Once again, I want to thank all of you who are enjoying a bottle of Garrison Brothers right now. Please rinse, repeat, and go get another. We appreciate your support.

Here’s where I’m headed in the next few weeks. I hope you’ll stop by and say hello.

• Saturday, April 14 from 2 to 4 – The Houston Wine Merchant: Looking forward to a little time with Everett and his knowledgeable gang at this outstanding liquor store at 2646 South Shepherd.
• Friday, April 20 from 6 to 8 – Bourbon Tasting at Rye 51 in Houston (reservations required): If you have not visited Rye 51, come to this event. David and his gang have amazing clothes. If I had a real job, and gave a crap how I look, this is where I’d shop. We’ll be talking bourbon and comparing wheats and ryes. To RSVP, please email David at david@qcustomclothier.com.
• Friday, April 20 from 8:30 to 9:30 - Downing Street Pub in Houston: Please join me and CJ at Houston’s most prestigious whiskey pub and cigar lounge. We’ll be pouring Garrison Brothers and discussing why bourbon is far superior to scotch. That ought to piss somebody off.
• Sunday, April 22 from 7 to 9 – Married With Dishes Viewing Party at The Auslander in Fredericksburg: Anthony Bourdain’s production company, Zero Point Zero Productions, is launching a new television series called Married With Dishes, which was filmed all over Fredericksburg.  The outrageous, climactic dinner was shot in the Barrel Barn at Garrison Brothers Distillery. It will air on the Cooking Channel. This should be one hilarious evening. Hope you’ll join us.
• Tuesday, April 24 from 7:30 to 9:30 – Hyatt Lost Pines in Bastrop (invitation-only event): Private bourbon dinner with Chef Neil Joiner.
• Thursday, April 26 from 5 to 6 – Strip House in Downtown Houston: Please join us for a Bourbon Happy Hour organized by our friends at Strip House. I understand Chef Mario Vidal may be providing appetizers that pair nicely with fine straight bourbon.
• Wednesday, May 2 from 4 to 6 – J Black’s in Austin: That afternoon I’ll have the pleasure of telling the staff at J Black’s about how best to serve and enjoy Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Afterward I’m buying drinks (well, a few anyway). Hope you’ll stop by.

Finally, I just want to say thanks to all of you who, like I am, are enjoying a bottle of Garrison Brothers right now. It appears you guys are buying about a hundred cases a week, which is crazy, but it makes us damn proud.

Thank you!

In two weeks, on Texas Independence Day (that’s March 2nd for the foreign readers), we’ll be introducing the Spring 2012 Release of Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

I think it’s our best bourbon yet. But more on the bourbon later, I want to talk about family.

The Kids and Volunteers

A Family Business

If you’ve read this newsletter before, you know that Garrison Brothers Distillery is a family business. We’re proud of that. The business is owned by my wife and I, my brother, and about nine of our friends and drinking buddies. They so strongly believed in the business and the bourbon that they invested their savings to make it happen. Those are good friends.

But remaining independent is just the beginning of what we mean when we talk about family. Our mission — lifted directly from the business plan – is: To create, build and sustain a profitable, family-operated bourbon whiskey distillery that makes the best tasting and highest quality bourbon whiskey ever made, and in turn, supports and nourishes our families, the families of those who work with us, and the community in which we operate.

When they aren’t in school or involved in sports, my kids and my wife help out here in Hye – pouring samples for guests, organizing special events, bottling bourbon and helping with chores. I am a proud Papa on those days. Behind the scenes, my wife runs our board of directors, monitors the finances (to be sure), and is never too timid to point out when I lose sight of the mission. I am lucky to have her. She tells me so every day.

A Family Business

But the family extends beyond my family. It includes the families of our staff.  Not a day goes by when I don’t see this sensational man named Kevin at the distillery. Kevin doesn’t work for us, but his wife does. Yet, day in and day out, there’s Kevin — hauling barrels, unloading boxes, taking out trash.

The same is true about our distillery director’s son Calvin. When he’s not in school, he’s at the stillhouse, because his dad never leaves and the two of them are inseparable. Calvin knows so much about bourbon, he could give a distinguished speaker lecture series at the University of Kentucky. Our bottling manager is Laurel, whose husband Randy can fix anything with a pocket knife. He shows up almost every week and jumps right in.

Members of our ambassador association, The Old 300, are also a big part of the family. They know that when they visit us for Bourbon Camp, there will be hard work along with the hard play. And when they’re not visiting us in Hye, they’re out promoting our bourbon where they live. I get emails from them daily telling me about a great bourbon bar that I need to visit. Sure it’s tough work, but someone’s got to do it.

Finally, I have to recognize the amazing volunteers who help us bottle this bourbon. This group consists of fathers and sons, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, Harley biker club members, foodies, wayward bourbon connoisseurs, bloggers, and an occasional stripper (those who were here know exactly who I’m talking about). These crazy, wonderful people are family too.

All these folks recognize that we can’t afford to pay them but we would if we could. They believe that one day we will make it up to them. And one day, we will.

We don’t mass produce. We don’t artificially color. We don’t spend millions on branding. We make it like it should be made and we tell it like it should be told. The family believes in what we’re doing and it takes an enormous family to make it happen.

So, if there’s a theme to this post, family is it. We love this family. They’re strange as hell; they are immensely talented and intensely dedicated, and we look out for each other. Don’t Mess with This Texas Family!

The Spring 2012 Release of Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey

A New Bourbon is Born

Prepare for something a little different with the Spring 2012 release. There is a noticeable change from our previous bourbons in this beautiful brown liquor. First off, this is the first bourbon we’ve made exclusively using organic #1 gourmet grade white corn from the Texas Panhandle. All previous releases have been organic yellow dent corn. Additionally, this bourbon was made primarily with organic soft red winter wheat we harvested from our farm in 2009.

The bourbon was distilled and entered into barrels that same year and has been under careful watch in our barrel barns for almost three years. Every drop was distilled by me, Donnis, Fred or JD on The Copper Cowgirl. Every barrel used in this release was custom-made for Garrison Brothers.

As always will be the case with Garrison Brothers’ bourbons, it is not chill-filtered. Doing so is an unforgiveable sin, because it removes the fatty acids from the grain and the wood, which are an important aspect of the flavor. As a result, if you leave this bourbon sitting for a long time, especially in a cold area, you may eventually see cloudiness and solids resting in the bottom of the bottle. Connoisseurs, who know great bourbons like George T. Stagg, will recognize that this is to be expected from an authentic bourbon whiskey, made the way bourbon was made – before the technology and marketing geeks brought us chill-filtration. If it clouds up, just shake it, pour and enjoy responsibly.

  Bourbon in Barrels                    Dumping Barrels                       Bourbon Rain        

The result is pretty damn special. This one has a smoky butterscotch and maple syrup nose, caramelized brown sugar sweetness on the tongue, and unlike the Fall 2011 Release, a crisp and delicate finish. Our distillery director Donnis Todd says it reminds him of toasted marshmallows. I get that, but I’m reminded of the buttery cinnamon toast my mom used to make for breakfast when we were kids. She used real butter.

We selected 134 barrels from our barns for this release. The brutally hot summers these past two years took their toll and the Angel’s certainly got their Share. The release is small by liquor industry standards at just 7,026 bottles. As always, I signed and numbered every bottle. As is our custom, we skipped bottle #666, so one case will have two #665s.

Bottled By Texans, Proud Texans

Once again, wonderful Texans – and members of the family – drove in from all over the state to help us bottle this bourbon. We had more than 100 guests in all, from Clear Lake, Cedar Park, Dallas, El Paso, Fredericksburg, Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, The Woodlands and many wonderful small Texas towns. We sincerely appreciate those of you who helped out. We are indebted and hope you’ll come home again soon.

We were in for a treat the first two days. Chuck Cowdery, the author of Bourbon, Straight, came down from Chicago to pay a visit. Chuck knows more about the makers and the history of Kentucky bourbon than any man I’ve ever met and shared his deep knowledge while he was here. We also put him to work. My respect for the Kentucky boys grows daily. Buy his book!

If you wanted to help bottle and did not get the call, please accept our apologies. We currently have a waiting list with more than 600 names on it. We’d invite everybody down, if we could, but it just wouldn’t be safe to have more people in the stillhouse. We are working in those who have been on the list the longest first, I promise.

Bourbon Bound for The Bayou City

So, here’s what many of you have been waiting to hear: Much of this release is headed to Houston, just in time for the Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Houston is a bit of a homecoming for me. I spent my teenage years there. My fondest memories are of the Bunker Hill area where I played football at Spring Branch Junior High and spent one year at Memorial High. Not paying attention, I had my first car wreck on Westheimer. I got in my first fight in the Memorial City parking lot, and lost. My first girlfriend went to St. Cecelia’s Catholic School. She taught me how to kiss and some other cool stuff.

So, yeah, I’m looking forward to Houston. When I wasn’t distilling or bottling in Hye this February and March, I’ve been living out of a Motel 6 there while meeting with bar, restaurant and hotel managers. Clearly, Houston is a straight bourbon town. The reception at fine on-premise establishments has been amazing.

Here’s just a partial list of award winning and amazing restaurants, hotels and bars that will be featuring Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey behind their bar. I hope you’ll pay them a visit and tell them I sent you.

• III Forks
• Anvil
• Ava/Alta
• Benjy’s on Washington
• Benjy’s on Dunstan
• Branch Water Tavern
• Brasserie 19
• Brennan’s of Houston
• Brenner’s On The Bayou
• Cullen’s Upscale American Grill
• Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse (Galleria)
• Downing Street
• Gigi’s
• Haven
• Hotel Zaza
• Hugo’s
• Masraff’s
• Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
• Pesce
• Prohibition (Galleria)
• Poison Girl
• RDG & Bar Annie
• Reef
• Reserve 101
• Royal Oak
• Ruth’s Chris
• Vic & Anthony’s

In addition, the Spring 2012 Release of Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey will most likely be available at these fine liquor stores. I recommend calling first to make sure they have some in stock.

• CostCo Liquor Stores
• Fiesta Liquor Stores
• Heights Liquor
• Houston Wine Merchant
• International Champions
• Richards Fine Wine and Spirits
• All Specs stores
• Sunny’s
• PG Liquor
• Ralstons
• Tony Ks

A few hundred cases of this release will also be shipped to the fine liquor stores in Austin and San Antonio, and all points in between, who sell Garrison Brothers. As soon as we know which stores reorder, we will post that information here. Sincerest thanks to those stores who have made our bourbon available to your customers. We truly appreciate your support.

Houston, Let’s Share Some Bourbon!

Since we hate to see anyone drink alone, the Garrison Brothers gang and I will be hosting a few events in The Bayou City over the next few weeks. We hope you’ll come out and share a glass with us. If you’ve never tried my bourbon before, I’m buying.

• February 24 from 5 to 8 Gift Bottle Signing at Specs on West Highway 290 in Austin (open to all)
• February 28 at 6:30 – Bullshitting about Bourbon at Reserve 101 (tickets on sale now at www.Reserve101.com)
• March 1 at 6:00 – Meet The Maker at Poison Girl (open to all)
• March 2 from 5 to 8 – Gift Bottle Signing at Specs on Smith Street (open to all)
• March 7 at 5:30 – Bullshitting about Bourbon at The Coronado Club (private event)
• March 24 from noon to 3 – Gift Bottle Signing at Costco on Bunker Hill (open to all)
• March 27 at 6:30 – Guest Lecture, Whiskey 101 Class at Rice University (private event)
• April 14 from 2 to 4 – Gift Bottle Signing at The Houston Wine Merchant (open to all)

What’s Happening at Home in Hye

Our original Alembic copper pot still, The Copper Cowgirl, is back in action after a long overdue vacation during bottling. We are taking down our fancy, non-automated bottling table and putting her back in operation.

Hye Rye™ from Garrison Brothers

This spring and summer, Donnis and I will begin recipe development for a future release of our first rye-based bourbon, Hye Rye™, which will be distilled from The Cowgirl. Fans of rye bourbon whiskeys shouldn’t get too excited though. In the bourbon business, research and development is planned in terms of decades. Test recipes we begin aging in oak barrels this summer won’t be tasted until Christmas, and we won’t start production until 2013. Since this will be a straight rye bourbon, it probably won’t touch glass until 2016.

Cowboy Bourbon™ from Garrison Brothers

We’re also working on a special limited release of our Cowboy Bourbon™ that will be introduced this winter. I have set aside the finest twelve barrels we’ve ever produced for this release. I am planning to bottle this bourbon when the barrels are four years old. It will be uncut, completely unfiltered and bottled at barrel proof. I anticipate these bottle will be up around 135 proof. But you won’t believe how smooth and rich this bourbon is.

This limited release will only be available at fine liquor stores in the Hill Country near the distillery. Those of you who like this kind of high-end stuff may need to consider a road trip.

Welcome Stephanie Whitworth and JD Anderson to The Family!

If you’ve visited us here in Hye, these beautiful people are already familiar faces.

J.D. Anderson joined us part-time in 2009 as The Mash Man. His former job as a part-time gigolo and exotic dancer just wasn’t paying the rent. Hell, look at him. We were sympathetic and took him under our wing. Today, J.D. runs our entire kitchen and will soon start distilling again. Starting before the sun comes up and finishing well after dark, he grinds grain, fills tanks, spit-shines kettles and makes the finest tasting distillers’ beer in the country. He’d probably want me to tell you he’s single, available and a Leo, but since it ain’t true, I won’t go there.

Stephanie Whitworth joined us as our Hospitality Manager in December 2010. As soon as she did, the entire operation became much more sunny, attractive, and efficient. When she’s not screaming at the rest of us, she’s smiling and leading tours, and she really knows her shit. I truly believe Stephanie knows more about fine bourbon whiskey than any woman in Texas. Generally, wherever she goes, she can make anyone feel relaxed, welcome and at home. She, too, is unavailable. And don’t even think about, because if you were to, her husband Kevin and the rest of us would kick your ass.

A Hill Country Ranch That Makes Fine Bourbon Whiskey

Wish You Were Here

It’ll still be a few years before we’ll have enough aged bourbon to start selling statewide and it’s likely this release will sell out quickly.

But remember, if you can’t find Garrison Brothers near your home, you can always come share bourbon with us in Hye. We conduct tours and tastings Wednesday through Sunday at 10, noon, 2 and 4. Stephanie will make you feel at home. This ain’t a wine tour though. We don’t have a “tasting room.” We don’t offer artisan cheeses. And we don’t sell candles or lace doilies.

You can smell and taste the corn cooking; walk through the fermentation rooms; nose and taste the “White Dog”; sample a little bourbon from one of our releases; and ask all the questions you want. No need to call ahead; we can always make room for a few more.

Making Bourbon This Good is Expensive!

To alleviate some of the pain, we’ve launched Garrison Brothers’ Dry Goods Store. You’ll find t-shirts, hats, bumper stickers and cool bourbon shit there.

If you really want to get doused in Garrison Brothers, consider joining The Old 300. If you do, you’ll soon know more about fine bourbon whiskey than anyone else in Texas and you’ll have a great time learning.

Vaya con Dios. We’ll check back in with ya’ll in the fall.

Kind regards,
Dan Garrison
Proprietor and Distiller

P.S. Please join the Garrison Brothers Gang in Luckenbach for Billie Joe Shaver on Saturday, April 7.  As is my custom, I will be in a bourbon-and religion-fueled hypnotic trance during the show, but I look forward to visiting with y’all before and after.

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.

Meet your local distillers and try seasonal cocktails highlighting their spirits at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center Ballroom. Featuring the Official Drink of Austin Cocktail Contest presented by Tipsy Texan. Crowd Favorite Award sponsored by Google Places. Tasty appetizers by Swift’s Attic, BC Tavern, The Carillon and Lick Ice Creams! 6:30-9:30 pm. All for a very good cause. You can get tickets here: http://www.edibleaustin.com/content/buy-tickets-now

On Saturday, December 17, I will have the great pleasure of visiting with the fine folks at Joe Saglimbeni’s Fine Wine at 638 West Rhapsody in San Antonio. If you’re like me, and visiting a liquor store is as exciting as as entering a hardware store, you will LOVE Joe Saglimbeni’s. Friendly, knowledgeable staff, great customers and you’re surrounded by an amazing selection of spirits and fine wine. I’ll be there sampling Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey from noon until 3.

Did I mention a case of Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey makes  one hell of a Christmas gift? If you buy a bottle as a gift, I’m delighted to write a personal note on the back. Please come visit.

The UT Campus Club is hosting a bourbon tasting and discussion at 6 p.m. at The Carillon Restaurant in the AT&T Executive Conference Center. I promise this won’t just be about Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

We’ll discuss the history of bourbon whiskey in America; how fine straight bourbon is made; how we make ours at Garrison Brothers Distillery; proper techniques for nosing and tasting bourbon; and we’ll offer a comparative tasting of fine ryes and wheated bourbons.

Non-member tickets are $40 plus gratuity. Reserve your space by emailing morgan.jones@austin.utexas.edu or you can call Morgan at 512.471.8611.

Here’s a link to their poster advertising the event: http://utexas.dmplocal.com/main/index.php?action=viewsenthtml&id=2891&ids=ee19ee86488c8826f2f916f81fed4e866be93843

Somewhere in here there’s an announcement that might be important to those who enjoy Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey. But first, I feel the need to step up on my soap box.

SOME SAY TEXANS ARE A LITTLE TOO PROUD…

It is rare today to find a business or a product that is 100% authentic, especially in the liquor business. This is why:

Making a distilled spirit can be done fast and cheap or slow and well, the latter at great cost to the distiller. Ninety-nine percent of today’s “artisan spirits” are pre-distilled refinery-produced ethanol or bulk foreign whiskey with coloring and flavoring added. For many of the individuals who make this stuff, the glass bottle, the label and “the marketing spin” are the greatest expenses.

Few are willing to take the time or spend the money it takes to make real, authentic bourbon, as we have. Bourbon must be distilled at below 160 proof. That takes time and its expensive. Bourbon cannot be “flavored” or blended. Bourbon must be aged in new barrels and new whiskey barrels are damned expensive!

Unlike bourbon though, whiskey can be bought in bulk and it can be chemically altered to taste better. But still, no sane whiskey businessman would consider making his own when he can bring in cheap whiskey by the tanker-trailer-load from elsewhere for pennies on the dollar. And who can afford to wait years and years for the whiskey to properly mature when they can buy barrels full of the stuff from the refineries in Canada, Kentucky, Indiana or Missouri?

Hell, all they have to do next is slap a snakeskin label on the bottle that says “Made in Texas” and they’ve made a Texas whiskey, right? And who can blame them? They want to make their million dollars tomorrow — damn it — not in ten, twenty or thirty years! Good Lord, who has that kind of patience?

Those who visit us at Garrison Brothers Distillery tell me the same thing: You guys are clearly proud of what you do. Some are ribbing me about the price of my bourbon. Others have deeper vision.

The fact is that we are intensely proud of what we do… and where we do it. Our pride shows in the magnificent carpentry of our barrel barn, our guest cabin and our buildings. When a visitor stops by, we drop what we’re doing to show off our stills and explain our process. That’s pride! Our pride shows in how clean our facilities are. It shows in how we are good stewards of our land and its resources. Indeed, if you throw a cigarette butt out your car window on distillery property, you had better pray we don’t see you. Signs throughout the property forewarn: we will cut your nuts off!

You can see pride in the intense determination on the faces of the volunteers who help painstakingly hand-wax our bottles, etching the Texas Star deep into the wax. Every one is a unique, polished work of art. There’s no doubt in my mind that the price of a bottle of Garrison Brothers does not come close to reflecting the quality of the bourbon that goes into it.

Those who bring in vodka or whiskey made elsewhere and claim it’s from Texas will never know the pride I feel right now as I sip on a tall glass of Garrison Brothers.

I guess by publicly revealing how all this works I will never get an invitation to join the “craft distillers” for brunch at the country club. What a shame, huh?

Indeed, I have never been more proud of our business, our staff, our community, our volunteers, our state, and our bourbon than I am right now. I am also proud to announce that the Fall 2011 Release of Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey is on its way to fine liquor stores, bars, restaurants and hotels throughout Central Texas. And I can confidently boast that this is the best bourbon we’ve made yet!

As promised, readers of this newsletter are the first to know. We are not going to announce the release for fourteen days so you can get yours first.

But, fine bars, hotels and restaurants throughout Austin and San Antonio are wisely starting to list Garrison Brothers on their bourbon menus. They will get their share and they order quickly! So, this time, please don’t call and bitch at me when you can’t find any in stores.

We’d appreciate it if you’d consider buying a case of our bourbon for Christmas presents. You’ll make a bourbon drinker’s holiday, and you’ll make us here in Hye – and our extended family of bottlers and supporters throughout the state — even more proud of what we do.

Now, About This Bourbon

Back in August (yeah, it was hot), we moved 208 barrels (each weighing about 135 pounds) by hand from our warming barns into the finishing barn. Many of these barrels – all cooked and distilled in 2008 — were three years old, a few two and half. The proof of the whiskey in each ranged from 128 to 139. In the finishing barn, I began tasting from each using my little glass whiskey thief, a few dozen nosing glasses and a bucket of rainwater. Having learned my lesson previously, when my tongue swelled up like a grapefruit, I decided to taste from just five barrels in the morning, five after lunch and five in the evenings. This may sound romantic to the uninitiated, and at first it is, but after a week it feels like work.

 I narrowed my selection down to 141 barrels to marry together for this “small batch.”  I also found seven barrels that will be set aside for their own spectacular future (more on that in a future newsletter). To make sure I wasn’t literally drinking my own Kool Aid, I called a special joint session of the redneck investigative sub-committee.

I asked Donnis, our distillery director, to reaffirm my selections. He concurred, as did Fred, and our newest redneck J.D., commonly known by his nome de guerre, Mash Man. It was official. We had a hillbilly consensus. Fred struck the gavel. Meeting adjourned. (We actually have a gavel, constructed of an oak dowel rod and a barrel bung. It works really well.)

These barrels yielded the Fall 2011 Release of Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This bourbon is bottled at 94 proof — because we like it that way – in clear 750 ml glass bottles. The suggested retail price is $69.95. We believe it is worth much more than that; apparently retailers do to, so you may not be able to find it at that price.

Silver Medals from the San Francisco International Spirits Competition and the American Distilling Institute

This one is sweeter and smoother than any previous release: Yeast, grain, vanilla and oak on the nose. When you swallow, you will taste sweet panhandle corn on your tongue and it opens up your senses.  As always, it lingers on your palette with a warm, buttery, toasted butterscotch and caramelized maple syrup finish. Stay with it and you might detect chocolate, coconut, coffee and figs. Seriously. If you want more of the sweet wheat flavor, add a splash of soda or water and a few cubes of ice.

Hill Country liquor stores in Blanco, Fredericksburg and Hye will get theirs first, probably by October 28th, because we look out for our own out here. The remaining bottles should be in fine liquor stores, restaurants, hotels and bars, stretching from as far north as Temple and as far south as South San Antonio, by Friday, November 4th.

Keeping with tradition, each bottle is hand-dipped in hot black wax by a fellow Texan, for a thick seal, and is signed and numbered by me. Deerskin lace securely wraps each neck and the Texas Star is etched deep into the wax by hand with a leather tool. Some of the corks can’t handle the heat of the wax, so you may need a corkscrew to get into it. It’s worth the effort.

As in the past, this is a limited release that will sell out quickly. If you want a bottle, I strongly encourage you to call your local liquor store today. If they haven’t started a waiting list, you might politely suggest they do so. We won’t be releasing more bourbon until Texas Independence Day and that release will be smaller than this one.

Cowboy’d Up!

All of the barrels I’d selected were proofed, weighed (the government gets their cut) and emptied into a 500 gallon proofing tank named “Whiskey Girl,” because she looks like a sailboat without sails, which we stole from The Beer Boys at Real Ale in Blanco. We then added Hill Country rainwater to bring the proof down to 94. We delicately pumped this “cut” bourbon into our most recent acquisition, a 3,300 gallon stainless steel tank, which may have been stolen from a Wisconsin Dairy. She’s named “Elsie, The Bourbon Cow.”

It was time to bottle. I sent out a blog (if you like hearing me rant, you can sign up for these on our website) announcing a call for help. Within 48 hours, Lolo our bottling queen had more than 150 emails from brave volunteers.

This always reminds me of The Alamo, when Colonel Travis drew that line in the sand, and only the crazy people stepped across. Dramatic? Maybe. But these wonderful folks take two days off from work; drive all the way out to Hye; pay for their own gas and lodging; and then bust their ass for two days of daunting craftsmanship. All we offer them is a signed “thank you” bottle, a couple of questionable meals, and a handshake to say thanks. Sure, every hour they are offered a small sample to assure quality control — and maintain their courage — but is it really worth it?

We are indebted to those of you who played a role. Thank you for your service and we hope we were good hosts while you were in Hye. Please come back soon!

Bourbon Camp 2011

On September 24, we held our third annual Old 300 Bourbon Camp at Garrison Brothers. I’ve included a few pictures of the beautiful people (my wife is in one of the pictures, so I have to say that.) We started the morning with Bourbon for Breakfast in the form of a Hill Country Sunrise: Garrison Brother’s bourbon, fresh squeezed orange juice and prickly pear puree. Guests enjoyed the stunning and lavish breakfast buffet brought in by Silver K Café in Johnson City.

After that we went to work bottling the first bottles of this release. By noon we had bottled a few hundred of the most surreal bottles of Garrison Brothers I’ve ever seen. It is disturbing to witness firsthand what black wax can resemble after a few breakfast cocktails.

At noon, we broke for lunch: fresh squeezed lemonade, iced tea and Garrison Brothers, which we call a John Daly. The Silver K Café provided a spectacular lunch too. Our Old 300 members tell me it was sensational though I can’t remember what it looked or tasted like. We bottled into the late afternoon when our guests retreated to the Hanger Hotel for siesta.

That night the Old 300 returned to Hye for an evening I’ll never forget. Our staff had spent weeks preparing the barrel barn with romantic mood lighting, beautiful flowers, white tablecloths, mood music, and well, feminine, decoration.

As dusk approached, the temperature dropped to a sensational 65 degrees and the Milky Way lit up the night like a million incandescent bulbs. Showing no signs of sophistication and little respect for the hours spent on interior design, our guests began to carry their wine and nosing glass-filled dining tables out on to the spacious porch so they could be under the stars. Below the ethereal blanket of light, Scooter Pearce played guitar and sang until no one could dance another step.

Hollywood Comes Back to Hye

We receive bottle requests from hip New York and California magazines all the time. We turn most of them down, unless they have a large Texas readership, because we just don’t have enough to spare. Earlier this year, we were profiled in The New York Times, ATX Man Magazine, FD Luxe, The Dallas Observer, Houston Press and The Standard, as well as fine local publications like the Austin Chronicle, the Austin American-Statesman and the San Antonio Express News. We don’t know much about it yet, but we hear we’ll be in Southern Living Magazine in November.

I’d be lying if I told you the attention doesn’t add to the pride we already feel. We truly appreciate the writers and photographers who have come out to visit us in Hye. Sincerest apologies if I missed anyone.

Make More Bourbon, Damn It!

My kids showed me how to use Facebook but I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Every time I go there someone is pissed off because they can’t find our bourbon. It’s always the same question: When can I get Garrison Brothers in Beaumont, damn it?

I wish I had a good answer. When I started making bourbon, I thought releasing 7,000 bottles would mean our bourbon was already available in Dallas, Amarillo, Houston and Central Texas. I was dead wrong. The thirsty-ass Central Texans keep drinking it all!

What we don’t drink ourselves, we really do plan to sell. You have my word that by 2015 we’ll be in all four corners of the great state of Texas. We appreciate your patience and your support.

A Hill Country Ranch That Makes Fine Bourbon Whiskey

Good news though: Even if you can’t find Garrison Brothers near home, you can always come share our bourbon with us in Hye. We conduct tours and tastings Wednesday through Sunday at 10, noon, 2 and 4. Our sweet and stunning hospitality manager Stephanie will greet you with a smile and make you feel at home.

This ain’t a wine tour though. We don’t have a real “tasting room.” We don’t offer a selection of artisan cheeses. And we don’t sell candles or lace doilies.  Chances are, we’ll hand you a pair of work-gloves and make you rotate barrels. But if you have an interest in home-grown liquor, agriculture, history, microbiology, chemistry, engineering or art, this may be right up your alley.

You’ll see the entire operation. You can smell and taste the corn cooking; walk through the fermentation rooms; nose and taste the “White Dog”; sample a little bourbon from one of our releases; and ask all the questions you want. No need to call ahead; we can always make room for a few more.

(If you’re coming out on a Saturday afternoon or a holiday, you might want to make sure we aren’t closed for a private event. Stephanie’s email is stephanie@garrisonbros.com)

Making Bourbon This Good is Expensive!

Every month we’re cooking 60,000 pounds of the most expensive organic sweet corn in the world and we’re filling 200 or so equally expensive, white American oak barrels. So, yeah, we’re still burning through some cash.

To alleviate some of the pain, we’ve launched Garrison Brothers’ Dry Goods Store. You’ll find t-shirts and bumper stickers there and we’re trying to add more cool stuff. Please consider buying something. Each time you do, it enables us to make a little more bourbon.

If you really want to get doused in Garrison Brothers, consider joining The Old 300. If you do, I personally guarantee you’ll soon know more about fine bourbon whiskey than anyone else in Texas and you’ll have a great time learning.

As always, if you don’t buy this high-powered marketing propaganda about our bourbon, then come on out and taste it.

Happy holidays from the Rednecks at Garrison Brothers. Vaya con Dios. We’ll check back in with ya’ll in the spring.

Kind regards,

Dan Garrison
Proprietor and Distiller

If you’ve emailed Laurel already to volunteer, please trust that she is sifting through your emails – first come, first served — as fast as she can. We needed about 30 folks to help out and received many more offers than we can possibly fill. Please trust that Laurel will get back to you soon and let you know if we were able to work you in or not.

Anyone who does not get a bottling slot this time will be moved to the front of the list for the next bottling effort in February.

Thanks so much for your willingness to help out. We couldn’t do this without you.

Want to try something no one in Texas has ever done before?

Next month, we’ll start bottling our largest bourbon release ever – more than 120 barrels of our straight bourbon will be emptied into stainless steel tanks, married with crisp, clean rainwater, proofed and entered into bottles. Each hand-numbered and signed bottle is sealed with a cork, wrapped in deerskin lace, and then dipped in hot wax. These bottles will be sold throughout the Hill Country and a few hundred cases will make it to fine liquor stores, bars and restaurants in the big cities. (We can’t say where just yet.)

We thought a few of you might like to come out to Hye and give us a hand.

A word of warning: Bottling at Garrison Brothers is not for the faint of heart! It means hard work, attention to detail, reliable, consistent help, and above all else, patience. Every finished bottle has to get past Inspector Number 1 — me. This video from our talented friends Rob Cordes and Jim Walters will give you an idea what to expect:

http://www.garrisonbros.com/video1.html

We’ll be bottling from 8 am to 5 pm, Monday thru Friday, the weeks of September 26, October 3, October 10, October 17 and October 24. We may finish early and may not need to continue that last week. 

We need 7 people each day and already have about 70 sensational volunteers already. We provide meals, beverages and plenty of bourbon throughout the day. (In fact, tradition holds that we periodically celebrate with a little “quality control” sample to keep us all motivated.)

If you’d like to take part, it will take you a couple of hours to learn the craft, so we ask those who participate to commit to two full days, 8-5. At the end of your shift, we’ll reward you with your own bottle to take home with you, along with a few other thank you gifts.

If you can handle your own travel and lodging arrangements, and commit to giving us two days hard work, please send an email to Laurel Hoekstra, our Bottling Queen, at laurel@garrisonbros.com and give her your contact information. She’ll let you know what days are still open. The deadline for contacting her is Sunday, September 12, so that we can invite others to fill any remaining slots.

Please don’t delay your decision too long though; last time we did this, we were cowboy’d up in less than 24 hours.

Hope to see you in Hye.

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.