Firestone & Robertson
www.frdistilling.com/
Update: Firestone and Robertson has announced it will launch its bourbon Saturday, Dec. 10 from 12-4 p.m. at the F&R Distillery. The bourbon is available for purchase with the quantity limited to 1 bottle per person.
After four years, aging quietly in bourbon barrels, Firestone & Robertson gear up to release their highly anticipated Straight Bourbon.
With this post on their website, they have had bourbon-lovers tapping their toes for four long years: “We barreled our first bourbon whiskey on March 14, 2012. We think our first bottling will occur sometime in 2016. Honestly, it’s hard to put an exact date on this, since it has never been done here before. We’ll be checking the barrels each month to determine when the whiskey is ready to harvest. Please be patient with us, great bourbon takes time.”
Our collective lesson in patience is nearly at an end.
Firestone and Robertson is hosting a media tasting event on December 7 at their distillery on Vickery Blvd. Bottles and distribution could not be far behind.
Bourbon is defined as a straight whiskey distilled from a mash having at least 51 percent corn in addition to malt and rye.
And Bourbon, along with whiskey, are gaining in popularity. According to Associate Press reporter Bruce Schreiner, “Last year, combined U.S. revenues for bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey shot up 7.8 percent to $2.9 billion, up $210 million from the prior year, the Distilled Spirits Council said in early February. The growth was led by demand for high-priced, super-premium brands. Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey exports topped $1 billion for the third straight year, it said.”
In Schreiner’s report he focused on Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey only, since they account for nearly 95 percent of distilleries nation-wide. He went on to report more of the Distilled Spirits Council data, “Since the turn of the century, Kentucky’s bourbon output has skyrocketed by more than 315 percent,” it said. “Kentucky bourbon production swelled to a nearly 50-year high last year, and with new distilleries joining the boom, more of the amber whiskey is expected to reach stores and bars.”
That is great news for our hometown distillers, and it looks like Firestone & Robertson began aging their Straight Bourbon at the perfect time to ride this unprecedented wave.
Like its TX Whiskey, Firestone and Robertson’s aged Bourbon incorporates their own proprietary yeast strain which they named “Brazos.” F & R captures this special yeast from native Texas pecan and blends it with #2 yellow dent Texas corn, Texas soft red winter wheat, 6-row distiller’s malt, and pure Texas water.
This will not only be the first bourbon to hail from Fort Worth…it will be a first for the entire region, according to Firestone & Robertson. .
According to their website, “No one has ever aged bourbon whiskey in North Texas before, and the impact of our climate shouldn’t be underestimated. The dramatic temperature swings and sustained summer heat make our whiskey interact with our newly charred American white oak barrels in a manner unlike any other. This fact alone will provide our whiskey with a distinct provenance.”
Expected tasting notes for Firestone and Robertson’s Straight Bourbon Whiskey include a perfectly clear color; a nose of sweet clove, dark fruits and rose; apparent flavors of sweet corn, fig, banana and all spice; with a fruity, sweet, viscous and warm finish.
“One of the advantages of being a craft distiller is our freedom to experiment,” the website goes on to say. “As the bourbon matures, we’ll age samples of the whiskey with indigenous Texas woods such as pecan and white oak. Whichever type of wood yields the best and most unique flavors may end up as another F&R expression.”
So, hang in there, bourbon-lovers − the long wait is nearly over.