March 6 marks the date in Texas (and US) history in which the Army of Mexico made final assault on and killed all soldiers in the Alamo at great cost to life on both sides. Col. Travis and some 150+ soldiers had been under siege for 13 fateful days defending the western outpost in San Antonio at the old mission known as the Alamo as Santa Ana moved north and then would move west to defeat the insurrection of the province now called Texas who had declared independence from Mexico after Santa Ana took power in 1835.
What was the threat the Alamo posed that the Mexican army had to take the fort with its small number of soldiers? What was its strategic advantage? More importantly, did it hold something of tremendous value that Travis and his men would be willing to die for ultimately and that Santa Ana would sacrifice so many for in return to capture it?
These are the kinds of questions we ask ourselves here in Fredericksburg, Texas from time to time as we sit back and enjoy the better things in life. For Average Guy, it has been a three-year relationship now with Texas first independent distillery that produces Texas first small batch bourbon whiskey known as Garrison Brothers Texas Bourbon Whiskey. Like the volunteers at the Alamo, no sacrifice is too great for God and country (Texas first and foremost. As Davy Crockett said, "You can all go to hell. I shall go to Texas.".
The volunteers at the garrison at the Alamo knew the precious nature of their supply, and this week the volunteers at Garrison are bottling Single Barrel Bourbon, known for all bottles in that limited batch of 65 - 70 bottles coming from a single 15-gallon barrel. Limited in quantity, it becomes a precious supply of high quality small batch bourbon. Like the officers at the Alamo, the staff at Garrison Brothers make sure you understand as a volunteer the unique nature of the bourbon you are handling, so there are special instructions at each part of the bottling process. Part of the honor of bottling at Garrison is the half-hour quality control check made by volunteers and staff... you know, the sacrifice you make for a team kind of thing. Each quality control check provides you the opportunity to sample the bourbon and make a toast. It is an important step in the process that ensures the taste and integrity of the bourbon as well as putting a smile on your face (and in 20 degree weather warming the heart).
Bourbon, it seems, is a trademarked distillate that can only be made in the US. Kentucky once held the lock on bourbons, but Garrison Brothers brought the bourbon industry to Texas and gets most of the ingredients for its bourbon from Texas farms, including Dan Garrison's, and it gets its water for the bourbon from Texas skies above the land that the distillery occupies. The land is the hard rock-filled land that is the Texas Hill Country dotted with thick oak trees knotted by time, land, and hard weather, so it is completely ironic that such a smooth bourbon can come from deceptively beautiful but hard surroundings.
If you ever get the chance to visit Garrison Brothers, take it. It is located between Johnson City and Fredericksburg on Highway 290 just south of Hye. If you ever get a chance to bottle, take it. Tell the gang who bottle I sent you, mainly to increase my value to them, but also to be asked to leave immediately. As we like to say in Texas, they's some good people there.
Remember Garrison Brothers Bourbon...and remember that March 6 is the day the Alamo fell. Santa Ana won, but he lost with that victory. Texas would soon become a republic, and its independence still lives on today.
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