Garrison Brothers Single Barrel

A little background

Garrison Brothers Single Barrel is a Texas straight bourbon whiskey that comes in at 94 proof, is a minimum of four years old, and is distilled by Garrison Brothers Distillery in Hye, Texas. Texas recently passed a law allowing distilleries to sell their products directly to the consumer, so Garrison Brothers decided to take full advantage of this opportunity and start a single barrel program. The single barrel program allows consumer to purchase an entire barrel of whiskey and customize the label for their bottles. All single barrels are made using their standard mash bill of 74% white Texas-grown corn, 15% red wheat, and 11% Canadian Malted barley. Garrison Brothers Single Barrel has an MSRP $110 and is available at the distillery. This particular bottle came from barrel 4647 and is bottle 75/106.

(Tasted neat from a Glencairn Glass)

Color

Copper/Rust

Nose

The nose has notes of corn, dough, and fresh light fruits such as apple and pear; however, these fruit notes are not quite mature yet. Floral notes are also present with the most prevalent note on the nose being the dough.

Palate

The palate is pleasant with notes of caramel, leather, apple, and pear, but once again the dough and yeast flavors shine through. This isn’t an overly complex bourbon, with many of the flavors still developing. The mouthfeel is somewhere between thin and a medium viscosity and only coats the tongue and top of the palate. When water is added, the nose becomes more floral, the palate loses its flavor, and the finish is completely wiped away. There is also a lack of a prominent spice note on this bourbon which seems to be hidden by the overpowering dough and yeast flavors.

Finish

The finish is short with notes of leather, cherry, dough, and yeast. There is also a developing allspice note that sits on the back palate.

In conclusion

This is a bourbon that a person who enjoys very sweet bourbons will really enjoy. I have no doubt that after a little more time in the barrel it’ll really become something special.  The fruit and spice notes are still developing, but remain hidden behind the dough and yeast flavors. With a  premium price tag of $110, I would have had slightly higher expectations, however this is a limited product so I get that. With single barrels varying from barrel-to-barrel, we would suggest trying a sample before commiting to a entire bottle. Long story short, there are some great things happening down in Hye, Texas and we’ll without a doubt be keeping our eyes on Garrison Brothers Distillery.

Note: The sample used for this review was provided at no cost courtesy of Garrison Brothers. We thank them for the sample and for allowing us to review this wonderful whiskey!