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In a world full of whiskey opinions, it’s Texas bourbon that divides us the most. There is something uniquely different about bourbon made in the Lone Star state. The issue revolves around the extremely hot climate that barrels age in. Texas distilleries find that their whiskey evaporates so quickly that they’re only able to get about two years of maturation before most barrels need to be pulled and bottled. Leaving them to age any longer could result in an empty barrel and lost profits.
This is why I’m baffled when I read about releases like Garrison Brothers’ Cowboy Bourbon. It has seen 6 years in a new oak barrel maturing smack dab in the middle of Texas. What kind of trickery did Dan Garrison and his team do to prevent the barrels from evaporating completely? Did he move them to cooler parts of his warehouse? Does he have a secret underground warehouse? Or are the barrels such high quality that they do not allow as much evaporation? I don’t know the answer to these questions.
The 2023 release of Cowboy Bourbon
Cowboy Bourbon saw its inaugural release in 2013 – roughly 7 years after the brand began. The concept behind it is simple: identify exceptional barrels early in their maturation process, set them aside so they don’t get blended into anything else and keep watching them for several more years until they reach peak maturity.
When the time comes, these barrels are dumped and batched together forming the flagship bourbon of Garrison Brothers. The size of the release varies each year. While I couldn’t find any hard numbers of the total number of barrels that were dumped (I’ve heard it is north of 115 barrels), we do know that the 2023 release netted a total of 9600 bottles. The distillery allots themselves 1000 to release at their gift shop while the rest go out for national distribution.
What kind of bourbon goes into Cowboy Bourbon?
Look up “Garrison Brothers Mash Bill” on Google and you’ll see everyone is talking about it being something like 74% (Texas White) Corn, 15% (red soft) wheat and 11% malted barley. However, the Breaking Bourbon guys say it is “undisclosed.” That could mean one of two things – either it’s a blend of different mash bills or the BB guys won’t put something in writing unless they hear it from the horse’s mouth. I see no reason to think that Cowboy Bourbon is anything other than their standard mash bill and I’ll stick with that opinion unless I hear otherwise.
The barrel entry proof for their bourbon is 114. I previously speculated that Dan Garrison may have picked this exact mash bill and barrel entry proof after learning it from Buffalo Trace back in the early 2000’s. It’s just a theory I have, though. Anyway, the bourbon could have been aged in anything from a 30 gallon barrel, a standard 53 gallon barrel or maybe even one of the 59 gallon barrels that they have custom-built to offset the high evaporation rates. Regardless, these barrels yielded a total batched proof of 140.9 – an increase of over 25 proof points from what it went into the barrel at – Yowza!
Now that we know what Cowboy Bourbon is, let’s see how it tastes. A special thanks to my friend John for the assist in this review. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: I’ve drank many “Hazmat” whiskies before, but this one is extra proofy. My nostrils are immediately shocked with a cloud of ethanol fumes and it takes a minute to adjust. The first scents to appear out of the haze are cooked grains. This will become a theme as the session goes on. Beyond the grainy scents lies chocolate sauce, cinnamon oil and a very sharp oak.
This is not your typical soft oak note found with Kentucky bourbons like Beam, Buffalo Trace or Heaven Hill; it’s closer to the kind you find in heat-cycled bourbons like Old Forester and Woodford. There are lighter notes – blink and you’ll miss ’em – such as vanilla bean and Brandy-soaked cherries. It’s an interesting nose, but I’m finding it hard to fully enjoy.
Palate: The first sip comes out of the gate like a bucking bronco – Hot! Waves of chili oil, Vietnamese cinnamon and red pepper flakes carpet bomb my tongue. The grainy scent from the nose transfers to the palate. It’s present in both taste and mouthfeel. A few “green” notes poke out from time to time, hinting of its youthfulness.
The sharp, somewhat bitter oak, char and new leather flavors tell the story of its barrel influence, but it’s more of a grab for attention than a smooth and mellow interaction. If you have drank Texas bourbon before, then you know that chocolate (in this case, semi-sweet chocolate chips) is a common note to find – which I do here. Other interesting flavors include more “Brandy” notes, hot honey and orange extract oil.
Finish: Not that there was much sweetness to start with, but those notes quickly fade as the proof sting remains. The bitterness tones down a bit, but there is still a lot of char, oak and leather left on my tongue after the sip is complete. I also find other notes like peppermint, citrus, cinnamon and clove. There’s also the sensation of having drank a grain-neutral spirit – kind of like a pure alcohol. It’s a decent finish, but not a particularly memorable one.
Score: 6.8/10
The 2023 release of Cowboy Bourbon is huge, intimidating and struggles with being composed. It’s chock full of various flavors and scents but they don’t interact as harmoniously as I’d like them to. Furthermore, the grainy notes kind of eroded my overall enjoyment as the session went on.
I also felt like Cowboy Bourbon is unrefined overall. That may not comes as a shock to many of my readers because this is bottled at over 140 proof. But I’ve had other 140+ bourbon before that actually taste very cohesive while drinking below their proof. The age (or lack thereof) in this bottle of Cowboy Bourbon undoubtedly plays a role.
Final Thoughts
Perhaps my summary came off as too negative. I don’t mean to poo-poo everything about this bottle. On the contrary, it’s still very much an exciting whiskey to have in your collection or even to get a pour of. For me, it’s one that you drink towards the end of a bottle-share with your friends because you’ll still be able to taste something with all the proof this carries.
It certainly stands out as one of the top-10 most interesting whiskies I’ve tasted from a craft distillery. For those of you who have just read that last sentence and are familiar with my writing, you may be asking why I haven’t included it in my yearly Top 10 “Most Memorable” list. That’s because of the price. This bottle comes in at a scorching $250 – well over the $180 threshold I hold the list to.
That price is simply too much for what is in the bottle. There are other craft producers releasing Hazmat versions of their bourbon at the same age for way less money – like this release from Mile High Spirits. So I can’t in good faith recommend you should buy this bottle. That doesn’t mean it won’t sell. Enthusiasts who love Texas and/or unique whiskies have happily shelled out their money for this bottle year after year. But if you think you’re going to find the next George T. Stagg underneath its golden wax, it’s just not going to happen.