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TX Bourbon finally released


kjbeggs
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On Saturday, Firestone & Robertson (of TX blended Whiskey "fame") held an event at their Fort Worth, TX Distillery to sell the first bottles of their TX Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

I was there, and ended up standing outside in the cold for nearly 4.5 to get my hands on a bottle I will likely never open. (There were hand numbered commemorative stickers placed on each bottle, which were then logged with the buyer's name. The bottles were then signed by the master distiller and the two founders, if you so desired).

Luckily, I did get several sample pours, as the Bourbon has yet to hit retail shelves. Having been disappointed by several so-called "Texas bourbons", I was fearing the worst, but F&R knocked this one out of the park. I got hints of clove, cinnamon, and pecan, with a slightly grass note on the finish. Having toured F&R shortly after they started aging this bourbon, I was really looking forward to this one, and it did not disappoint. Now, if I could just get my hands on a few more bottles. (BTW, for $50 at the distillery, the price was also much better than most of the other, lesser "made in Texas" whiskey products).

 

TXB.jpg

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Good to hear this one isn't like the other Texas bourbons.  I couldn't make it to FW on Saturday so I'll be on the lookout in stores soon.  It'd be nice to a have a legit and GOOD Texas option for the bar.

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It's really good. They are supposedly releasing more at the distillery today if you are out that way.

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Just now, DeepCover said:

Did they give any detail on the age? I assume just 4 years, but i have to ask.

Yea, a little over 4 years.  Per their email, "It's hard to believe, but the first bourbon we distilled has been aging for over 1,700 days in our Fort Worth distillery. We barreled our first batch on March 14, 2012, and we recently harvested it in late November..."

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I'm in Grapevine, TX. right now at Great Wolf Lodge. I might try to swing around there. Anyone know where a good private barrel might be around these parts? A PM or regular message would be much appreciated.

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1 hour ago, DeepCover said:

Any idea what the mashbill is?

It's a wheater but they haven't said exact percentages. All Texas grains, which is why they used wheat and not rye (too hot to grow rye here).

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I read somewhere that the line grew so long they ended up not having enough bottles, so they ended up turning some folks away.  Not a bad thing, they just said that the response was far greater than anticipated (and on a cold day to boot).  I wish them the best!   

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12 hours ago, kjbeggs said:

On Saturday, Firestone & Robertson (of TX blended Whiskey "fame") held an event at their Fort Worth, TX Distillery to sell the first bottles of their TX Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

I was there, and ended up standing outside in the cold for nearly 4.5 to get my hands on a bottle I will likely never open. (There were hand numbered commemorative stickers placed on each bottle, which were then logged with the buyer's name. The bottles were then signed by the master distiller and the two founders, if you so desired).

Luckily, I did get several sample pours, as the Bourbon has yet to hit retail shelves. Having been disappointed by several so-called "Texas bourbons", I was fearing the worst, but F&R knocked this one out of the park. I got hints of clove, cinnamon, and pecan, with a slightly grass note on the finish. Having toured F&R shortly after they started aging this bourbon, I was really looking forward to this one, and it did not disappoint. Now, if I could just get my hands on a few more bottles. (BTW, for $50 at the distillery, the price was also much better than most of the other, lesser "made in Texas" whiskey products).

 

TXB.jpg

 

Nice ad.

 

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9 hours ago, Kepler said:

 

Nice ad.

 

Well, it might have read like an ad, but I assure you I'm not affiliated with F&R in any way. Just someone who really hoped this would turn out to be better than the other whiskeys from my home state.

Edited by kjbeggs
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11 hours ago, Paddy said:

I read somewhere that the line grew so long they ended up not having enough bottles, so they ended up turning some folks away.  Not a bad thing, they just said that the response was far greater than anticipated (and on a cold day to boot).  I wish them the best!   

They had originally set aside 400 bottles, expecting about 300 people to show, plus some of their investors who obviously got more than one.

Late in the afternoon, they capped the line at 750 because they realized they couldn't get everyone through before dark. (They had originally planned to close at 4 PM). They supposedly ended up turning away about 250 people, and going through 800 bottles, twice what they expected. One guy remarked that his distributors were going to be pissed, as they had taken 400 bottles earmarked for distribution to retail in order to get one to everyone there Saturday.

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19 hours ago, dcbt said:

Yea, a little over 4 years.  Per their email, "It's hard to believe, but the first bourbon we distilled has been aging for over 1,700 days in our Fort Worth distillery. We barreled our first batch on March 14, 2012, and we recently harvested it in late November..."

They had these T-shirts for sale, 1,706 Days.

i also wanted to get my Bro-in-law a "TX bourbon" hat, but they had sold out by the time I got to the merch area. One of the girls working there gave me hers.

TXT.jpg

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I went ahead and opened my newly purchased bottle last night.  I'll need to revisit it, especially to make it my first pour of the night rather than the third pour as it was last night.  The nose is striking.  It hits you immediately, and it scared the bejesus out of me.  One word: vomit.  Obviously this isn't really the case, but it smells awful to me.  I can't place it, which is another reason I need to revisit, and I hope others open their bottles so I can read their tasting notes to see if I can identify what it is I'm smelling.  (I'm terrible at picking out most flavors beyond the basics of oak, vanilla, and cinnamon.) 

 

Fortunately, it doesn't taste like it smells.  It doesn't carry the pure corn taste that most Texas bourbons have (Garrison and Bone, I'm looking at you).  It's definitely got more going on than other Texas products, and it goes down easier as well.  It's bottled at 90 proof but seems dangerously drinkable (especially if you have a sinus condition that can stop up your nose).   

 

As a native Texan, I desperately want to love a native Texas bourbon, but I still don't think any of them can stand up to the big boys in Kentucky.  This one might come the closest so far, but the nose leaves it far, far behind.  But I'll try it again this weekend and see if my opinion changes.

Edited by dcbt
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A store I went into happened to offer free samples of this bourbon. It is quite tasty, I'll give you that. But it really tastes so young.  I'm so accustomed to drinking high-value and older age products now that when you go back and try a whiskey that is under-aged, it's so obvious.  Sorry but I couldn't get past that, and passed on buying a bottle. There are just so many better choices out there for less money.  

Edited by Kepler
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On 12/16/2016 at 8:48 AM, dcbt said:

I went ahead and opened my newly purchased bottle last night.  I'll need to revisit it, especially to make it my first pour of the night rather than the third pour as it was last night.  The nose is striking.  It hits you immediately, and it scared the bejesus out of me.  One word: vomit.  Obviously this isn't really the case, but it smells awful to me.  I can't place it, which is another reason I need to revisit, and I hope others open their bottles so I can read their tasting notes to see if I can identify what it is I'm smelling.  (I'm terrible at picking out most flavors beyond the basics of oak, vanilla, and cinnamon.) 

 

Fortunately, it doesn't taste like it smells.  It doesn't carry the pure corn taste that most Texas bourbons have (Garrison and Bone, I'm looking at you).  It's definitely got more going on than other Texas products, and it goes down easier as well.  It's bottled at 90 proof but seems dangerously drinkable (especially if you have a sinus condition that can stop up your nose).   

 

As a native Texan, I desperately want to love a native Texas bourbon, but I still don't think any of them can stand up to the big boys in Kentucky.  This one might come the closest so far, but the nose leaves it far, far behind.  But I'll try it again this weekend and see if my opinion changes.

I read your notes, so I went back to my open bottle (I managed to get another one, my signed bottle remains unopened) and tried to see what you were smelling.

I don't get the vomit smell, or the Kraft Mac N cheese cardboard box smell that Garrison has, though there is a bit of that cardboard smell.

I will say, that when I first opened this bottle it did not taste nearly as good as the sample(s) I had at the distillery. Assuming those samples had been poured and were sitting in the open for a good bit before we drank them, I poured some and let it sit, re-sampling every hour for about four hours. It definitely got better with air.

Still, I'd really like to see it with a couple more years in the barrel.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Happened to be in a LS yesterday just as they got a few more bottles in. Picked another up since any Texan will be interested in trying it so it's a good one to keep on the bar.  When an employee saw it in my hand as I browsed the rest of the shelves, he said he was surprised they got more in. I agreed, that I was just as surprised to see it, and then I asked him if he knew how often they were going to release future batches. He answered, "That's it, it's a one-and-done release, they aren't making more." Ummmm, I'm pretty sure that could not be more wrong. It's so frustrating when LS employees are so misinformed. I don't even bother correcting them anymore, it just falls on deaf ears.

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I don't bother anymore either because they don't want to be annoyed and I'm just wasting my time.

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On 12/31/2016 at 6:44 PM, dcbt said:

Happened to be in a LS yesterday just as they got a few more bottles in. Picked another up since any Texan will be interested in trying it so it's a good one to keep on the bar.  When an employee saw it in my hand as I browsed the rest of the shelves, he said he was surprised they got more in. I agreed, that I was just as surprised to see it, and then I asked him if he knew how often they were going to release future batches. He answered, "That's it, it's a one-and-done release, they aren't making more." Ummmm, I'm pretty sure that could not be more wrong. It's so frustrating when LS employees are so misinformed. I don't even bother correcting them anymore, it just falls on deaf ears.

Seems to be getting easier to find.

Greg (from TS) told me it's not a shortage of juice at issue, it's a shortage of the handmade "caps" that's holding things up.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm now seeing bottles in Houston this week. It looks like it's making its way outside of greater DFW now. I'll probably pick one up next week.

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I'm seeing this regularly around town now, so maybe the bottle caps were in fact the bottle neck.  

 

I still hate the nose on this thing; I just wish I could identify it.  Still hoping someone who is good with tasting notes will help me with that!

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Cool looking bottle. Here in GJ there is a bunch of whiskey/bourbon that is made in CO, have not tried any of them, and there is a pretty good chance I won't, but you never know, at least at this time.:)

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I got a hell of a deal on the bottle at $35, relative to MSRP.

 

I tried this neat in a glencairn.

 

The color is a nice amber, similar to ER10. It looks higher proof than it is. 

 

The nose is heat, heat, cherry, butterscotch and perhaps lemon (though it might be more heat from the alcohol masquerading as lemon).

 

I'm getting corn and butterscotch on the palate - not very complex. This is a tamed (lighter, older, less viscous) version of the corn forward Garrison Bros. us Texans have grown accustomed to. It's not viscous at all, though I'd hoped it would be. 

 

The finish is cherry, some butterscotch again, and sweet cardboard. Yes, it tastes like cardboard smells. 

 

I highly recommend letting this sit for a while before drinking. It benefits from some air. I'll finish the bottle, but I won't buy another one. This will make an appearance at parties and will no doubt get mixed with Coke Zero and various other things that I wouldn't normally advise with bottles I own.

 

Let's compare with other wheaters:

 

I'd rank Weller Special Reserve over this in every category. This has absolutely nothing on Makers Mark. It tastes older than Garrison Bros. and less corn forward, but it's quite thin. I'd actually rather have the GB Cowboy Bourbon or the GB Single Barrel over this, perhaps not the regular GB though.

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