On Friday, the wise and hilarious Federal Judge Sam Sparks ruled in favor of Jester King Brewery, Authentic Beverage and Zax Pints and Plates in their lawsuit against the TABC.

As a result, it is now legal for Garrison Brothers Distillery to actually inform bourbon drinkers which stores are selling our bourbon.

Seems a little ridiculous that it took a lawsuit to make this happen, but for now, our hats are off to Jester King, Authentic and Zax. Ahh, and just in time for Christmas!

Here’s a list of the fine Texas liquor stores who have ordered and should be carrying Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey. We strongly encourage you to call them first to make sure they’re not sold out before you make a road trip.

It seems we’ve pissed someone off. Not really sure why but some folks who write about the whiskey business seem to have their panties in a wad.

In recent weeks, John Hansell of Malt Advocate, a well respected whiskey writer whose opinions I greatly admire, has written that craft distillers may be damaging the bourbon industry. In his most recent newsletter, Mr. Hansell writes: “The issue here is that these bourbons aren’t as mature and complex as the straight bourbons being put out by the larger distillers and it’s going to drag down the reputation of bourbon.”

Mr. Hansell refers to a story from Clay Risen, which appeared in The Atlantic, that claims “distilleries are cutting corners to speed up the process.” In this story, Mr. Risen has fond things to say about Garrison Brothers, but he then goes on with broad generalizations about all craft distilleries making whiskey.

It seems highly coincidental that at the same time these gentlemen are making these far reaching accusations, the Kentucky bourbon industry is rushing a bill through their state legislature that would give them a tax break for their aging barrel inventories.

Much of the fuss seems to focus on craft distilleries (and I guess we are one since we consider making fine bourbon a craft) that are using smaller barrels to age their bourbon. The authors argue that this is “cutting corners” and that the result is a green, raw, woody bourbon that does not have the same character and complexity of bourbon aged longer in larger barrels.

I suppose this is an interesting debate for those who are talking about it. For those of us actually making fine bourbon, the debate is ridiculous.

At Garrison Brothers, we have more than 1,500 small barrels filled with bourbon we made ourselves from scratch aging in our barns. We also have 10 gallon barrels, 20 gallon barrels, 53 gallon barrels, and 59 gallon barrels filled with our bourbon.

We hand-select the organic Texas corn, wheat and barley that we use. We grind the grain by hand. We cook our own mash. We ferment our own beer. My men and I distill our own bourbon, day in and day out, on three beautiful, reliable Vendome copper alembic pot stills. I dare say our White Dog is superior to any White Dog I’ve tasted in Kentucky.

But since they’ve opened the door, let’s talk about “cutting corners.” My small barrels cost me twice as much as a traditional 53 gallon Kentucky bourbon barrel. Most of my barrels hold only 15 gallons of bourbon. So, it costs me almost five times as much money to age my bourbon in small barrels as it does for the large commercial distilleries.

Could we use larger barrels? Sure. But we don’t. Why? Because the bourbon we’re aging in the small barrels tastes far superior to the bourbon aged in the larger ones. Does this sound to you like we’re “cutting corners”?

Recently, one of the largest Kentucky bourbon distilleries bought 100 small barrels from my cooperage to make their own small barrel bourbon. Does that seem odd? A distillery that’s been in business for decades tastes our bourbon and then decides to try make their own. Isn’t imitation the most sincere form of flattery?

So, debating the use of small barrels does not hold water. Just maybe the real debate should be about what we don’t do.

• WE DON’T RELEASE YOUNG, UNDER-AGE  BOURBON. All Garrison Brothers today is straight bourbon whiskey, aged a minimum of two years. Soon, all Garrison Brothers will be three years old. Then four. Then five. 
• We don’t buy whiskey from a large midwestern ethanol refinery and call it our own.
• We don’t use grain neutral spirits and then claim we made it ourselves.
• We don’t buy Canadian whiskey or Kentucky bourbon and then put a label on the bottle that says “MADE IN TEXAS.”
• We don’t add wood chips, flavoring, or wood spirals. We believe that is illegal, and it should be.

In the next few months, new “craft” whiskies will flood Texas liquor stores. From the outside, the bottles will appear to look like bourbon. Many may be altering their barrels to try to make the distillate inside taste like bourbon. As I understand it, these “whiskies” are aged 6 or 9 months in used bourbon barrels.

These bottles will say “Texas Whiskey” or “Made in Texas”, probably in big, bold print, even though the makers know good and well that it was actually distilled somewhere else.

The liquid inside these bottles is NOT bourbon. If anything should piss off bourbon writers — who claim a desire to preserve and protect America’s native spirit – this should be it. It makes me mad as hell.

Interestingly, a few weeks ago I invited Mr. Hansell down to Texas, at my expense, to learn the truth about small barrel aging.  I wanted him to try our three-year old directly from small barrels and large barrels so he could taste firsthand that the bourbon has indeed gone through the extraction, absorption and esterification phases. I wanted him to taste the character and complexity that can only come from small barrel aging. He declined my invitation.

So, I’m going to try it again and this time I’ll put my money where my mouth is:

Mr. Hansell and Mr. Risen, please come visit us at Garrison Brothers Distillery and try our bourbon. While you are here, we will offer you a taste of all three previous releases of Garrison Brothers and the forthcoming November release. We’ll also share some of our favorites from Kentucky: George T. Stagg, Pappy Van Winkle 23, Old Drum, W.L. Weller 12, and Makers. We’ll provide these samples blind and ask you to choose your two favorites.

If you DON’T select my bourbon as one of your top two favorites, I will donate $500 to the charity of your choice.

Come visit us here in Hye. Then be the judge of whether our distillery might be “damaging the reputation of bourbon.” Around here, bourbon is sacred and we will fight like hell to defend it.

If you’ve visited Garrison Brothers Distillery for one of our concerts, open houses, chicken dinners, Bourbon Camps or parties, chances are you’ve heard Scooter Pearce sing and play guitar. We’re pretty fond of Scooter.

Sadly, a few weeks ago Scooter fell asleep at the wheel while driving home from a gig. Her injuries were bad. After a few hours unconscious, on the side of the road, she was able to call paramedics, and was life-flighted to an Austin hospital and began her recovery, which is going well.

However, her guitars, instruments, sound equipment, PAs, CDs and merchandise were damaged or destroyed. Her truck was a total loss. And her medical bills are approaching tens of thousands of dollars with no certainty as to how much follow-up care may be required.

We at Garrison Brothers want to lend a hand and are hopeful a few of you who know Scooter might help too. Our family is contributing $500 to start a fund to help Scooter with expenses. If you can help out, please drop off a check at the distillery in Hye or mail your check to:

Bourbon Drinkers for Scooter
c/o Garrison Brothers Distillery
P.O. Drawer 216
Hye, Texas 78635

In addition, my family has quietly tucked away 24 bottles of the sold-out Garrison Brothers Pre-release bourbon whiskey we originally introduced in March 2, 2010. This was the first bourbon whiskey ever made in Texas. For its historical significance, and since it all sold out overnight, these bottles have become collector’s items.

To show our appreciation, we will give one of these bottles — with a note on the back that reads Scooter Rocks! – to the first 24 people who drop off a check at the distillery for $100 or more.

(Due to the complex TABC rules governing intrastate shipping of distilled spirits, we cannot mail these out to those who send checks by mail. Sorry.)

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:

• Thursday, February 18 – Garrison Brothers informs its newsletter readers of the pre-release of our bourbon by Texas Independence Day (March 2nd) to the six liquor stores located in Blanco and Gillespie Counties.
• Monday, February 22 – Bottling is complete at GBD and trucks deliver our bourbon to the distributor.
• Tuesday, February 23 – The distributor turns the product around and delivers all the bottles back to the six stores out here. Stores put it on shelves. Garrison Brothers issues a press release announcing the pre-release.
• Thursday, February 25 – The liquor store in Hye sells out their entire allocation. Owner calls the distributor pleading for more.
• Friday, February 26 – The liquor store in Blanco sells out their entire allocation. (The owner claims buyers were flying in from Atlanta, Dallas, and Las Vegas to pick up their bottles.)
• Saturday, February 27 – All three Fredericksburg stores sell out their allocations.

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?