4 Texas Bourbons You Need to Try — Lone Star State Distilleries Are More Than Worthy

Fall is fast approaching, and while your thermostat shows no signs of that fact, an ever growing list of new bourbons are here to help you toast its arrival. After all, September is National Bourbon Heritage Month.

While other spirits make do with a single day in their honor, bourbon — the only truly American native spirit — thinks it’s entitled to a month-long celebration. I don’t disagree.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States reports that interest in bourbon has soared in recent years. “In 2020, more than 28 million 9-liter cases of American whiskey were sold in the United States, generating over $4.3 billion in revenue for distillers,” the council reports.

American whiskey has long held sway this side of the pond. When George Washington wasn’t busy chopping down cherry trees and ridding the country of red coats, he ran the largest whiskey distillery in the early years of the nation at his Mount Vernon estate.

Its aged and mellowed offspring bourbon was officially recognized as a distinctively American product in 1964. By an act of Congress. Under federal law, bourbon must be made in the United States, and must consist of at least 51 percent corn and be aged in new, charred oak containers.

While some of the newest bourbon offerings skirt that “new, charred oak” regulation, American bourbon is coming on strong, with intriguing updates and envelope-pushing processes. Securing a spot on the ever growing bourbon wall is becoming more difficult with each passing year. You gotta stand out to register in this drinks world.

Here a few new bourbons worth sipping this fall:

High Rye Texas Straight Bourbon ― TX Whiskey

Fort Worth’s own Firestone & Robertson has added a few new expressions to its lineup this year. Last fall, it launched two new ones ― TX Straight Bourbon Tawny Port Finish and TX Straight Bourbon PX Sherry Finish. Both are fabulous, finished in casks from Portugal and Spain respectively. The Tawny Port Finish is one of my personal favorites.

Firestone & Robertson also recently added a rye to its lineup. High Rye Texas Straight Bourbon is now the second expression in the distillery’s TX Experimental Series.

High Rye Texas Straight Bourbon carries a unique mash bill of 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye and 4 percent malt. Each batch of High Rye Bourbon was aged for more than five years in American oak 53-gallon barrels. Without adding water to your highball, the rye spice, stone fruit (apple) and oak aromas are prevalent, with plenty of sweetness beneath. If water is added, the rye spice is joined by caramel, brown baking spices and fig as the dominant aromas.

Balcones – Pilgrimage

Coming from Waco’s Balcones Distillery, Pilgrimage pays tribute to “both the journeys we are all on and the traveling companions we explore and wander with.” But, fair warning, it is $79 a bottle.

This newest Balcones Distillery release is crafted with Golden Promise malted barley and aged in used casks. It is then finished in sauternes dessert wine barrels. A simple bourbon, it is described as having “complex honeyed fruit notes of canned peaches, golden raisin and Asian pair alongside sweet, nutty grain notes of Baklava. These are supported by floral eddies of honeysuckle and dry herbal cardamom warmth with unexpected pops of Chinese five-spice and ginger chews.” Consider it a worldwide tour in a glass.

Texas Pecan Brown Sugar Bourbon – Blackland Distilling

With and exceptional bourbon and an even better rye under its belt, Fort Worth-based distillery Blackland added a niche spirit toward the end of 2020, and to the company’s surprise it has become a bestseller. Texas Pecan Brown Sugar Bourbon is on the sweeter side, as you might expect. It is lovely as a stand alone after-dinner cocktail and also makes a fine mixable bourbon for your favorite recipe.

There is a noticeable pecan taste up front in this small batch Blackland Distilling bourbon.

Silver Star 1849 Bourbon – Trinity River Distillery

Another Fort Worth distillery, Trinity River Distilling with its Silver Star Spirts is gaining notoriety as well. Along with the distillery’s eminently mixable Texas Honey whiskey is the bourbon, made from a mash of corn, rye and barley and aged in 30-gallon white oak barrel for just more than three years.

Its name is a nod to Fort Worth being founded in 1849 on the banks of the Trinity River. After all, good bourbon is very much a Texas thing these days.

It is Bourbon Heritage Month — and there are so many new ways to celebrate.