New Garrison Bros bourbon $160???

[TunnelTiger]

Joe - I've read your comments several times and to a degree I agree with everything you wrote. That being said craft distillers that are members of the site and tout their products siting reviews or medals must be mature enough to accept some positive criticism. Being in mfg my entire adult life I know that is hard to do but is the only way to improve your product.

Yes I also agree that some of the comments become personal and that is sad.

[weller_tex]

Squire, I have far more respect for Jim Murray than I do of those so called double gold medals. Yeah, he occasionally rates things that I think he is off his rocker. He has been doing this long time and rates thousands of whiskies; all palettes have off nights. I attended a Garrison tasting a couple of weeks ago and Dan poured all there some of his Cowboy Bourbon. I thought it was very nice and the best craft distilled whiskey I have tried to date.

You originally said that you thought the pricing though was really pushing it..and that was my original point. I am happy he is enjoying success but even for a limited bottling that price is nuts. It comes across to me as an attempt to make the bottling more limited and prestigious to a certain set of customers just by jacking the price up into the stratosphere for bourbons. I had some of Dans standard bourbon and it is ok, but no way would I pay 75 for it..and these days I just can't justify that at all. Maybe if he has some success and more cash flow he will lower the price down into 40s..I would be happy to support a Texas product at that price.

[wadewood]

You originally said that you thought the pricing though was really pushing it..

And I still think that, but I'm frugal. The most I've ever spent for a bourbon is $120 and that was for an 18 YO barrel proof SW Van Winkle (Binny's custom bottling).

As far as making bottlings limited on purpose for marketing to be prestigious I think Garrison has plenty of company.

[squire]

You can support a Texas product at a good price, go pay a visit to Ranger Creek in San Antonio.

[wadewood]

You can support a Texas product at a good price, go pay a visit to Ranger Creek in San Antonio.

Ranger Creek bourbon/ryes have been $35 to $40 for 375ml bottles.

[squire]

Beats $160 for a 375 bottle.

[LCWoody]

I don't believe a Texas "bourbon" will every live up to what to a true bourbon drinkers expectations are. People that have been drinking KY. bourbon for 10, 15, or 20 years have a certain taste profile that they expect from bourbon and I don't believe that TX. "bourbon" will get there. My reasoning is climate, elevation, temperatures, and the lengths of the seasons. KY and TEN are in the sweet spot of the USA. The fact is it's stays to hot in TX. and you will not get the maturity out of a whiskey. (And when I say maturity Im referring to time in the barrel) That doesn't mean that TX can't put out a good whiskey, it's just not going to be what some people (old timers and new comers) consider good bourbon. (And in a round about way GB says that it's not a KY bourbon on their home page)

Because I live next to the great state of TX. I have been able to try a lot of TX "bourbon" including Garrison Bros. I have yet too find one that lives up to what I think is bourbon. Some have been good whiskey. To me if the TX distilleries took a different apache and dropped the bourbon angle people would look at it and taste it in a different way. All of that said $160 is to much money (to me) on a whiskey that is that young. I know that GB is not that old of a brand and that you have to make money, but it's hard to justify that price when you walk a little further down the isles and Bookers is $45 or Henry McKenna 10y BIB is $25.

[squire]

If you expect to consistently get a Bookers price you better meet or exceed a Bookers level.

[gburger]

Beats $160 for a 375 bottle.

Ranger Creek is the same price as Garrison's normal Bourbon, once you double the 375ml price.

I bought some Ranger and in my opinion it is just okay, still a bit young for me.

I am friends with Dan and have many of his bottles of bourbon and have been out there lots of times. So my feelings are a bit skewed.

The bottling in question, The Cowboy Bourbon, was a one off that Dan did, you cannot compare that to other bottlings. I had a chance to buy it, but passed. $150 for 375ml was too much for me.

But why fault him for it. I see many other "special" bottles out there trying to do the same thing.

Good for Dan, he put out those bottles and sold everyone of them, and sold them quick.

What would have been bad for him is if he put those bottles out and only sold a 1/3 of them, but they all sold.

I still see last year's Woodford Reserve's master collection of the 2-375ml of Ryes in many stores. I bought it last year, and after tasting it, wish I would have saved my money.

This year's Malt selections by them have been panned, so I am passing on them.

However there are people out there that have different tastes and all of the products out there will go.

I bought a bottle of AE Cask strength the other day for $150. After tasting it, I went back and bought another one. I really like it.

Balcones Single Malt is fantastic to me, but I hate their Brimstone. My tastes.

Someone gave me some maple flavored bourbon, and after drinking some of it, I felt a bit ill and at the same time wanting some pancakes and bacon.

But to each his own.

One of Dan Garrison's mottos is to make the finest bourbon whiskey he can. Is he doing it? Will he ever? Who knows, but at least he is making it himself and not buying it from LDI or someone else and re-bottling it with some made up name from the past.

So I say to everyone here, just enjoy a nice pour of your favorite bourbon and relax.

Edited December 23, 2013 by gburger

[DBM]

After reading this and the AE CS threads, both revived from the dead, the similarities are obvious. Craft distiller(producer) has a unique/special/exceptional product and chooses to sell for an amount of money that reaches beyond the price points of mature, established and respected labels. SB.com members, on cue, proclaim their disgust for such an egregious, greedy decision and most have never even tried the product.

Without trying to define my opinion, I will get to the summary:

More power to them, and the big boys should learn a thing or two. I think it's ignorant for ORVW, BT and HH to not profit (more) from the hype of their limited release products. If it takes a $150 (AE CS) or $160 (GB Cowboy Bourbon) price tag and a limited release to market a unique/special/exceptional product, all the better! AE and Garrison aren't going to generate enough revenue to support their businesses from these limited releases, but they are getting their best product in the hands of their best customers who will likely purchase across their entire portfolio. And the best part, it's good whisky!!!

Bravo!