Sherry Casks Wear Themselves Well on Garrison Brothers’ Distinctive Bourbon Profile

(Photo: Garrison Brothers)

Garrison Brothers built its reputation on a very particular style: Texas bourbon with a wheated mashbill and a leathery profile that ages fast in the harsh climate of Texas Hill Country. With June’s dual release of the distillery’s first sherry-finished releases, that base proves sturdy enough to carry a second influence without losing itself.

Garrison Brothers’ Ranch Reserve Series debuted June 27 at the distillery in Hye with two 8-year-old expressions: Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in PX Sherry Casks and Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Oloroso Sherry Casks. Both began their journeys aging in new American oak for four years, before moving into Spanish sherry casks for a lengthy finishing period of four years. The PX version is bottled at 109 proof, the Oloroso at 110, and each carries a suggested retail price of $149.99. Garrison Brothers produced about 6,000 bottles of each.

The two releases split the sherry spectrum. Pedro Ximénez casks, used for dessert-style sherries made from sun-dried grapes, push the bourbon toward dried fruit and dark sugar. Oloroso casks, aged oxidatively and drier by tradition, lean the whiskey toward nuttier, more savory territory.

The magic of both of these bourbons is their balance; four years is a remarkably long time to finish a bourbon. Many bourbons lose some piece of their identity to some extent after that long resting in sherry casks — but not Garrison Brothers. Coming from somebody who tastes whiskey for a living, Garrison Brothers has probably the most distinctive house profile in the bourbon world; taste it blind and you know within a sip that it’s Garrison. That recognizable, potent flavor profile has made the distillery one of the most polarizing in America, with most drinkers landing firmly on one side or the other. It also makes Garrison’s base bourbon the ideal foundation for cask finishing: distinctive enough to hold its shape, dry enough to take on sherry’s sweetness without losing itself.

Click here to read our full review of the PX Sherry Cask Finished bourbon for our complete tasting notes and score. The short version: the PX cask doesn’t overwhelm the base bourbon, and the balance between the two makes for a delicious expression that is my favorite of the two releases.

You can also find our full review of the Oloroso Sherry Cask Finished bourbon here. The Oloroso cask brings nuttiness and dried fruit, and it holds up well against Garrison’s usual intensity.

Garrison Brothers has built its identity around being first: first legal whiskey distillery in Texas, first bourbon producer outside Kentucky since Prohibition. Ranch Reserve marks its first outing into sherry cask finishing specifically, an area where Kentucky producers have played for years. The result proves that Garrison’s base spirit was perfectly suited to the experiment.

Both bottlings are available at the distillery in Hye and through select retail markets where Garrison Brothers distributes.