Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by Firestone & Robertson Distilling Company. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review. It should also be noted that by clicking the buy link towards the bottom of this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs.
Friends Leonard Firestone and Troy Robertson started the distillery that carries their name in their Fort Worth, Texas, garages more than a decade ago. Their timing was good, coinciding with a global whiskey boom, and it wasn’t long before they moved out of their garages and onto what they called Whiskey Ranch on 112 acres that had been a country club.
In 2019, the pair sold Firestone & Robertson Distilling and Whiskey Ranch to Pernod Ricard, an alcohol megabrand that own Aberlour, Jameson, Glenlivit, Chivas, Rabbit Hole, Midleton Very Rare, Jefferson’s, Redbreast, and Green Spot, among other brands. But Firestone and Robertson the men are still involved in day-to-day operations, and their interest in pushing the envelope for what Texas whiskey can be is still very much part of the culture.
The distillery’s regular production run includes five whiskeys and three canned whiskey cocktails at this point, but they aren’t content to stop there. The TX Experimental Series, which debuted in 2020, already included TX Experimental Rye and TX High Rye Texas Straight Bourbon before the latest release.
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The third label in the series, the TX Experimental Blended Straight Bourbon, is a mix of three whiskeys: a four-year-old high-rye bourbon finished in Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels; a four-year-old wheated bourbon finished in new charred-oak barrels; and a two-year-old wheated bourbon finished in a maple-smoked, new charred-oak barrels.
Tasting notes: TX Experimental Series Blended Straight Bourbon
Vital stats: Blend of three bourbons, the ratio of each is undisclosed; 100 proof/50% alcohol by volume; only 1,000 bottles available, at the Whiskey Ranch in Forth Worth, Texas; $40 for half-size, 375 ml bottles.
Appearance: This whiskey is darker than you’d expect, given the aging. I’d say it’s almost an Oloroso sherry color. Decent legs on the side of the glass, as well.
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Nose: A sweet, syrupy bourbon nose greets you almost immediately. Think molasses, vanilla, and honey.
Palate: Where the nose was sugar, the palate is spice. The wood comes to the forefront on your tongue, and if there’s such a thing as “Texas terroir” for whiskey, this has it. What I mean by that is whiskey that aged rapidly in a hot climate, taking on noticeable characteristics of the barrels. It’s spicy and woody, with notes of citrus, nuts, and cinnamon. It has a chewy and velvety mouthfeel.
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