Fierce Whiskers Texas Straight Bourbon Review

Don't like ads?

No ads

My wife and I have been visiting the city of Austin for the past 10 years because we have very good friends who moved there to be closer to family. During this time, I’ve noticed Austin’s whiskey scene explode at a pace equal to its population boom. On a recent trip, the wives gave my friend and I a few hours to hop around to a couple different distilleries so I could see them up close. We went to Still Austin and Treaty Oak – two names that I was already familiar with – but it was a new distillery named Fierce Whiskers that caught my attention the most.

I had heard of Fierce Whiskers before, but I ignored what they were doing. With so many distilleries opening over the past decade, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, plus I didn’t understand their name because it didn’t sound like something I associated with whiskey. I assumed that they were slapping labels on sourced whiskey and calling it a day. But as we pulled up, I noticed the giant barrel house and distillery fungus growing on some of the signs in the parking lot, I became intrigued. This place felt legit.

Fierce Whiskers – the brand

The name “Fierce Whiskers” was inspired by an 1849 journal entry from Rutherford B. Hayes describing Austin as a land of “fierce whiskers, gaming and drinking.” The founders chose a moniker to reflect their bold, slightly irreverent approach to making spirits. They apparently ran quite the ad campaign around the city a year ago with billboards that challenged the idea of Kentucky bourbon supremacy.

As for the founders of the distillery, they came from backgrounds you wouldn’t think to associate with whiskey. Tri Vo brought a sustainability-driven approach from his role at a company called “CarbonBetter” while Tim Penney added unique engineering know-how to the distillation process. Together, they’ve had to tackle all of the issues that are unique to making whiskey in Texas: the hot, harsh climate, substandard water (sorry if that offends the locals, but it’s pertinent to whiskeymaking) and sourcing local grain.

Tri and Tim’s public tasting room opened in September 2021, but whiskey enthusiasts mark the real beginning in September 2020 when barrels were starting to be filled. These barrels were rolled into their five-story warehouse that’s painted black to better absorb the Texas heat (and also why it’s oriented in a north-south direction). The warehouse holds 5,600 barrels and also employs louvers to enhance airflow throughout when they feel the barrels could benefit from it. I also learned that their building that houses their distillery equipment was built with an east-west orientation to be as efficient as possible for heating and cooling.

The whiskies (and other spirits) that Fierce Whiskers makes are distilled on a 500-gallon hybrid column/pot still made by Vendome. This is a bit on the small side for the amount of whiskey I’ve seen that they’ve socked away, so I can only assume they’re working overtime in there. Their distillation process revolves around a concept they’ve dubbed the “Texas Tight Cut” which means that they’re removing more heads and tails (the nasty compounds that create off-notes or stuff that might poison you) than typical.

For instance, most distilleries using pot stills will remove between 5-10% of the vapor for heads and a similar amount for the tails. I’ve read interviews where the owners say they are removing even more than this, but just how much that is is never clarified. Maybe 15% on each end? Whatever it was, the goal is to have a cleaner-tasting distillate. If you’ve ever had craft distillate made on a pot still, then you know how often off-flavors creep into the final product. Chief Commercial Officer Christina Costello emphasizes this philosophy by saying that they let the barrels and climate craft the complexity, not questionable distillate.

The one question I can’t seem to find an answer to is just what is the mash bill for their bourbon? Google tells me that their mash bill is 70% corn, 20% rye and 10% malted barley. Other websites claim they use wheat instead of rye. I’d love to know which one it is. I’m going to guess it’s wheated because if they are sourcing 99% of their grain from Texas farms (which they claim), then I’m pretty sure rye is out due to its preference for colder climes. Plus, a strong majority of Texas brands use wheat specifically because the faster aging process does not do particularly well with ryed bourbon for some reason. I also want to add that I believe their barrel entry proof is around 118 proof. I’m basing that on the barrels I saw in their rickhouse (more on that later) were listed with a BEP of 118. To be fair, the barrels I saw were all marked as being rye whiskey, so they might have a different proof for their bourbon.

The bottle I’m reviewing today is from their standard lineup. On the back, it says it’s “Batch 2” which should be made up of only 18 barrels. It’s 98 proof and aged for at least 3 years in Kelvin barrels with a #3 char and toast. You may think this is too young, but I’ve had 2-year old Texas whiskey from other producers that tastes easily 5-years-old. So I’ll reserve judgement after I taste it. So how does it taste? Let’s find out. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: What a pleasant nose this has. I’m picking up virtually no youthful, crafty notes. Strange! Instead, I find pleasing bourbon notes like vanilla custard, caramel, candies, oak, tobacco and a little hint of nuttiness. Even the fruit notes are surprising with baked apples and apricots. Baking spices are restrained and add a layer of complexity, but it’s the subtle hint of chocolate that bring it all together.

Palate: While I won’t go quite as far as to say I taste butterscotch (which would be an amazing note to find in a $50 bottle of bourbon), I will say that the caramel flavors have a little something extra to them that I can’t quite put my finger on. Baking spices are even-keeled and never get out of hand. Vanilla, oak and barrel char showcase a kind of yin yang of the distillate. I can taste a bit of milk chocolate here and there, but it’s the black fruit notes that are really interesting. This has an intensity that I don’t normally find in whiskies below 105 proof or (especially) ones aged only three years. The whole dram tastes thicker and richer than I would have ever imagined. It’s winning me over with each sip.

Finish: Moderate to long in length, this finish still has a nice amount of power, but gets slowly drier with each sip. The chocolate has turned into cocoa powder and the vanilla note trails off early. The fruit notes remain and are still just as dark as ever and share the stage with dry oak, oak spice and barrel char.

Score: 7.2/10

I did not come into this bottle of Fierce Whiskers expecting anything higher than a “6,” yet here we are. There was something so polished about this three year old bourbon that it almost feels like I’m going to receive a lot of hate mail for hyping it up so much. But what I tasted was genuinely impressive and has me searching for a way to have more of their products shipped to Indiana.

I have to wonder if part of their success doesn’t have more to do with the maturation of their barrels in that big black warehouse I spoke about earlier. How many small distilleries like this do you know of that have a multi-story warehouse? Most of the ones I know of all age their barrels in a single story warehouse either on pallets or a few ricks high. I have to believe that the ecosystem inside of a warehouse contributes greatly to how all of the barrels age – and it’s not just limited to the ones at the top. Feel free to argue with me in the comments about that statement.

Final Thoughts

Fierce Whiskers feels like a mini-Maker’s Mark. They’re big on innovation, local sourcing and sustainability. They could be a little more transparent about the mash bills they use, but I suppose I should be happy with their willingness to pull back the curtain to reveal other parts of their operation. Remember how I said I observed their barrels up close and personal in their warehouse earlier in this review? It’s because I was offered an unplanned warehouse tour by one of their staff shortly before closing time on a Sunday. What my friend and I observed inside felt very special. Apparently this isn’t totally unique because other bloggers have also mentioned their ability to get a tour with little-to-no prior planning. Still, nothing quite beats the experience of walking amongst the whiskey and soaking in all of that beautiful ambiance.

Final Question: Should you pick up a bottle? If you’re wary of Texas bourbon, this is about as good of a product as they come. It’s balanced, nuanced and fairly priced at under $60 (I’ve seen $45 at some online retailers!). I know I’m not alone when I say that I wish a barrel-proof version would exist, but I also will brag for just a minute and say that the guy who took us into the warehouse also escaped into the backroom and came back with two glasses straight from a barrel. The final product for that was even more impressive. So please, Fierce Whiskers, release a cask-strength version. The audience is clamoring for it. And if you haven’t tried any of their whiskies yet, this is your sign. Fierce Whiskers may be one of the best new distilleries from the get go I’ve experienced in years.