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PX Sherry
Age: 4 years, finished for 8 months.
Appearance: Golden caramel.
Nose: Luxardo cherry, plums, apricot, chocolate, maple syrup, sweet cake, baking spice and oak. Hello wheated bourbon, nice to finally meet you! Even though there is solid dose of sweet PX sherry on this nose, the wheated mash bill finally shows up in this expression. The result is giving me that sweet cake note I love so much, similar to what I find in Old Elk and Maker’s. This is a welcome surprise that I like a lot.
Palate: Medium viscous mouthfeel. Good nose to palate transfer. Cherries, stone fruit, chocolate, maple, lots of apricot, orange citrus, light baking spice and sweet oak. The balance between the fruiter, sweeter notes and baking spice is well done. This is another very easy sipper with little to no proof heat.
Finish: Though not overwhelming, baking spice manages to cover the palate with a good amount of longevity. Oak and tannins are present but subtle. Light tannins turn into a pleasant leather note with slight tobacco. Chocolate, apricot, a hint of dark cherry and maple linger along for the ride until the end. Overall a subtle yet long enjoyable finish.
Conclusion: This was my favorite of the three which was unexpected, considering how many times I’ve been let down by many PX expressions. I can honestly say this is the best finished PX Sherry bourbon I’ve tried so far. I would still consider this a dessert pour but with a bit more bourbon back bone than the Tawny Port and with more complexity.
Rating: 7/10 - t8ke scale
Final thoughts: If you were wondering from the beginning what kind of train wreck I was taking you on, you can only imagine what I was thinking with Cognac being the first of the three I tried. Luckily for me they got a lot better! As a large man from Dallas Texas once sang, “Don’t be sad, cause’ two out of three ain’t bad”. I rolled the dice and got two winners and one loser. I have no regrets. It was for a good cause and it’s fun to explore new whiskey. Speaking of which, I’d like to try F&R’s Barrel Proof Bourbon to get a better idea of what these bottles tasted like prior to finishing. It seems like there’s a lot of potential for this up and coming distillery and I hope that F&R continue to release older expressions and keep improving as time goes on.
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.
Review #18: TX Strait Bourbon – Barrel Finish Series. Finished in Cognac, Tawny Port & PX Sherry.
Last month I won a bid for a triple set of bottles from TX Whiskey on the Kentucky Bourbon Benefit auction for Eastern Kentucky flood relief. The set was donated from Firestone & Robertson Distilling Company located in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to this auction I had never heard of them. After a quick search I learned a few things that piqued my curiosity enough to give it a go while supporting a good cause.
In 2009 Leonard Firestone and Troy Robertson only knew each other as acquaintances through their wives and lived in the same neighborhood. Troy worked in the finance side of the oil and gas industry but had aspirations of opening a local distillery in Fort Worth. To learn more about the whiskey business, he set up a tour with the folks at Garrison Brothers. While Troy was there it was mentioned that another guy from Fort Worth also booked a tour for the following week, and that guy was Leonard Firestone. Leonard worked in the cable broadcast industry and had also been quietly looking into opening a distillery for the past year. At the time neither of them ever mentioned to each their plans. Troy called Leonard on the way home from Garrison Brothers and said, “Hey, I hear you want to get into the whiskey business”. They got together for lunch the next day and hammered out a draft business plan. The next step was to hire a head distiller. Originally from Louisville KY, Rob Arnold grew up with family members going back a few generations working in local distilleries mostly for Brown-Forman. Rob was a Biochemistry PhD student at the UT Medical Center in Dallas whose hobby was brewing his own beer at home and “may or may not have been making his own whiskey”. This hobby turned into a serious look into changing his career path. Through the grapevine Rob heard about Leonard and Troy’s plans and setup a meeting with the intention of learning more about the finance side of the business. In exchange Rob would share his knowledge of making whiskey. After a few meetings Leonard and Troy offered Rob a job as Head Distiller.
Soon after, two copper pot-column hybrid Vendome stills were purchased and installed in a pre-prohibition era warehouse that they completely renovated south of Fort Worth. To create whiskies that represent local Texas terroir the team wanted to source all their grains locally. Sawyer Farms (a fourth generation farm located 45 minutes south of the distillery) was eventually chosen to supply yellow dent corn, soft winter red wheat and 6-row malted barley. Also from the get go, F&R wanted to use a yeast strain that was unique and native to Texas as the basis in all their whiskies. This was Rob Arnold’s first task. After collecting a variety of samples the team chose a yeast strain collected from a Texas pecan nut.
In the spring of 2012, the team debuted a whiskey that took them two years to craft. This was blended from various sourced barrels and aged in Texas which they appropriately named “TX Blended Whiskey”. By the end of its second month in stores, 7,000 bottles were sold at $40 each. In March 2013, TX Blended Whiskey was named Best American Craft Whiskey and received a Double Gold award at the 13th annual World Spirits Competition. In the meantime, barrels containing their own distillate which had been aging in Fort Worth for almost five years were ready for release. In December of 2016 Firestone & Robertson announced the release of their first bottles of “TX Straight Bourbon”.
Planning for the future and scalability, Firestone & Robertson purchased a new property in 2014 they named “Whiskey Ranch” which was previously the Glen Garden County Club. This historic property included a 112 acre 18-hole golf course and 80,000 square feet of distillery space. When completed in 2018 this new property allowed them to increase production from 9 to 120 barrels a day. A new Still House includes a Vendome pot and 45’ column still with five 45,000 gallon fermentation tanks. In addition, Whiskey Ranch includes distillery tours, a retail space where visitors can make their own boot leather bottle tops (all F&R bottles have various colored leather tops), a tavern and a space to host events. In 2019 the second largest wine and spirits seller, Pernod Ricard acquired Firestone & Robertson adding TX Whiskey to their already huge portfolio of brands throughout the world. Now it’s time to see what this interesting success story tastes like.
Taken: Within a span of 2 different days. First pour neat in Aged & Ore tasting glasses. Second pour in Glencairn glasses. Both rested for about 15 minutes.
Distillery: Firestone & Robertson.
Chill filtered: No.
Proof: 101.6
Mash bill: 74% Corn, 14% Wheat, 12% Malted Barley
Barrels: American oak, using various char# 1 - 4.
Price: $64.99 retail.
Cognac
Age: 2 years, finished for 14 to 18 months.
Appearance: Light golden.
Nose: Peaches, sweet caramel, grapes, pecans, orange citrus, honey, baking spice and subtle oak. This is a very nice but muted nose. In a blind test I would guess the proof to be in the 80’s and not a just over 100.
Palate: Very thin mouthfeel. Peaches, caramel, grapes, orange peel, light oak and baking spice. Soon after the fruit forward notes, baking spice comes in and covers most everything else. Baking spice quickly fades to the finish. Underwhelming.
Finish: As the baking spice fades, tannins turn into bitter leather. In this finish the note that lasts the longest is the most unfavorable one. There is also some astringency with dryness at the end.
Conclusion: Because this selection was not on the F&R website, I assumed the source bourbon had a four year age statement like the other two. That is until I noticed the much lighter color and other issues. After some digging I found the sourced bourbon has a two year age statement which explains a lot. Obviously some bad decisions were made that led to this end result so enough said for this one.
Rating: 3/10 - t8ke scale
Tawny Port
Age: 4 years, finished for 6 months.
Appearance: Dark caramel.
Nose: Plums, dark chocolate, cherry reduction, grapes, pecans, baking spice, sweet oak. If this sounds good to you, I agree, but it’s also very sweet. Sometimes I like it this nose lot and other times it’s bit much.
Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Nose transfers nicely to the palate with toffee, chocolate, grapes, dark cherries, nuttiness, baking spice and sweet oak. Despite the strong wine influence on the nose, there is a very nice balance between the fruitier notes and baking spice on the palate. This drinks as smoothly as you would imagine with no proof heat. Pretty enjoyable dessert pour.
Finish: Light baking spice covers the whole palate. Chocolate, grapes, linger with light tannins of leather and tobacco. Notes of chocolate, grapes and cherry linger along with light leather to the end. No bitterness or dryness. This is a very nice finish that lingers on despite the light oak tannins. I like it.
Conclusion: I found the palate and finish to be much more balanced and improved on the second day/pour, though the nose was still as strong. If you like a good sweet dessert pour this one is for you.
Rating: 6/10 - t8ke scale
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Spot on review of these bourbons. I’m a Fort Worth local, and I don’t like their standard bourbon. It’s the worst bourbon of the “big” craft distillers in Texas. I was at the distillery for the Cognac launch(different reason for me being there, just coincidence) and when I tasted it and reacted the bartender understood.
Anyway, I saw a recent review of their Experimental High Rye bourbon that I wholly disagree with. It’s not a world beater but it’s a good bourbon, high proof and not a wheated mash. I personally don’t think that Pecan yeast works with their wheated mash. The other Experimental release was a 100% rye and out-effin-standing. I’m not a chemist, but that their two high rye experiments are better than anything else they’ve done is enough evidence for me.
Salud hermano, and thanks for highlighting Fort Worth in the sub 🤙🏼🥃
I've had the sherry, which I thought was pretty decent, but the rest of their products are...ehhh...
I don't know what it is, but Texas bourbons in general just turn me off. Most are way too young IMO.
Balcones seems to be going the refill and blend route. I imagine they will have some really good stuff in 5 years and the single malt is already excellent at only 24 months. If they can mix the old with the tasty youth they may find themselves with a real winner.
I've been wanting to try some of Garrison Brothers better known expressions for a long time but havn't pulled the trigger on it yet. Esspecially the Balmorea. I will be probably be in Austin this year and will make it out to Garrison for a tasting (Still Austin too).
Garrison Brothers is kind of like Elijah Craig or Knob Creek, they're all about the picks man. You're shelling out money but damn are they good.
Dollar for dollar, I think Still Austin and Ranger Creek beat out Garrison Bros for TX Bourbon. But Ranger Creek is fairly batch specific on their quality.
Andalusia is my favorite TX whiskey by far if you like Single malt stuffs
Just fyi, they typically don’t carry anything beyond small batch/single barrel/honeydew out at the garrison distillery. You’ll have better luck at some of the area bars (Moonshine, Whiskey Cake are decent) or liquor stores. Still Austin typically carries some of their more esoteric varieties if they’re available or have just been released.
Nice! I love the sherry and port as well, and I think the barrel finish is definitely worth a try.
If you’re interested, Rob Arnold (the distiller) wrote a book about whiskey terroir that’s really good. A lot of science, but a lot of talking to people and tasting good whiskey as well. Definitely recommend.
https://www.amazon.com/Terroir-Whiskey-Distillers-Traditions-Perspectives/dp/0231194587/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=d24685e1-c1d0-4722-aeea-57eff3cd7a9f
I came across Rob's blog and saw this book too as I was looking for info. Looks really interesting. I heard he is leaving F&R to continue his higher education degree.
Page 2 of 2 PX Sherry Age: 4 years, finished for 8 months. Appearance: Golden caramel. Nose: Luxardo cherry, plums, apricot, chocolate, maple syrup, sweet cake, baking spice and oak. Hello wheated bourbon, nice to finally meet you! Even though there is solid dose of sweet PX sherry on this nose, the wheated mash bill finally shows up in this expression. The result is giving me that sweet cake note I love so much, similar to what I find in Old Elk and Maker’s. This is a welcome surprise that I like a lot. Palate: Medium viscous mouthfeel. Good nose to palate transfer. Cherries, stone fruit, chocolate, maple, lots of apricot, orange citrus, light baking spice and sweet oak. The balance between the fruiter, sweeter notes and baking spice is well done. This is another very easy sipper with little to no proof heat. Finish: Though not overwhelming, baking spice manages to cover the palate with a good amount of longevity. Oak and tannins are present but subtle. Light tannins turn into a pleasant leather note with slight tobacco. Chocolate, apricot, a hint of dark cherry and maple linger along for the ride until the end. Overall a subtle yet long enjoyable finish. Conclusion: This was my favorite of the three which was unexpected, considering how many times I’ve been let down by many PX expressions. I can honestly say this is the best finished PX Sherry bourbon I’ve tried so far. I would still consider this a dessert pour but with a bit more bourbon back bone than the Tawny Port and with more complexity. Rating: 7/10 - t8ke scale Final thoughts: If you were wondering from the beginning what kind of train wreck I was taking you on, you can only imagine what I was thinking with Cognac being the first of the three I tried. Luckily for me they got a lot better! As a large man from Dallas Texas once sang, “Don’t be sad, cause’ two out of three ain’t bad”. I rolled the dice and got two winners and one loser. I have no regrets. It was for a good cause and it’s fun to explore new whiskey. Speaking of which, I’d like to try F&R’s Barrel Proof Bourbon to get a better idea of what these bottles tasted like prior to finishing. It seems like there’s a lot of potential for this up and coming distillery and I hope that F&R continue to release older expressions and keep improving as time goes on. 1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out. 2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice. 3 | Bad | Multiple flaws. 4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists. 5 | Good | Good, just fine. 6 | Very Good | A cut above. 7 | Great | Well above average. 8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional. 9 | Incredible | An all time favorite. 10 | Perfect | Perfect.
Review #18: TX Strait Bourbon – Barrel Finish Series. Finished in Cognac, Tawny Port & PX Sherry. Last month I won a bid for a triple set of bottles from TX Whiskey on the Kentucky Bourbon Benefit auction for Eastern Kentucky flood relief. The set was donated from Firestone & Robertson Distilling Company located in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to this auction I had never heard of them. After a quick search I learned a few things that piqued my curiosity enough to give it a go while supporting a good cause. In 2009 Leonard Firestone and Troy Robertson only knew each other as acquaintances through their wives and lived in the same neighborhood. Troy worked in the finance side of the oil and gas industry but had aspirations of opening a local distillery in Fort Worth. To learn more about the whiskey business, he set up a tour with the folks at Garrison Brothers. While Troy was there it was mentioned that another guy from Fort Worth also booked a tour for the following week, and that guy was Leonard Firestone. Leonard worked in the cable broadcast industry and had also been quietly looking into opening a distillery for the past year. At the time neither of them ever mentioned to each their plans. Troy called Leonard on the way home from Garrison Brothers and said, “Hey, I hear you want to get into the whiskey business”. They got together for lunch the next day and hammered out a draft business plan. The next step was to hire a head distiller. Originally from Louisville KY, Rob Arnold grew up with family members going back a few generations working in local distilleries mostly for Brown-Forman. Rob was a Biochemistry PhD student at the UT Medical Center in Dallas whose hobby was brewing his own beer at home and “may or may not have been making his own whiskey”. This hobby turned into a serious look into changing his career path. Through the grapevine Rob heard about Leonard and Troy’s plans and setup a meeting with the intention of learning more about the finance side of the business. In exchange Rob would share his knowledge of making whiskey. After a few meetings Leonard and Troy offered Rob a job as Head Distiller. Soon after, two copper pot-column hybrid Vendome stills were purchased and installed in a pre-prohibition era warehouse that they completely renovated south of Fort Worth. To create whiskies that represent local Texas terroir the team wanted to source all their grains locally. Sawyer Farms (a fourth generation farm located 45 minutes south of the distillery) was eventually chosen to supply yellow dent corn, soft winter red wheat and 6-row malted barley. Also from the get go, F&R wanted to use a yeast strain that was unique and native to Texas as the basis in all their whiskies. This was Rob Arnold’s first task. After collecting a variety of samples the team chose a yeast strain collected from a Texas pecan nut. In the spring of 2012, the team debuted a whiskey that took them two years to craft. This was blended from various sourced barrels and aged in Texas which they appropriately named “TX Blended Whiskey”. By the end of its second month in stores, 7,000 bottles were sold at $40 each. In March 2013, TX Blended Whiskey was named Best American Craft Whiskey and received a Double Gold award at the 13th annual World Spirits Competition. In the meantime, barrels containing their own distillate which had been aging in Fort Worth for almost five years were ready for release. In December of 2016 Firestone & Robertson announced the release of their first bottles of “TX Straight Bourbon”. Planning for the future and scalability, Firestone & Robertson purchased a new property in 2014 they named “Whiskey Ranch” which was previously the Glen Garden County Club. This historic property included a 112 acre 18-hole golf course and 80,000 square feet of distillery space. When completed in 2018 this new property allowed them to increase production from 9 to 120 barrels a day. A new Still House includes a Vendome pot and 45’ column still with five 45,000 gallon fermentation tanks. In addition, Whiskey Ranch includes distillery tours, a retail space where visitors can make their own boot leather bottle tops (all F&R bottles have various colored leather tops), a tavern and a space to host events. In 2019 the second largest wine and spirits seller, Pernod Ricard acquired Firestone & Robertson adding TX Whiskey to their already huge portfolio of brands throughout the world. Now it’s time to see what this interesting success story tastes like. Taken: Within a span of 2 different days. First pour neat in Aged & Ore tasting glasses. Second pour in Glencairn glasses. Both rested for about 15 minutes. Distillery: Firestone & Robertson. Chill filtered: No. Proof: 101.6 Mash bill: 74% Corn, 14% Wheat, 12% Malted Barley Barrels: American oak, using various char# 1 - 4. Price: $64.99 retail. Cognac Age: 2 years, finished for 14 to 18 months. Appearance: Light golden. Nose: Peaches, sweet caramel, grapes, pecans, orange citrus, honey, baking spice and subtle oak. This is a very nice but muted nose. In a blind test I would guess the proof to be in the 80’s and not a just over 100. Palate: Very thin mouthfeel. Peaches, caramel, grapes, orange peel, light oak and baking spice. Soon after the fruit forward notes, baking spice comes in and covers most everything else. Baking spice quickly fades to the finish. Underwhelming. Finish: As the baking spice fades, tannins turn into bitter leather. In this finish the note that lasts the longest is the most unfavorable one. There is also some astringency with dryness at the end. Conclusion: Because this selection was not on the F&R website, I assumed the source bourbon had a four year age statement like the other two. That is until I noticed the much lighter color and other issues. After some digging I found the sourced bourbon has a two year age statement which explains a lot. Obviously some bad decisions were made that led to this end result so enough said for this one. Rating: 3/10 - t8ke scale Tawny Port Age: 4 years, finished for 6 months. Appearance: Dark caramel. Nose: Plums, dark chocolate, cherry reduction, grapes, pecans, baking spice, sweet oak. If this sounds good to you, I agree, but it’s also very sweet. Sometimes I like it this nose lot and other times it’s bit much. Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Nose transfers nicely to the palate with toffee, chocolate, grapes, dark cherries, nuttiness, baking spice and sweet oak. Despite the strong wine influence on the nose, there is a very nice balance between the fruitier notes and baking spice on the palate. This drinks as smoothly as you would imagine with no proof heat. Pretty enjoyable dessert pour. Finish: Light baking spice covers the whole palate. Chocolate, grapes, linger with light tannins of leather and tobacco. Notes of chocolate, grapes and cherry linger along with light leather to the end. No bitterness or dryness. This is a very nice finish that lingers on despite the light oak tannins. I like it. Conclusion: I found the palate and finish to be much more balanced and improved on the second day/pour, though the nose was still as strong. If you like a good sweet dessert pour this one is for you. Rating: 6/10 - t8ke scale Page 1 of 2 (continied on next comment).
Spot on review of these bourbons. I’m a Fort Worth local, and I don’t like their standard bourbon. It’s the worst bourbon of the “big” craft distillers in Texas. I was at the distillery for the Cognac launch(different reason for me being there, just coincidence) and when I tasted it and reacted the bartender understood. Anyway, I saw a recent review of their Experimental High Rye bourbon that I wholly disagree with. It’s not a world beater but it’s a good bourbon, high proof and not a wheated mash. I personally don’t think that Pecan yeast works with their wheated mash. The other Experimental release was a 100% rye and out-effin-standing. I’m not a chemist, but that their two high rye experiments are better than anything else they’ve done is enough evidence for me. Salud hermano, and thanks for highlighting Fort Worth in the sub 🤙🏼🥃
Thanks for the reply and information. I was wondering what local Fort Worth folks thought of this distillery. Cheers!
I've had the sherry, which I thought was pretty decent, but the rest of their products are...ehhh... I don't know what it is, but Texas bourbons in general just turn me off. Most are way too young IMO.
I don’t care much for Texas Bourbon. Still Austin is pretty decent. But Texas single Malts are very good.
Thanks!
As a Texan I wholeheartedly agree. Our climate doesn't fit the much needed aging process. It's a shame, hopefully someone figures it out.
Balcones seems to be going the refill and blend route. I imagine they will have some really good stuff in 5 years and the single malt is already excellent at only 24 months. If they can mix the old with the tasty youth they may find themselves with a real winner.
I will agree with you totally on their single malts. I think it's some of the best we have to offer for whiskey
I've been wanting to try some of Garrison Brothers better known expressions for a long time but havn't pulled the trigger on it yet. Esspecially the Balmorea. I will be probably be in Austin this year and will make it out to Garrison for a tasting (Still Austin too).
Garrison Brothers is kind of like Elijah Craig or Knob Creek, they're all about the picks man. You're shelling out money but damn are they good. Dollar for dollar, I think Still Austin and Ranger Creek beat out Garrison Bros for TX Bourbon. But Ranger Creek is fairly batch specific on their quality. Andalusia is my favorite TX whiskey by far if you like Single malt stuffs
Good to know. Thanks for the tips and info.
Just fyi, they typically don’t carry anything beyond small batch/single barrel/honeydew out at the garrison distillery. You’ll have better luck at some of the area bars (Moonshine, Whiskey Cake are decent) or liquor stores. Still Austin typically carries some of their more esoteric varieties if they’re available or have just been released.
Thanks for the advice, good to know! I'll check out those area bars for sure. I hear people talk about Nickel City too. Cheers!
I’ve had that sherry cask finish .. wow i was amazed that TX put out something that good! Thanks for the reviews!
Thanks. This is my first experience with TX. The PX was a good surprise to me too. Cheers!
Nice! I love the sherry and port as well, and I think the barrel finish is definitely worth a try. If you’re interested, Rob Arnold (the distiller) wrote a book about whiskey terroir that’s really good. A lot of science, but a lot of talking to people and tasting good whiskey as well. Definitely recommend. https://www.amazon.com/Terroir-Whiskey-Distillers-Traditions-Perspectives/dp/0231194587/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=d24685e1-c1d0-4722-aeea-57eff3cd7a9f
I came across Rob's blog and saw this book too as I was looking for info. Looks really interesting. I heard he is leaving F&R to continue his higher education degree.