4 Central Texas distilleries you need to know if you love whiskey
Prohibition-era history of bootlegged booze aside, the last 10 years have seen a boom in whiskey distilleries around Austin and the birth of an inclusive, innovative community centered on a passion for distilling mashed grain.
During September’s recent Bourbon Heritage month, I spoke to the folks behind some of Austin’s distilleries about the Texas whiskey scene, what makes their distillery special, and what is going on right now in Austin-made whiskey. What I found was a scene refreshingly free of pretension and full of people who joyfully and compulsively obsess over each process that goes into grinding, cooking, mashing, aging and bottling.
“What marks our people most is that we really, really hate snobs,” Crowded Barrel Co. Distillery founder Daniel Whittington said. “We love whiskey nerds but we hate whiskey snobs.”
All the distilleries I spoke to had a deep respect for Texas terroir and sourcing locally. All of them seem to know each other; when one distillery runs out of barrels, it’s likely they’ll give another one a call. All of them are proud to be making whiskey in Texas.
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Fierce Whiskers
Newcomers to the ATX whiskey scene, Fierce Whiskers distillery just celebrated their one-year anniversary and the release of their first single-barrel bourbon, Five O’ Clock Shadow, on Sept. 24 (currently sold out, $70 at anniversary). Founded by self-professed nerds, childhood friends and veteran clean energy entrepreneurs Tri Vo and Tim Penney, Fierce Whiskers is committed to producing beautiful whiskeys with minimal environmental impact. Five O’ Clock Shadow is carbon-negative, meaning the processes used in distilling, bottling and distributing the bourbon are powered by solar and wind energy and use carbon-reducing local products like ISC White Oak barrels.
Their new bottle has been aging for slightly less than two years, so it isn’t “straight bourbon” (bourbon aged for a minimum of two years). Their premium flagship release will be available for purchase in another two years. Despite being a young bourbon, Five O’Clock Shadow tastes smooth and bright, with notes of caramel, plum and vanilla.
During my Zoom call with Vo, who was born and raised in Houston and also founded clean energy company Carbon Better, he was holding his newborn baby — his infant second child, not the new bourbon — and excited about creating whiskey through sustainable processes.
“We wanted to show our industry, Texas and our consumers that if you care, you can do,” Vo said.
“We want to be about making really awesome whiskey and being awesome Texans. But we need to be responsible citizens of the world and care about the environment our kids will be living in.”
Fierce Whiskers is at 5333 Fleming Court; www.fiercewhiskers.com.
Tasting room hours: 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
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Still Austin Whiskey Co.
Since it was founded in 2015, Still Austin Whiskey Co. has claimed many Austin titles — first Austin distillery since Prohibition, official whiskey of the Longhorns and Texas Exes, ardent Austin art scene sponsor. For founder Chris Seals, who grew up on farms around Missouri and East Texas before moving to Austin in 1993 to attend the University of Texas, the city has played an integral role in his life, and now in his whiskey.
“It would be hard to find another thing in my life that has made me Chris Seals more than Austin, Texas,” Seals said.
Austin’s inclusive community was also formative in his coming out as a proud gay man.
“It helped me to accept, value and fully express who I am,” he said.
When Seals decided to open a distillery with his father, a recent retiree hunting for a passion project, he wanted to give back to the city that gave him so much. Every employee at the distillery owns a share of the company and they source everything locally, from grain to glass. Each label is designed by an Austin artist and Still Austin has become a community hub, hosting regular music events and spotlighting local creators.
The distillery not only tightened the bond between Seals and Austin, but also between him and his father — they’re closer than they’ve ever been and talk every day.
“It helped us accept each other for who we are, and value what makes us different,” he said.
Still Austin Whiskey Co. is at 440 E. St. Elmo Road; stillaustin.com.
Tasting room hours: Noon to 10 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
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Garrison Brothers
If there was one distillery that could be credited with the Texas whiskey boom, Garrison Brothers, the first-ever (legal) whiskey distillery to open in Texas, is it. Founded by Austinite Dan Garrison and his family in 2005, Garrison Brothers has become synonymous with quality Texas whiskey. They take their time, buying fresh grain and grinding onsite instead of purchasing it pre-ground, using pot stills, and they do a traditional cook that takes 8-12 hours rather than a modern process that takes only one. Each batch is only 50-55 barrels aged 4-8 years, and after being cut with rainwater, comes out to about 95 bottles per barrel.
Master distiller Donnis Todd credits Texas hardiness as the source of their quality, and is especially passionate about how the terrain shapes both the whiskey barrels and their commitment to what tastes best over what’s easy.
“The elements around Texas mold us into who we are, makes us tougher. The spirits are the same way. They’re survivors,” Todd said.
Their customers share this zeal for Texas terrain: When Balmorhea State Park struggled to stay open in 2017-2021 because of lack of funds for construction, Garrison Brothers named a bottle Balmorhea to spread awareness and donated a portion of the proceeds toward reopening the park. The park reopened in summer 2021.
Garrison Brothers is at 1827 Hye-Albert Road in Hye; garrisonbros.com.
Tasting room hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.
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Crowded Barrel Whiskey Co.
Crowded Barrel Whiskey Co. is democracy at its finest. Located in Dripping Springs, the world’s first crowd-funded distillery was born out of Daniel Whittington and Rex William’s social media following. The pair started popular YouTube channels Whiskey Tribe and Whiskey Cult (now Whiskey Vault) in November 2015, where the two discuss and review whiskey; each channel has over 400,000 subscribers. They parlayed their YouTube success into the Whiskey Tribe Patreon in March 2018, and in the first month received over $30,000 in subscription fees and donations.
“We thought, we can’t just keep that money and say, ‘Thanks.’ That’s a bad look,” Whittington said.
Their next thought was: “Why don’t we make the distillery theirs?”
They put the word out to their followers and immediately began to strategize. Patreon members voted on each step of the distillery construction process with tiered contributor levels, from the paint color to the shape of the distillery and the first whiskey they were going to make. After the distillery opened in August 2018, they continued the process by putting out an episode each week educating listeners on aspects of the whiskey distillation process and putting everything to a vote. According to Whittington, the experiment has birthed two bottles of whiskey and a strong community.
“The Texas whiskey community is an actual community. We know each other, we hang out. When we run into problems we call each other,” he said.
Crowded Whiskey Barrel Co. is at 16221 Crystal Hills Drive in Dripping Springs; crowdedbarrelwhiskey.com.
Tasting room hours: 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Update: This story has been updated to correct the last name of Daniel Whittington, including in a photo caption.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Whiskey distilleries in Austin and Central Texas you should visit
