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📚Background: Hailing from Hye, Texas, Garrison Brothers has held a distiller's permit since 2006, the first issued for Bourbon outside the state of Kentucky. They are considered a "Craft" whiskey producer and are known for their experimental or limited releases. Texas gets HOT, as the graph below shows, and Garrison Bros are constantly battling an increased rate of evaporation, swagged as being as much as two or three times that of Kentucky. The angels are straight-up Bourbon robbing these guys.
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| Average Temp - Austin, TX vs. Bardstown, KY - weatherspark.com/ |
The upside of the increased swings in temperature is that the extraction of flavoring chemicals from the barrel occurs more rapidly We see this commonly in Indian Whisky where a similarly hot climate produces similar flavor impacts as twice the time in Scotland (would imagine Texas is likely somewhere in-between).
🧪Proof: 94 Proof, 47% Alcohol by Volume, the same as their small batch edition. This bottle is from barrel # 21524 which went into the oak back in 2019. Any dilution required to get to bottle proof is by means of locally collected rainwater.
🎨Color: R6- a light syrup brown wash, dark for the age indeed, leggy as well
🥔Mash Bill: 74% no.1 food-grade white corn (this bottle says from "South Texas" though I have also seen the Texas panhandle mentioned), 15% estate-grown soft winter wheat and 11% Canadian malted barley. The use of good grade grains produces a higher sugar content wort which results in a distiller's beer of around 16% ABV, at least a quarter more than is typical with legacy producers. Garrison Brothers is known for using a variety of barrel sizes ranging from small 27 and 30-gallon containers to the standard 53 gallon barrel. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the 30-gallon size is more commonly used for barrel picks. They had previously aged their whiskey in metal shipping containers but have transitioned to single level barns with barrels stacked six high.
Age is stated as being three years in oak, though I know some barrel picks are closer to five years (they use a common label for all).
👃Nose: Malt, hay, honey, and some sawdust. No ethanol at all. Like a very clean barn.
😜Palate: Medium body and eerily smooth. Corn forward for sure. Nose rings true for flavor, not much new. The sawdust or woodshop taste is very pronounced in this one, perhaps a touch over-oaked.
💦Finish: Very short, a last little zip of wheat sweetness and wood. Very surprised here; I expected it to be longer.
🏆 Overall: 5/10 - Good - Just Fine - I don't mind corn forward sweet bourbon and did enjoy my somewhat large pour of this bottle. That being said, I think my personal rating is likely more charitable than some will find it. On the good side, this bottle drinks very easy and super smooth with plenty of sweetness from the corn and wheat. These upshots are tempered by a weaker palate, short finish, and lumber yard flavor profile. If you're sensitive to over-oaked or carpentry palate, I would probably steer clear of this bottle. After finishing the aforementioned generous pour, I was a bit embarrassed to learn the bottle price. Even with some allowance for the climate headwinds and craft mash bill, this pour just doesn't justify the cost. I've recently reviewed and visited Chattanooga Whiskey Which also puts out some young whiskey, and their standard bottles are almost half of what Garrison wants for similar flavor profile and quality. All that aside, I've heard good things about Garrison's Balmorhea and fully plan to work my way through the rest of their lineup at some point.
🏲Reddit Feedback: Very polarizing. Many loudly voiced that Garrison Brothers Single barrels are horrible. A few mentioned loving the ones they've had. Single barrel whiskey always has more of a quality variance since it is absent the benefits of blending/batching, but it seems that Garrison has a much wider deviation in quality. My official recommendation would be to skip their single barrels entirely; it's just not worth the risk for this much money. Buy two Maker's Mark Cask Strength instead.
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If you liked this review, check out our thoughts on some other Single Barrels:
⚖️Rating Scale:
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws | Struggle to get through the bottle
4 | Serviceable | Mixing or ice recommended.
5 | Good | Drinkable Neat | An agreeable dram indeed.
6 | Very Good | Any flaws offset by interesting flavors | A cut above.
7 | Great | You find yourself reaching for this one often | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Serve to Impress Guests | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite | You guard this bottle jealously.
10 | Perfect | You didn't think anything could be this good | A clear champion.