Maverick Distilling’s Latest Whiskey is a Celebration of Cowboys, Stock Shows and the San Antonio Rodeo

Maverick Distillers released a limited-edition expression honoring the San Antonio Rodeo. (Photo: Maverick Distillers)

San Antonio, Texas-based Maverick Distilling is dropping a limited-release bourbon honoring the San Antonio Rodeo. The Samuel Maverick Double Barrel Bourbon Rodeo Edition hosts a suggested retail price of $75 a bottle, and just 107 bottles are available.

“With this special release, we are honoring the 75th Anniversary of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and the people who make it successful year after year,” Dr. Kenneth Maverick, a co-founder of Maverick Distilling, said in a news release. “The Rodeo gives so much to the people of San Antonio with bull riding, concerts and excellent cuisine. It brings people together from all over Texas to celebrate and share this rich tradition. The Rodeo and western heritage have an important place in the fabric of San Antonio’s history, and we are paying homage to the cowboy and all of the rodeo volunteers who keep this heritage alive.”

The bourbon was distilled from a mashbill of 72% Texas-grown corn, 18% rye and 10% malted barley. For this release, the Maverick team chose barrels of whiskey from an undisclosed Texas distillery and allowed them to age in new charred white oak barrels for between two and three years before finishing them in a Samuel Maverick Private Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey barrel for 18 months. The whiskey was bottled at 115 proof.

In December, Maverick Distilling released a whiskey featuring an unusual grain in its mashbill that dates back to the 1800s. The grain was triticale, a wheat and rye hybrid that is similar visually to rye and often gets mistaken for the spicy, herbaceous grain. According to the brand, the use of triticale was an accident, after Maverick Distilling ordered rye but received this grain from the malt house thanks to an order mixup. We tasted the interesting whiskey and found it “remarkably distinctive.” The whiskey had sweet aromas of honey and plenty of freshly baked bread aromas.

Samuel Maverick Double Barrel Bourbon Rodeo Edition Tasting Notes, Via Maverick Distilling

Nose: Earthy vanilla and caramel.

Taste: Smooth with créme brûlée, caramel and cola.

Finish: Silky with rye spice.

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