Whisky Watch: TX's Experimental Finish, a Garrison Brothers BIB, and Terry Bradshaw's Aged Bourbons

It’s a light week as far as new releases go, with just three new American whiskeys. Two hail from Texas: Hye-based Garrison Brothers is introducing its inaugural bottled in bond bourbon, and to the north, Fort Worth’s TX Whiskey has a new bourbon-rye blend that’s finished in vino de naranja casks. In Kentucky, NFL icon Terry Bradshaw is adding 6 and 12 year old bourbons to his Bradshaw bourbon roster.

TX Whiskey Experimental Series: Vino de Naranja Blended American

ABV: 41.75%
SRP: $40
Availability: Limited

TX Whiskey has kept innovation at its core through the Experimental Series, which launched in 2020 with a rye whiskey made from 85% rye and 15% malted rye. Six years later, the series is now getting its 15th release, this one a blend of straight bourbon and straight rye whiskeys finished in vino de naranja casks. Both component whiskeys are 5 years old, and once married, they spent an additional 3 years aging in finishing casks that previously held Spanish white wine fortified with orange peels as it aged. Not unheard of, but certainly not common, vino de naranja casks have been used by various whisky makers, including Compass Box, Penelope, Heaven’s Door, and 15 Stars, to name a few. There are 1,500 bottles of the new whiskey available, and they’re exclusive to TX Whiskey’s Whiskey Ranch in Fort Worth, Texas. Buyers are limited to eight bottles within a 30-day period.

Garrison Brothers 6 year old Bottled in Bond Bourbon

ABV: 50%
SRP: $100
Availability: At the distillery starting on Feb 28th, with wider distribution to follow by the end of March

Texas distiller Garrison Brothers has announced its first-ever bottled in bond bourbon. This inaugural batch is 6 years old, having been distilled in fall 2019 from a distiller’s beer that was sweet mashed and open-air fermented. This is the 10th bourbon expression in the distillery’s lineup, joining the port cask-finished Guadaloupe, cognac cask-finished Lady Bird, Limousin oak-finished Laguna Madre, and ultra high-proof Cowboy bourbon, among others.

Bradshaw 6 year old Single Barrel Bourbon

ABV: 51.9%
SRP: $65
Availability: Limited

Bradshaw 12 year old Single Barrel Bourbon

ABV: 51.9%
SRP: $250
Availability: Limited

NFL legend Terry Bradshaw’s namesake whiskey is climbing the age ladder for its latest releases, which are both single barrels. The 6 year old was distilled at Green River, and it has the same mashbill as Bradshaw’s flagship 5.5 year old (70% corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted barley). The 12 year old was bottled at Bluegrass Distillers and features a mashbill of 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% malted barley. The brand says that the older bourbon was bottled at 12 years old as a nod to Bradshaw’s jersey number when he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers.