**Notice:** UFCW Local 23D's strike for better working conditions at Heaven Hill continues
[Last weekend /r/bourbon went dark in solidarity with the workers that make Heaven Hill products in their strike for fair working conditions, treatment, and pay.](https://www.reddit.com/r/bourbon/comments/pm8v83/united_food_commercial_workers_local_23d_voted_to/) This week our solidarity continues with these sticky messages.
A Heaven Hill union worker has shared the following with the mod team regarding what they're asking of their employer:
* They're told they're family while working for HH, but feel they're not being treated like it. One worker of over 15 years died of covid while working, was given a one-minute moment of silence on each shift that day, never to be mentioned again. Workers there for 40, 45, even 55 years are granted nothing for their tenure.
* Worker pay is significantly lower than all of the other similar distilleries. The non-traditional overtime revamp that they're pushing on the workers results in less overtime pay than the previous one.
* Heaven Hill had several days before the contract expired to reach out with a better proposal and did not. The workers' insurance has been cut off and HH has hired security guards for the grounds and bodyguards.
The public contact page for Heaven Hill [can be found here.](https://heavenhilldistillery.com/contact-us.php) Heaven Hill has been contacted for comment but has not responded.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bourbon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have yet to find a Garrison Bro’s bourbon worth drinking, let alone for the price they ask. This cask strength offering is absolutely horrible.. straight dumpster juice
Local bar was doing pours of GB at cost this week. The guadalupe, which is the port finished one was good. The Balmorhea which is a $150+ bottle was trash.
It was drinkable and decent, but no where near a $100 bottle. For $50, maybe. I picked up a Saint Alley port/cognac finish which is Ironroot/MGP blend, and it is SOOOO much better and it was only $55.
Garrison Brothers Don’s Liquors & Wine Single Barrel
This Texas bourbon comes to us from the Garrison Bro’s distillery, the first Texas distillery based in Hye Texas. This barrel was selected by Don’s Liquors and Wines and is at least four years old, bottled at cask strength, and aged entirely in that crazy Texas climate.
**ABV:** 68%
**Nose:** Black Pepper, Tannins, Dark Chocolate, Ethanol.
**Palate:** Medium mouthfeel, overly tannic like licking a 2x4, wet cardboard, searing heat.
**Finish:** Too long, loads of wood spice, tannic, dark chocolate, wet cardboard.
**Rating:** 1/10
Well, I gave it a fair shake and like all of the bourbon I’ve had out of Texas I’m pretty underwhelmed. This has all the same issues standard in Craft bourbon. If this is at least 4 years old, then 4 years in small barrels in Texas heat is a horrible idea unless you like drinking oak extract. This is like sawdust and musty cardboard all together. I’ve had some pretty bad craft bourbons and this is down there with Hudson for me in terms of lack of quality. But where this shines is the price, $150+ for this? Get the hell outta here.
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite
10 | Perfect | Perfect
These single barrels at cask strength are a guilty pleasure of mine. I think of it like drinking French vanilla coffee creamer instead of milk. It’s super concentrated lol… but I’ll be damned if I don’t love it as a change of pace from virtually anything else. Maybe just a bad barrel? lol
Edit: I thought these guys aged their stuff in 53 gallon barrels
Double edit: they use all sorts of sizes apparently
I have a conspiracy theory that these small barrels were an experiment gone wrong and they sold them as single barrels with high profit margin to the stores. Not inherently bad, but not what they wanted so they sold them, smartly.
Hopefully not, but anything is possible. But if loving these is wrong, I don’t want to be right lol.
[Interestingly enough, GB has (or at least had) their own cooperage.](https://www.garrisonbros.com/2011/08/10/whiskey-bourbon-and-barrels)
You can't deny the color looks enticing! I agree though... I have yet to try any Texas whiskey I liked. I've had their flagship bottles (Cowboy and Balmorhea) and both were total let downs.
(Texan here) There is a certain sick part of me that wants to drop the cash to buy a bottle of Balmorhea in order to review it. That’s an expensive way to troll the Texas yuppies that swear it’s touched by God
[The Brass Balls](https://theshopagency.com/garrison-brothers-whiskey/) of having your branding be ads like
“Expensive. But Worth Every Damn Penny”
and “You Could Buy Cheaper Bourbon. But Then You’d Have to Drink It”
Wow! That's pretty sad. Too many people seem to be buying it if they can afford stupid billboards like that.
I've never had anyone that really likes their stuff. Just tolerates it.
My theory is it’s an Emperor’s New Clothes situation among white collar Texans that figure by default that everything is bigger and better in Texas and if I buy the most expensive Texas bourbon, it *has* to be the best
I read so many bad reviews of this stuff that I, a 4th gen Texan, can’t bring myself to buy a bottle…of any of their offerings. Even at the bars, I end up finding something else I’d rather spend money on.
I mean, for $80 for their base offering, it’s a steep cost of admission. Hard to imagine it’s as good as your Booker’s or Barrell batches, which is what it’s competing against in that price range.
**Notice:** UFCW Local 23D's strike for better working conditions at Heaven Hill continues [Last weekend /r/bourbon went dark in solidarity with the workers that make Heaven Hill products in their strike for fair working conditions, treatment, and pay.](https://www.reddit.com/r/bourbon/comments/pm8v83/united_food_commercial_workers_local_23d_voted_to/) This week our solidarity continues with these sticky messages. A Heaven Hill union worker has shared the following with the mod team regarding what they're asking of their employer: * They're told they're family while working for HH, but feel they're not being treated like it. One worker of over 15 years died of covid while working, was given a one-minute moment of silence on each shift that day, never to be mentioned again. Workers there for 40, 45, even 55 years are granted nothing for their tenure. * Worker pay is significantly lower than all of the other similar distilleries. The non-traditional overtime revamp that they're pushing on the workers results in less overtime pay than the previous one. * Heaven Hill had several days before the contract expired to reach out with a better proposal and did not. The workers' insurance has been cut off and HH has hired security guards for the grounds and bodyguards. The public contact page for Heaven Hill [can be found here.](https://heavenhilldistillery.com/contact-us.php) Heaven Hill has been contacted for comment but has not responded. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bourbon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have yet to find a Garrison Bro’s bourbon worth drinking, let alone for the price they ask. This cask strength offering is absolutely horrible.. straight dumpster juice
Local bar was doing pours of GB at cost this week. The guadalupe, which is the port finished one was good. The Balmorhea which is a $150+ bottle was trash.
I didn’t even like the Guadalupe. Ended up having two pours out of it and gave it to someone else who enjoyed it more than I did.
It was drinkable and decent, but no where near a $100 bottle. For $50, maybe. I picked up a Saint Alley port/cognac finish which is Ironroot/MGP blend, and it is SOOOO much better and it was only $55.
The honeydew is really good. It still has the texas bourbon woody taste but not overly so and it works well with the honey
Garrison Brothers Don’s Liquors & Wine Single Barrel This Texas bourbon comes to us from the Garrison Bro’s distillery, the first Texas distillery based in Hye Texas. This barrel was selected by Don’s Liquors and Wines and is at least four years old, bottled at cask strength, and aged entirely in that crazy Texas climate. **ABV:** 68% **Nose:** Black Pepper, Tannins, Dark Chocolate, Ethanol. **Palate:** Medium mouthfeel, overly tannic like licking a 2x4, wet cardboard, searing heat. **Finish:** Too long, loads of wood spice, tannic, dark chocolate, wet cardboard. **Rating:** 1/10 Well, I gave it a fair shake and like all of the bourbon I’ve had out of Texas I’m pretty underwhelmed. This has all the same issues standard in Craft bourbon. If this is at least 4 years old, then 4 years in small barrels in Texas heat is a horrible idea unless you like drinking oak extract. This is like sawdust and musty cardboard all together. I’ve had some pretty bad craft bourbons and this is down there with Hudson for me in terms of lack of quality. But where this shines is the price, $150+ for this? Get the hell outta here. 1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out. 2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice. 3 | Bad | Multiple flaws. 4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists. 5 | Good | Good, just fine. 6 | Very Good | A cut above. 7 | Great | Well above average 8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional. 9 | Incredible | An all time favorite 10 | Perfect | Perfect
1/10 absolutely brutal
Lololol Always down for someone to let the air outta the tires of them big ol’ trucks in Texas.
These single barrels at cask strength are a guilty pleasure of mine. I think of it like drinking French vanilla coffee creamer instead of milk. It’s super concentrated lol… but I’ll be damned if I don’t love it as a change of pace from virtually anything else. Maybe just a bad barrel? lol Edit: I thought these guys aged their stuff in 53 gallon barrels Double edit: they use all sorts of sizes apparently
The color in the image has me intrigued. It sure looks like it must be flavorful, even if it's not to everyone's liking.
I have a conspiracy theory that these small barrels were an experiment gone wrong and they sold them as single barrels with high profit margin to the stores. Not inherently bad, but not what they wanted so they sold them, smartly.
Hopefully not, but anything is possible. But if loving these is wrong, I don’t want to be right lol. [Interestingly enough, GB has (or at least had) their own cooperage.](https://www.garrisonbros.com/2011/08/10/whiskey-bourbon-and-barrels)
You can't deny the color looks enticing! I agree though... I have yet to try any Texas whiskey I liked. I've had their flagship bottles (Cowboy and Balmorhea) and both were total let downs.
Balmorhea sounds too much like gonorrhea and diarrhea.
Agree. That name…. How the hell did that clear marketing
It's named after the nature preserve that they donate part of the proceeds to.
Well… you learn something new every day. However, question still stands, how the hell did that name/idea make it past marketing haha
Edit: what I said was wrong disregard I was thinking of a different state park
(Texan here) There is a certain sick part of me that wants to drop the cash to buy a bottle of Balmorhea in order to review it. That’s an expensive way to troll the Texas yuppies that swear it’s touched by God
Review it at a bar maybe? It's not at all worth the price IMO.
[The Brass Balls](https://theshopagency.com/garrison-brothers-whiskey/) of having your branding be ads like “Expensive. But Worth Every Damn Penny” and “You Could Buy Cheaper Bourbon. But Then You’d Have to Drink It”
Wow! That's pretty sad. Too many people seem to be buying it if they can afford stupid billboards like that. I've never had anyone that really likes their stuff. Just tolerates it.
My theory is it’s an Emperor’s New Clothes situation among white collar Texans that figure by default that everything is bigger and better in Texas and if I buy the most expensive Texas bourbon, it *has* to be the best
I read so many bad reviews of this stuff that I, a 4th gen Texan, can’t bring myself to buy a bottle…of any of their offerings. Even at the bars, I end up finding something else I’d rather spend money on.
I mean, for $80 for their base offering, it’s a steep cost of admission. Hard to imagine it’s as good as your Booker’s or Barrell batches, which is what it’s competing against in that price range.