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You'll have to wait until at least 2011, and maybe until 2012. So says Dan Garrison, part of the family that owns Garrison Brothers Distillery in Hye, Texas (between Johnson City and Stonewall on U.S. 290).
The nascent operation, believed to be the first legal bourbon distillery in Texas since Prohibition, has just filled its 100th Texas Bourbon barrel. They set up shop and secured the proper permits in 2007. "Just days later we started cooking," Garrison says, "and after six months of testing and tasting, we nailed the recipe" (see photo).
Dan Garrison says he learned to make small-batch bourbon alongside master distillers and warehousemen in Kentucky, "where making bourbon the old-fashioned way is a brotherhood." Think Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Jim Beam and Makers Mark.
Garrison Brothers uses organic and, when possible, locally sourced grains, including yellow corn, soft red winter wheat, barley and rye. Dan grows some of the winter wheat himself and is looking for additional high-quality grain producers in Texas, he says.
"We recycle, reuse or resell every ingredient or by-product that is grown on, delivered to, or processed here," he says. "And we have an ingredient that no other whiskey maker can claim: pure Hill Country rainwater." Garrison says he checks the barrels every two weeks to gauge the whiskey's progress. Texas heat, he says, is its friend.
Thanks to Byzantine spirits laws, he won't be able to sell it at the distillery, but you can still come by and visit. When Garrison Brothers Texas Bourbon Whiskey is ready, we'll tell you where you can try it.
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Interesting, Kim, that you should mention Four Roses as being among "the brotherhood." We sampled Four Roses while on a Kentucky road trip last year and loved it. Sad to say it doesn't seem to be available around here, unless someone knows of a way to get it. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
by definition, does bourbon have to be made in ky?
From Barnondrinks.com:
In 1964, a congressional resolution protected the term "Bourbon" and only since then has the product been defined. The basic elements of Bourbon are that it must be a minimum of two years old, distilled under 160 proof, and be made from a mash of at least 51% corn. It must be aged in charred new oak barrels. Though the law does not stipulate origin, 99% of Bourbon Whiskey comes from Kentucky. Most consider the unique limestone spring water found in Kentucky the only water with that "just right" combination of minerals suitable enough for the finest Bourbons.
sorry, the website is www.barnonedrinks.com
Zach