Inside Garrison Brothers Distillery’s Massive 2024 Expansion Project

Texas’ Hill Country region is known for its towering stony hills, steep canyons, beautiful springs and underrated wine scene. Beyond those things, it’s increasingly becoming known for its bourbon.

That’s thanks to Garrison Brothers Distillery.

The first legal whiskey distillery in Texas and the first bourbon distillery built outside of Kentucky, Garrison Brothers has grown from niche craft distillery to something of an institution. The distillery was founded in 2006 by Dan and Nancy Garrison, broke ground in 2007 and sold its first bottle of bourbon in 2010.

Since that first bottle, Garrison Brothers estimates more than 200,000 people have visited its distillery, which sits on 68 sprawling acres of Hill Country ranch land.

In April, Garrison Brothers completed a major expansion project, providing the distillery with 50% more production capacity. The expansion included a brand-new commercial kitchen; a 50% mash house expansion; additional septic, fermentation, power, water, fire suppressant systems and fire hydrants on property; and more bathrooms on the property.

The new Garrison Brother’s rickhouse, aka “The Show Barn,” is capable of holding 14,400 53-gallon barrels. As you can see in this picture taken in September, it’s not too full just yet, but founder Dan Garrison predicts it will be full by March.

The project is highlighted by a brand new 25,000 square-foot rickhouse, which founder Dan Garrison says is the largest barrel warehouse in Texas. Fittingly named “The Show Barn,” the stunning warehouse can house up to 14,400 53-gallon barrels. Three thousand of those square feet are dedicated to a Visitor’s Center that boasts glass views of the hill country, a Texas-style bourbon bar, events and meeting space and what the distillery calls a “curated collection of Garrison Brother story, awards and legacy.”

The expansion also included the planting of 100 trees and a buff to Garrison Brothers’ rainwater collection system, which it uses to proof its bourbon. Following the expansion, the distillery has the capacity to collect up to 600,000 gallons of water.

About Garrison Brothers Distillery

Garrison Brothers distills its bourbon from a mashbill of 74% corn, 15% wheat and 11% malted barley. At a glance, with its wheated mashbill and wax-dipped bottles, Garrison Brothers looks like a Texan version of Maker’s Mark. And in fact, Garrison Brothers has a good relationship with Maker’s and its chairman emeritus, Bill Samuels Jr. The distilleries even struck a gentleman’s agreement around the tine of Garrison’s genesis: Garrison Brothers can wax-dip its bottles so long as it doesn’t use red wax or drip its wax — two key visual aspects of Maker’s Mark’s iconic bottle design.

Tasting Garrison Brothers Bourbon, however, an experienced bourbon drinker would never mistake it for Maker’s Mark. That’s not a slight to either brand, both of which are delicious in their own ways. But Garrison Brothers has a unique flavor profile, one that’s disparate from any Kentucky bourbon.

Part of that is almost certainly due to Texas’ harsh climate, which every Texas distiller will tell you is a major factor in the flavor of their whiskeys. Another factor may be its distillation method.

When Garrison went to Kentucky to learn about bourbon, he saw a common practice he wanted to diverge from.

“If you double distill, which is what everybody in Kentucky does, … you’re taking out all of the flavor of the grain,” Garrison said. “When I was in Kentucky and I saw that happen, I thought, ‘Why do they do that?”

Theorizing that a second round of distillation takes removes flavor from the grain oil, Garrison returned to Texas, ready to distill his whiskey just once. He’s been satisfied with the technique, and it’s safe to say Garrison’s fan base has, too.

“When you taste Garrison, it’s a very different mouthfeel,” Dan Garrison explained.

He’s not wrong. It’s tough to explain how exactly, but Garrison Brothers just tastes different from any other bourbon on the market. And of course, when something’s vastly different from anything else, it’s going to be polarizing, which is certainly the case with Garrison. Many drinkers love it, while many others aren’t fans.

To find out which camp you fall in, you’ll have to taste your way through the Garrison Brothers collection!

Breaking Down the Garrison Brothers Bourbon Lineup

In case you’re unfamiliar with Garrison Brothers, here’s a roundup of the brand’s whiskeys, which it affectionately refers to as its “babies.”

Small Batch (85 Raided Score®): Bottled at 94 proof, Garrison Brothers Small Batch is blended in batches of 50-55 barrels aged at least three years and selected by Garrison Brothers Master Distiller Donnis Todd.

“I work really hard within a year to make it all taste the same,” Todd said. “That’s where the where the craft, the art comes into play, is looking for those next 50.”

Single Barrel (92 Raided Score®): Also bottled at 94 proof, Garrison Brothers Single Barrel is bottled from (duh) single barrels of bourbon. While tasting barrels to consider for Small Batch, Todd says he sometimes comes across certain barrels that “won’t play well with others” and instead work better on their own. These end up being bottled as Single Barrels.

Cowboy (91 Raided Score®): Arguably Garrison’s most coveted expression, Cowboy Bourbon releases once a year. According to Todd, most of the barrels chosen for Cowboy are close to empty due to evaporation. Always bottled at cask strength, Cowboy often eclipses the “hazmat” mark of 70% ABV, but Todd says high proof isn’t the main factor he considers when selecting Cowboy. Instead, it’s all about the flavor.

I don’t really chase the proof; I want it to be this huge, huge flavor bomb,” Todd explained. “I don’t want cowboy to just be folks chasing a hazmat bourbon, because that’s not what it is.”

Garrison Brothers Master Distiller Donnis Todd holds up a glencairn of whiskey fresh out of the barrel.

Balmorhea (91 Raided Score®): Balmorhea is Garrison’s double-oak offering. It’s aged four years in new American oak and then transferred to a secondary new American oak barrel for a year of finishing. It’s bottled at 57.5% ABV.

Laguna Madre (94 Raided Score®): A highly limited, sought-after release, Laguna Madre is aged for four years in new American oak and then finished in French Limousin oak barrels for an additional four years. Bottled at 101 proof, this is the rarest and best offering in Garrison’s portfolio.

Todd says that the barrels that go into Laguna Madre are ones he finds have notes of white chocolate and vanilla bean.

HoneyDew (88 Raided Score®): Sweet and pleasant, Honeydew is Garrison Brothers’ honey-infused bourbon. Sure to impress more than your average Jack Daniel’s Honey, this release takes Garrison’s 4-year-old bourbon and infuses it with Burleson’s organic wildflower honey.

“It’s not liqueur-based; it’s Garrison brothers Texas straight bourbon whiskey,” Todd said. “No doubt: When you taste it, you know there’s bourbon there. I just wanted to highlight some original notes, but I didn’t want to get all syrupy, goopy [or] come across as artificial. I didn’t want it to be a sugar bomb.”

Lady Bird (90 Raided Score®): Lady Bird takes Garrison Brothers HoneyDew and finishes it in cognac casks for three years. The final result is a delightfully sweet and complex bottling that’s perfectly proofed at 114.

Guadalupe (90 Raided Score®): Bottled at 107 proof, Guadalupe is aged four years in new charred oak barrels and then moved to tawny port barrels for an additional two years.