas Legislature that will permit distillers like us to give small samples to visitors! Darn right it’s ours. Please ask your senator or representative to support House Bill 1974. You can visit http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/ to find out who represents you.