Longhorn_Fan68
1,000+ Posts
I am starting this thread to (re)introduce you to a truly Texas enterprise - Texas' first and only bourbon distillery, Garrison Brothers Distillery. My wife and I did a Fredericksburg-area wine tour a few weeks back and we stopped in at their Hye, Texas location to visit Dan Garrison and see what his operation was all about. You will not meet a nicer set of people and possibly no one more knowledgeable about bourbon.
For the record, no, bourbon does not have to be made in Kentucky. It's a misconception.
Dan gave us a tour of his two-building facility. All of the water used in their bourbon is harvested rainwater (cool!) and their still is one they bought from the folks at Buffalo Trace. It looks like something straight out of Willy Wonka. Neat as hell. We got to see the mash fermenting and got to taste some of the "white dog" - the pure alcohol as it comes off the still. Awesome.
Dan then took us into the storage area where he currently has hundreds of barrels of bourbon aging. He expects the first release to happen sometime this year.
We got to taste two of his bourbons - the first was his "normal" stock which he says will go for about $75 a bottle and his "premium" bourbon which will sell for about $700 a bottle (yikes!). Both were pure nectar. As a bourbon and scotch lover this was heaven for me. One sip and I was in love. This bourbon is amazing. There's really no other way to say it.
My reason for posting all of this is because as awesome as all of this sounds, Dan and his crew are facing a real crisis. They need funding. They currently have about $2.5M worth of stored reserves and are looking to raise $4M for operating costs and to expand their facilities so they can increase output. I don't know if there are venture capitalists in the crowd, but he is certainly looking for someone to invest. It seems like a no-brainer, but I don't really know what their books look like.
In the meantime, if you don't know of any serious avenues to offer funding, you can help out by buying merchandise. Apparently it's the only way they can make any money until they start releasing bourbon. If you find yourself out in their direction, send Dan an email - I'm sure he would be glad to give you a tour of the facility. If anyone knows of someone who would be interested in investing, shoot me a pm and I'll get you/them directly in touch with Dan.
Right now it's a labor of love for him, hopefully it'll pay off for him and the rest of Texas very soon.
The Link
I almost forgot, there is one avenue for funding for those who cannot cough up sizable amounts and that's the Old 300 Club:The Link
For the record, no, bourbon does not have to be made in Kentucky. It's a misconception.
Dan gave us a tour of his two-building facility. All of the water used in their bourbon is harvested rainwater (cool!) and their still is one they bought from the folks at Buffalo Trace. It looks like something straight out of Willy Wonka. Neat as hell. We got to see the mash fermenting and got to taste some of the "white dog" - the pure alcohol as it comes off the still. Awesome.
Dan then took us into the storage area where he currently has hundreds of barrels of bourbon aging. He expects the first release to happen sometime this year.
We got to taste two of his bourbons - the first was his "normal" stock which he says will go for about $75 a bottle and his "premium" bourbon which will sell for about $700 a bottle (yikes!). Both were pure nectar. As a bourbon and scotch lover this was heaven for me. One sip and I was in love. This bourbon is amazing. There's really no other way to say it.
My reason for posting all of this is because as awesome as all of this sounds, Dan and his crew are facing a real crisis. They need funding. They currently have about $2.5M worth of stored reserves and are looking to raise $4M for operating costs and to expand their facilities so they can increase output. I don't know if there are venture capitalists in the crowd, but he is certainly looking for someone to invest. It seems like a no-brainer, but I don't really know what their books look like.
In the meantime, if you don't know of any serious avenues to offer funding, you can help out by buying merchandise. Apparently it's the only way they can make any money until they start releasing bourbon. If you find yourself out in their direction, send Dan an email - I'm sure he would be glad to give you a tour of the facility. If anyone knows of someone who would be interested in investing, shoot me a pm and I'll get you/them directly in touch with Dan.
Right now it's a labor of love for him, hopefully it'll pay off for him and the rest of Texas very soon.
The Link
I almost forgot, there is one avenue for funding for those who cannot cough up sizable amounts and that's the Old 300 Club:The Link
