“Where rattlesnakes go to get a drunk” – Marty Duffy
When you visit Garrison Brothers Distillery Hye, Texas, you’ll see rolling hills and scrub oak in every direction. The distillery tour starts when you climb onto the back of a jeep, and start driving up the hill. At this moment, you are transported magically to another land. It is the theater of bourbon, and has to be, to me, one of the best distillery tours in the world.
I’m not alone in feeling this way. Whiskey fans around the world have connected with Garrison Brothers, and their mission. These Garrison FANATICS will drive for days, to stand in a mile-long line in the sweltering Texas heat just to get a bottle of their special releases.
Garrison Brothers Distillery is a true pioneer in the craft distilling industry. Dan and Nancy Garrison founded the first distillery in Texas in 2005, and were the first people to legally distill in the state. After nearly two decades of fighting the good fight, The Garrisons have become a leader of a new style of whisky: TEXAS WHISKEY. They believe that for a whiskey to be called a Texas whiskey, it must be fermented, distilled, matured, and bottled in Texas. They were so convinced that the regional designation is so important, that they co-founded the Texas Whiskey Association to create the Certified Texas Whiskey program to protect this designation, which has inspired regional distillers across the country.
When the Garrisons started making spirits, they went to Kentucky and learned from the masters. But when they brought that craft home to Hye, they pushed their whiskey in a very different direction. They pot distill their sweet mash bourbon just once in a 2000 gallon pot still to create a distillate that is rich and oily with incredible mouthfeel. They’ve perfectly matched that distillate to white oak barrels and because of that hot Texas climate it seems to speed along the maturation to make a unique texas Bourbon.
Dan Garrison has been attending the ADI conference since 2009 to share his expertise with the industry, including speaking on panels and delivering the keynote address at our 2013 conference in Denver. I am sure some of you here went to the Whiskey Summit and heard Dan’s presentation Building a Fanatical Cult and Cause-Marketing. The ethos of the brand is GOOD BOURBON CAN CHANGE THE WORLD. And their good bourbon has given back to the community by donating large sums of money to charities through their charity Good Bourbon for a Good Cause.
To date, Good Bourbon for a Good Cause has donated $1.6 million dollars to philanthropy.
Including raising more than $400,000 in 2020 to help the American hospitality industry to recover and rebuild from the coronavirus pandemic. And a few months ago Garrison Brothers launched a new expression, Lady Bird, which sold out in just days and raised $30,000 for the preservation of native wildflowers and plants across the state of Texas through the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Garrison Brothers has demonstrated their commitment to making a world class bourbon,
Their commitment giving back to their community
Their commitment to raising Texas Whiskey onto the world stage,
That generosity of spirit and singular focus on elevating the profile of all micro distillers are why we’re proud to award this year’s Bubble Cap award to Garrison Brothers Distillery.
