Tasting notes

nose

brandied cherry and cinnamon toast with muddled mint, caramel, vanilla and a little citrus peel over oak

palate

dense and chewy; grilled peach, butterscotch and pecan pie, dark brown sugar and maple candy, with cinnamon building

finish

long; rye pepper, nutmeg and clove rise with the heat, while caramel and cherry linger before an herbal, seasoned-oak dryness

Mash bill

70% white corn, 25% rye, 5% malted barley. The grain is non-GMO and all grown in Texas, much of it by Lonestar Family Farms, a third-generation family operation, and the barley is the Wildfire variety. A quarter of the recipe is rye, a high share for bourbon, and it shows in the pepper and clove on the finish.

Awards

• Double Gold — San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2022
• Double Gold — San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2023

Why it's craft

Still Austin mills, mashes, distills and ages all of its whiskey at its distillery in South Austin, using only Texas-grown, non-GMO grain rather than commodity corn. This is its flagship bourbon recipe at full barrel strength, with nothing added but the time in oak. Central Texas heat and sudden cold snaps push the spirit in and out of the barrel faster than in cooler climates, which the distillery credits for how quickly its whiskey develops.