Best little distillery in Austin – The Still Austin Whiskey Co. (Part 2: The Whiskey)
Since the distillery just opened in September, that sweet, delicious bourbon will have to age in the barrel for another few years. In the meantime, The Still is currently making and producing grain whiskies.
As a person who can’t stand vodka, I could not be happier with their unconventional choice of first products. Their first series of grain whiskies is called “new make” meaning “off the still” in Scottish. I think this is perfect because it legitimately comes fresh off of the still. From the taste of it, I am thankful that Nancy works so hard. They use the original “new make” whiskey and infuse it to make two tasty flavored whiskies: daydreamer and mother pepper. Now it is time for a drink…
New Make has a fruity scent with a hint of citrus, followed by sweet flavors. I could taste that sweet, Texas corn with honey that progressed to citrus nodes. It has a spicy finish, leaving a low, lingering burn, also known as a whiskey hug or “healing your soul” in Texas vernacular. I had an old fashioned made with New Make, and I completely loved it! I didn’t think that anything could equal my love of rye in an old fashioned until I had one made with New Make.
Daydreamer is house infused with Valencia, tangelo, and bergamot oranges. It has a straight-forward fresh orange scent. The taste begins with the sweet corn flavors, then it transitions to fresh oranges. The finish has tart orange flavors and a little bit of heat. It makes an extremely refreshing gimlet, and I would highly recommend this for a hot summer day.
Mother Pepper is infused with chile pequin, smoked serrano, and aji amarillo peppers. I am not from Texas, but I think that The Still found a way to infuse this whiskey with pure Texas. It has a heavy pepper scent upfront that leads into spicy pepper flavor. The finish leads to a roasted hickory flavor that calms the initial spice. Sadly, I did not try this in a cocktail, but I would love to use it to heat up my whiskey teriyaki glaze.
Finally, head distiller John Schrepel let me have a small taste of the whiskey going into the barrel for a Small Batch Bourbon. With the complexities and spices in the flavor profiles, I cannot wait until it is ready to drink! Ali, their lead on the experimental batches, is rapidly creating more by the day. They are also partnering with The Austin Winery and Saint Elmo’s Brewing to trade barrels used in the aging process. I may have heard a rumor about aging in pecan porter barrels! If I were a betting woman, I would say that this distillery has a bright future. Go enjoy a drink, I’m off to yoga. Cheers!
Best Little Distillery in Austin – The Still Austin Whiskey Co. (Part 1: The Story)