After nearly two decades of perfecting their craft in the unforgiving heat of the Texas Hill Country, Garrison Brothers Distillery is rolling out something they've never attempted before. Come late February, the state's oldest legal whiskey operation will unveil its first Bottled-in-Bond bourbon—a six-year-old expression that represents both a personal milestone and a bold statement about what Texas whiskey can achieve.
The release, scheduled for February 28 at the distillery in Hye, Texas, arrives with some serious credentials. This isn't just another small-batch experiment. The bourbon was distilled back in fall 2019 and has spent six full summers cycling through the extreme temperature swings that define Texas aging. Those conditions—blistering days followed by surprisingly cool nights—force whiskey to interact with barrel wood in ways that northern distilleries simply can't replicate.
Dan Garrison, who founded the operation back in 2006, made it clear this release represents something fundamental about their approach. "From day one, Garrison Brothers has cooked our own mash, fermented our own distillers beer, pot-distilled, and aged our bourbon right here in Hye, Texas," Garrison explained. "There's no BS here."
He wasn't exaggerating about the aging process. "For six summers, this whiskey moved in and out of the wood, tightening its flavor and deepening its color. We proofed it down to 100 and put our name on it. This release marks a milestone for Texas distilling, Donnis Todd and our entire team."
What Makes It Bottled-in-Bond
The "Bottled-in-Bond" designation isn't some marketing gimmick dreamed up in a boardroom. It's a legal standard that dates back to the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897—a piece of legislation that essentially created consumer protection in the American spirits industry. Before that law, you never really knew what you were getting in a bottle of whiskey.
The requirements are specific and unforgiving. Everything has to come from one distillation season, made by one distiller, at a single distillery. The whiskey must age at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse. And when it's finally bottled, it needs to clock in at exactly 100 proof—no more, no less. There's zero wiggle room.
For a relatively young Texas distillery to meet these standards represents a significant achievement. Many established operations never bother with Bottled-in-Bond expressions because the restrictions make production planning difficult. You're essentially betting on a single batch aging well enough to stand on its own four to six years down the line.
Master Distiller Donnis Todd emphasized that meeting the legal definition was never the actual goal. "One run, one place, one team. Then we let Texas do what Texas does. Hot days. Cool nights. Oak inhaling and exhaling until the whiskey got bold, and layered, and honest," Todd said.
His ambitions went further. "We were not chasing 'bottled-in-bond.' We were chasing the best bottled-in-bond bourbon ever made."
The Texas Advantage
Texas isn't Kentucky, and Garrison Brothers has never pretended otherwise. The climate that makes Hill Country summers nearly unbearable for humans turns out to be remarkably effective at aging bourbon. When temperatures spike during the day, whiskey expands into the charred oak barrels. When things cool down at night, it contracts back out. This constant movement extracts flavors from the wood at an accelerated pace compared to more temperate regions.
The result is a bourbon that develops complexity faster than its age statement might suggest. Six years in Texas barrels can produce characteristics that might take eight or nine years in a Kentucky rickhouse.
The bourbon itself starts with Texas grains and gets proofed down using pure Hill Country rainwater. Everything from start to finish happens on-site, which is increasingly rare in an industry where many "craft" labels are actually just buying and bottling whiskey distilled elsewhere.
Tasting Notes From The Source
According to Garrison Brothers, this bourbon doesn't mess around. The nose hits you with oak and smoke, layered with tobacco, leather, and what they describe as campfire kindling. It's the kind of opening that signals you're not dealing with a delicate, easy-drinking spirit.
On the palate, toasted oak and heavy wood sugars dominate. The brand characterizes the drinking experience as "robust, earthy, deep, and full"—basically the opposite of smooth and mellow. They compare it to drinking something between maple syrup and homemade root beer, with sassafras and sarsaparilla notes providing an almost medicinal quality that old-school bourbon drinkers tend to appreciate.
The finish sticks around, delivering caramelized dark chocolate up front before transitioning to plums, nectarines, roasted almonds, and toffee. It's a complex conclusion that suggests this bourbon rewards slow sipping rather than quick shots.
Getting Your Hands On A Bottle
The initial release will be limited to 2,000 bottles, all hitting the distillery on February 28 during what Garrison Brothers is calling their "Bottled in Bond, A 100 Proof Texas Celebration" event. The timing coincides with Texas Independence Day, which seems fitting for a distillery that's spent two decades proving Texas can compete with Kentucky and Tennessee in the bourbon game.
After that distillery-exclusive launch, the bourbon will roll out to online retailers and select bars and restaurants nationwide by the end of March. The suggested retail price sits at $99.99, which positions it as a premium offering but not completely out of reach for serious bourbon enthusiasts.
At just under a hundred bucks, it's competing in a crowded price bracket where consumers have plenty of options from established Kentucky distilleries with decades or centuries of history. Whether Garrison Brothers can command that price point will depend on how the market receives this first Bottled-in-Bond effort.
The Bigger Picture
This release marks the 10th permanent expression in Garrison Brothers' portfolio, which has been steadily expanding as the distillery matures. They've already earned national recognition for other releases. Their Laguna Madre bottle made Maxim's list of Best American Double-Barrel Whiskeys of 2025, and their small-batch Red, White and Bourbon release generated buzz around National Bourbon Day.
The distillery currently distributes across all 50 states and five international markets—impressive reach for an operation that's only been around since 2006. When Dan Garrison started this venture, Texas had no modern whiskey distilling tradition to speak of. He was essentially building from scratch, trying to prove that bourbon could be made outside the traditional heartland.
Nearly twenty years later, Texas whiskey has become its own category, with multiple distilleries now operating across the state. But Garrison Brothers can claim to be the first legal whiskey distillery established in Texas in the modern era, which carries some weight in an industry obsessed with heritage and tradition.
Why This Matters
Bottled-in-Bond bourbon has experienced something of a renaissance in recent years. What was once seen as a dusty old category favored by older drinkers has found new appreciation among younger whiskey enthusiasts who value transparency and authenticity. The strict requirements mean you know exactly what you're getting—no mystery sourcing, no blending of different distilleries' products, no playing games with age statements.
For Garrison Brothers to enter this category represents confidence in their product and their process. They're essentially saying they can play by the oldest rules in American whiskey and still produce something worth drinking.
Whether this bourbon lives up to Donnis Todd's ambitious goal of being "the best bottled-in-bond bourbon ever made" will be determined by consumers and critics over the coming months. But the willingness to make that claim, to put their name on a bottle that meets every requirement of a 127-year-old law, shows how far Texas whiskey has come.
The initial release will likely sell out quickly at the distillery. The real test comes with the wider release in March, when this bourbon will sit on shelves next to established Bottled-in-Bond offerings from distilleries that have been in business since the 1800s. That's when the market will deliver its verdict on whether Texas heat and Hill Country water can produce a bourbon that stands alongside Kentucky's finest.
For now, Garrison Brothers is betting that six years of Texas weather, strict adherence to historical standards, and their own growing expertise can deliver something worth the century-old designation. Come February 28, bourbon enthusiasts will get their first chance to find out if that bet pays off.
