Garrison Brothers

Garrison Brothers is the first legal Whiskey distillery in Texas and the first to produce Bourbon Whiskey outside of Kentucky. The founding team around Dan Garrison has managed to deal with the extreme temperatures in Texas and create a Whiskey that interacts intensively with the wood of its barrels and produces an amber-coloured bourbon.

The distillery's flagship is the Garrison Brothers Small Batch Bourbon, which is made from Texas corn, soft red winter wheat from local farms and two-row barley. It is bottled at 94 proof (47% vol.).

Another notable Bourbon is the Garrison Brothers Balmorhea, which is matured for four years in fresh American white oak barrels before spending a further year in a second white oak barrel. It is bottled at 57.5% vol. (115 proof) and is named after Balmorhea State Park - an oasis of crystal-clear water in the middle of the Texan desert, which Dan Garrison regularly visited with his children.

Other bourbons in the range include the Garrison Brothers Honey Dew, the Garrison Brothers Single Barrel, as well as the Guadeloupe, Lady Bird, Laguna Madre and the exceptional Cowboy Bourbon. The latter is created from the favourite barrels of Dan Garrison and Master Distiller Donnis Todd and is bottled at a cask strength of 70.1% vol. (140.2 proof).

Garrison Brothers is the first distillery to produce Bourbon in the USA outside of Kentucky. Following the grain-to-glass principle, every step of the production process - from grain cultivation to production and maturation in the hot Texas climate - is carried out on site. To bring the alcohol to drinking strength, pure Hill Country rainwater is used, which is collected from the roofs of the ranch and filtered with UV rays.

Distilling at Garrison Brothers began on a 100-gallon copper pot still, the Copper Cowgirl, which was purchased in 2005 and originally built for Wild Turkey. In 2010, the two 500-gallon pot stills Fat Man and Little Boy were added. This was followed in 2018 by the huge Big Johnson, a 2,000-gallon pot still which, due to its size, had to be assembled on site before it could be installed in the still house.

Garrison Brothers' Mash Bill is made with 74% Texas corn, 15% red winter wheat and 11% malted barley. All ingredients are grown locally, milled fresh daily and cooked into a sweet mash.

Garrison Brothers ferments its mash for four to five days with the addition of its own yeast strain. The result is a distillers' beer that can reach up to 12% by volume.

Due to the very hot summers in Texas, Dan Garrison had to develop specially made barrels from American white oak with extra thick staves. These barrels are necessary to withstand the intense heat, which allows the Whiskey to mature much faster. To ensure that the barrels can withstand the extreme conditions, the distillery works with coopers across the country. Prior to this collaboration, the barrels had already exploded due to the intense heat. The Angels' Share can be up to 40% - significantly higher than in Kentucky, where it is around 15%.

Once the Bourbon has been bottled and corked, the necks of the bottles are dipped in hot wax by hand and the Texas star is stamped into the top of the wax. Those who are interested can take part in the 'Volunteer Bottling', where they can help with this step of the production process as a volunteer and be rewarded with culinary delights and a unique experience.

The founder of Garrison Brothers, Dan Garrison, came up with the idea of opening a Bourbon distillery when the company he worked for went bankrupt in 2003. Back in Texas, he realised that there was still no Bourbon distillery there - despite his love for this spirit. After intensive research and discussions with master distillers, he began experimenting in his barn in 2005. After many attempts, he succeeded in finding the perfect recipe in 2007. Garrison Brothers received its state licence in 2008 and sold its first bottle of Bourbon in 2010.

The Garrison Brothers Distillery offers various tours, including Bourbon tastings and guided tours, where visitors can learn all about the history and production process and sample the Whiskey. There are also regular concerts at the ranch, and ‘Meet the Maker’ tastings offer the opportunity to meet Dan Garrison in person.