New Garrison Bros bourbon $160???

[smknjoe]

You've never spent much time here have you? :grin:

TEXAS!!!

[cowdery]

You've never spent much time here have you? :grin:

TEXAS!!!

Some, not a lot. Love it or hate it, you can't deny Texas and Texans are unique.

[squire]

Chuck would you favor us with some tasting notes?

[smknjoe]

Some, not a lot. Love it or hate it, you can't deny Texas and Texans are unique.

Chuck I was poking fun. I'm from Alabama but have lived here for ~12 years. If you slap Texas on it, it will most likely sell. They even have Texas edition trucks of every make down here.

I'm sure their whiskey is a best effort, but I can't bring myself to blow $80 on the stuff I see at Spec's.

[cowdery]

Probably the most distinctive flavor note is butterscotch. The whiskey has a lot of body and sweetness. It's one of the few, young, craft distillery bourbons that is actually recognizable as bourbon. Its youth does betray it in that it still has a little bit of white dog in the background. The way they're aging it, it will probably start to get too woody after four years, so they'll probably never get it into what for me would be ideal balance, but it's a worthy effort. So it's not perfect by any means. I think he might eventually be sorry that he doesn't double. But he and his crew have their own ideas about things. They work very hard and are making the product they want to make.

[squire]

I appreciate the honest assessment.

[wadewood]

Probably the most distinctive flavor note is butterscotch. The whiskey has a lot of body and sweetness. It's one of the few, young, craft distillery bourbons that is actually recognizable as bourbon. Its youth does betray it in that it still has a little bit of white dog in the background. The way they're aging it, it will probably start to get too woody after four years, so they'll probably never get it into what for me would be ideal balance, but it's a worthy effort. So it's not perfect by any means. I think he might eventually be sorry that he doesn't double. But he and his crew have their own ideas about things. They work very hard and are making the product they want to make.

Majors ditto. I have tasted some of his product from the barrel that you thought you where were eating a butterscotch candy: just incredible.

Edited May 17, 2013 by wadewood

[LostBottle]

Its youth does betray it in that it still has a little bit of white dog in the background.

[squire]

And we should be grateful to get it.

[smokinjoe]

Daggummit, Sue Ellen! You better pick up 4 cases then, you lush...

[z327]

I too have met Dan at tastings and like a lot of how he does business. But I am disappointed at the pricing. GTS retail pricing I would have no issue with, but Pappy 23 pricing is crazy. I have tried multiple releases and only enjoyed one. I'm not a long time enthusest so not the best pallet. But I think his small barrels and what I would call accelerated aging makes for a good young bourbon but it still tastes and finishes young IMHO. I don't get the wonderful breadth of flavors like I enjoy from the BTAC or PHC bottles. So I will have to pass on this one. Being born and bred in Texas it's hard to say no. I'll save my cash for the fall releases or a lucky find.

[WhiskyRI]

Not sure why people are so upset about a very expensive bourbon - seriously. If you don't like the price move on to something else. $160 a 375ml is a heckuva lot cheaper than The Triple 8 Distillery's Notch 888 whiskey which sold for.....wait for it... $888, and was also relatively young. I think sometimes people forget the liquor business is in fact a business. If Garrison is charging more than the market will bear, he won't be in business that long. But as someone who has spent way too much time in Houston in July and August, and who's dad is an Aggie (Gig'em), my guess is Garrison will do just fine. He ain't aiming for the bottom shelf and there is no reason why he shouldn't try for the top shelf. All I can say is that ambitious pricing like this has been happening in Single Malts, and blended scotch whisky, for quite some time and now it has come to bourbon. Lucky us. Yea. My bottle of Old Fitzgerald BIB is looking pretty good right now.

[weller_tex]

Some, not a lot. Love it or hate it, you can't deny Texas and Texans are unique.

You know I 100% get it..as I said I am as Texan as it gets. One side of my family has been here since the 1850's. I think I appreciate more because I work away from Texas sometimes as much as 7 months out of the year. I guess he is just truly appealing to the wealthy Texans out there and not your regular Joes. He is kind of like the Sakowitz (a long departed high-end department store in Houston) or Neiman-Marcus I guess.

I do like the fact that he gives first dibs to the folks around Hye, but obviously he ain't aiming for some roughneck or a ranch-hand as his customer. I have really had to fight myself hard not to buy a bottle of the $75 stuff. The fact that I know it is 100% Texas made is a huge source of pride. I imagine most non-Texans would think it's crazy to even contemplate paying $75 for a 3 year old bourbon. After trying it at a bar I decided against it..but if he improves the bourbon I might think about it again. I reckon I found my crazy limit at $160 per 375ml..

[weller_tex]

Not sure why people are so upset about a very expensive bourbon - seriously. If you don't like the price move on to something else. $160 a 375ml is a heckuva lot cheaper than The Triple 8 Distillery's Notch 888 whiskey which sold for.....wait for it... $888, and was also relatively young. I think sometimes people forget the liquor business is in fact a business. If Garrison is charging more than the market will bear, he won't be in business that long. But as someone who has spent way too much time in Houston in July and August, and who's dad is an Aggie (Gig'em), my guess is Garrison will do just fine. He ain't aiming for the bottom shelf and there is no reason why he shouldn't try for the top shelf. All I can say is that ambitious pricing like this has been happening in Single Malts, and blended scotch whisky, for quite some time and now it has come to bourbon. Lucky us. Yea. My bottle of Old Fitzgerald BIB is looking pretty good right now.

I am Class of '86, tell your Dad a fellow Ag passed along a Howdy. After reading what Chick and others wrote I am beginning to change my mind on this a bit. As I said in another reply, he's like the Sakowitz and Neiman-Marcus of bourbon. If you could afford it, you shopped at Sakowitz because it was a Houston and Texas institution. Obviously Garrison Bros. is not an institution but they certainly get props for doing it the right way..like Balcones.

[weller_tex]

Probably the most distinctive flavor note is butterscotch. The whiskey has a lot of body and sweetness. It's one of the few, young, craft distillery bourbons that is actually recognizable as bourbon. Its youth does betray it in that it still has a little bit of white dog in the background. The way they're aging it, it will probably start to get too woody after four years, so they'll probably never get it into what for me would be ideal balance, but it's a worthy effort. So it's not perfect by any means. I think he might eventually be sorry that he doesn't double. But he and his crew have their own ideas about things. They work very hard and are making the product they want to make.

"..But he and his crew have their own ideas about things. They work very hard and are making the product they want to make." Now that's something all Texans can get behind, We don't like being told what to do, or how we should do things..

[weller_tex]

Some, not a lot. Love it or hate it, you can't deny Texas and Texans are unique.

You know I 100% get it..as I said I am as Texan as it gets. One side of my family has been here since the 1850's. I think I appreciate more because I work away from Texas sometimes as much as 7 months out of the year. I guess he is just truly appealing to the wealthy Texans out there and not your regular Joes. He is kind of like the Sakowitz (a long departed high-end department store in Houston) or Neiman-Marcus I guess.

I do like the fact that he gives first dibs to the folks around Hye, but obviously he ain't aiming for some roughneck or a ranch-hand as his customer. I have really had to fight myself hard not to buy a bottle of the $75 stuff. The fact that I know it is 100% Texas made is a huge source of pride. I imagine most non-Texans would think it's crazy to even contemplate paying $75 for a 3 year old bourbon. After trying it at a bar I decided against it..but if he improves the bourbon I might think about it again. I reckon I found my crazy limit at $160 per 375ml..

[weller_tex]

"Majors ditto. I have tasted some of his product from the barrel that you thought you where were eating a butterscotch candy: just incredible. "

I did not get that in the drink I had..I am still on the fence about buying a bottle of the standard $75 stuff. My inner Texan keep drawing me towards the bottle each time I go to Spec's. OT a bit but it really irks me that Spec's pushed that 1835 Bourbon that isn't even made in Texas. It's not horrible stuff on ice..but it sure ain't Texas whiskey.

[MyOldKyDram]

Not sure where the pride comes from in a bottle of overpriced, subpar bottle of whiskey but okay. Moving on indeed.

[smokinjoe]

..but if he improves the bourbon I might think about it again.

From the dreck I have tasted from GB, there's a whole lot of improving to go. It just ain't good, folks.

I hate to be a downer, but all of the micros should stick to making corn liquor, various white dogs, gins, vodkas, and specialty "house style" whiskies. I'm sorry, but I don't think they can make bourbon to the quality we expect. Leave that job to the pros in Kentucky.

As a famous man once might have said, for the price of this 1/2 bottle of GB, I'd rather have a case and a half of VOB.

[WhiskyRI]

Have to disagree with you Smokinjoe on leaving it to the pros in Kentucky. The "pros" in Kentucky make both good bourbon and bad bourbon. Yes they do it at scale and yes some of it is very good and very inexpensive. Most of the micro product is very young right now and a lot of it drinks poorly for way too much money. However, with business realities and learning curves being what they are - their quality will improve pretty quickly. Now you may choose not to buy their product until it meets your standards, but there is an amazing amount of learning, innovation and experimentation (I'll leave the buffalo trace experimental collection for another thread) happening in craft distilling right now. Sure there are some over-priced duds, and quite a few of them at that, but there are also some gems. I have no doubt the Craft Distiller bourbon quality will improve enough to rival the quality of some of the best bourbons made anywhere, but probably never at the same price. That is simply a matter of scale - when you put away 10,000 or 100,000 barrels a year your cooperage costs and materials costs decline dramatically. I think the "house style" whiskies are going to make the "pros from Kentucky" raise their game. People like local products - sure HH, or BT, or , BF, or JB may make great whiskey but their strength of consistency at scale is actually a weakness in that it's the same no matter where you are. I think the corollary of craft beer will hold true - Budweiser sales have been declining for years while craft beer sales have been taking away share in aggregate every year for the last 10 years or more. It'll be interesting to see what happens - personally I think the next 5-10 years will be a lot of fun for Whiskey consumers. Besides the dusties of tomorrow are being put on shelves somewhere today.

[p_elliott]

Butterscotch are you kidding I was looking around for a cat to lick it's ass to get the taste out of my mouth.

[Halifax]

600 bottles @ $160 equates to $96K at retail. Taking into account retailer and distributor mark-ups that would mean around $40-$50K in revenue for GB. After expenses that ain't a big chunk of profit. I've never had GB whiskey before. Don't plan on buying any either... Just ain't my thing to pay a premium for what most consider to be a sub-par product. That said... I hope they get their retail price. It's good to see small venture being successful in this industry. We'll all benefit long term.

[redbear]

Chuck, your post reads like Dan is paying you for marketing.

I have never seen a bottle of GB for over the ~75 a bottle. It is readily available in all of the major liquor stores in Austin. I don't personally know anyone who has bought a bottle. So, I call BS on the "overcharging" comment. I've been to every liquor store within a 50 mile radius of Austin, including the one in Hye.

I've tasted it. It's OK. Not remarkable and, for me, not worth $75 a bottle.

[smokinjoe]

Have to disagree with you Smokinjoe on leaving it to the pros in Kentucky. The "pros" in Kentucky make both good bourbon and bad bourbon. Yes they do it at scale and yes some of it is very good and very inexpensive. Most of the micro product is very young right now and a lot of it drinks poorly for way too much money. However, with business realities and learning curves being what they are - their quality will improve pretty quickly. Now you may choose not to buy their product until it meets your standards, but there is an amazing amount of learning, innovation and experimentation (I'll leave the buffalo trace experimental collection for another thread) happening in craft distilling right now. Sure there are some over-priced duds, and quite a few of them at that, but there are also some gems. I have no doubt the Craft Distiller bourbon quality will improve enough to rival the quality of some of the best bourbons made anywhere, but probably never at the same price. That is simply a matter of scale - when you put away 10,000 or 100,000 barrels a year your cooperage costs and materials costs decline dramatically. I think the "house style" whiskies are going to make the "pros from Kentucky" raise their game. People like local products - sure HH, or BT, or , BF, or JB may make great whiskey but their strength of consistency at scale is actually a weakness in that it's the same no matter where you are. I think the corollary of craft beer will hold true - Budweiser sales have been declining for years while craft beer sales have been taking away share in aggregate every year for the last 10 years or more. It'll be interesting to see what happens - personally I think the next 5-10 years will be a lot of fun for Whiskey consumers. Besides the dusties of tomorrow are being put on shelves somewhere today.

[Balcones Winston]

I'm getting a bottle.