There is something almost geological about Garrison Brothers Single Barrel. Each cask tells its own story of the Texas Hill Country — of summers that push rickhouse temperatures well past anything Kentucky ever sees, and winters cold enough to suck the spirit back out of the wood with a gasp. What emerges, one barrel at a time, is a bourbon that wears its climate on its sleeve.
Garrison Brothers founded their Hye, Texas distillery in 2006 and became the first legally operating bourbon distillery outside Kentucky and Tennessee. They use organic, non-GMO corn from the Texas Panhandle, soft red winter wheat, and barley, aging everything in full-size 53-gallon new charred American oak. No small barrels, no shortcuts — just time and weather.
The Single Barrel pours a deep, polished mahogany. On the nose, caramel arrives first, thick and unhurried, followed by toasted pecan and that unmistakable sun-baked oak character that only Texas heat produces. A breath of vanilla bean rounds it out. The palate is dense and chewy: brown sugar, roasted corn kernels, dark cherry, a rattle of cinnamon stick and clove, all wrapped in heavy char. The wheat in the mashbill softens the edges without dulling the intensity.
The finish is long and oak-driven, sweet at first then turning drier, with lingering leather and baking spice. This is not a subtle bourbon. It is Texas in a glass — bold, honest, and a little sunburned. At cask strength variations across the single-barrel program, each bottle is a snapshot of one specific rickhouse corner in one specific year. Hunt down a barrel you love and buy two.
