Country: USA - Texas 
Distillery: Garrison Brothers
Type: Straight Bourbon
Age: Minimum 4
Cask: American Oak
ABV: 47%
Proof: 94
Price: $85

Nose: Pine honey, butterschotch, cloves, shaved oak, tobacco, toasted oak, vanilla, white flowers.

Palate: Candied orange, maple syrup, caramelized sugar, cinnamon, oak spices, chocolate. oak smoke. White peppers with young dates.

Finish: Medium long, warm, corn porridge, baking spices, apple pie.

I was in Houston, Texas for work in early 2019 and was talking to a bar manager at a great cocktail venue when I found myself talking Texas whiskey with the brand reps from a company called Garrison Brothers. That day, I was intrigued with their whiskey making process, their stories. We of course sipped some of their whiskies that night and I am sorry that it took some time for me to review a whiskey from them. As I received the bottle of Garrison Brothers Small Batch Bourbon 2020, I did give it a try immediately, and we actually enjoyed it with a friend on his patio without taking any tasting notes. We had sunset and a good tasting whiskey!

Dan Garrison put an incredible effort starting from the first day he commenced the distillery. Being the first legal bourbon distillery in Texas wasn't easy as you can imagine. All the legislative issues and lack of experience created issues. But none of those issues were heartbreaking than losing a good amount of whiskey to barrel leakage due to heat in my opinion. Dan Garrison sat down and created barrels that could stand the famous Texas heat.

Garrison Brothers uses locally sourced grains, the most important being the Panhandle White Corn from Dallam County for their Garrison Brothers Small Batch Bourbon 2020. At a Texas whiskey event, Dan Garrison told me that, he was actually planning on using yellow corn, but gave the white corn a chance and it yielded a good amount of alcohol, so they continued with it.

They are also using red winter wheat and two row barley to complete the mash bill. Water used is coming from Hill County rainwater.

Garrison Brothers Small Batch Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Texas distillers make use of the warm (ok very hot) climate very well. Garrison Brothers also uses the heat to get more oak extraction in a shorter period of time from the barrels in their open air aging warehouse.

The company states that every barrel goes into the Garrison Brothers Small Batch Bourbon is at least 4 years old! I also noted that Dan Garrison loves bourbon on the sweeter side and he actually took his time when he first started to distillery to commercially bottle his whiskey.

So how is the whiskey at all? As I mentioned on the opening paragraph, we were so happy with the whiskey at the tone of our sunset, so we didn't care about the professional tasting notes that evening. Tasting it again for at least three times I came up with my tasting notes.

Garrison Brothers Small Batch Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey

I do love the robust and rich notes both in the nose and the palate. Some wild, young and rough notes I get from some craft distillers in Texas are not in this one which also made me happy.

I would love a little bit more thickness on the palate and maybe a little more dimension on the finish. Overall, you can feel the difference of this whiskey from comparable whiskies. I am looking forward to trying their other babies like The Cowboy, Balmorhea, Laguna Madre.

For another new and exciting Texas whiskey, check Still Austin Straight Bourbon Whiskey!