Quick Stats:

• Distiller: Barrell Craft Spirits
• Spirit: Blended Bourbon
• Aged: 10, 12, & 15 Year Blend
• Proof: 107.78
• Purchase Price: $99
• Barrell Craft Spirits Website
  
  About The Distillery: “Barrell Craft Spirits blends exceptional bourbons out of ingredients sourced from all around the nation. Our extensive stocks of high-quality casks mean we can craft extraordinary blends that maximize the nuances of each ingredient, yet always add up to more than the sum of their parts.”

• Distiller: Still Austin Whiskey Co.
• Spirit: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Aged: 2+ Years 
• Proof: 98.4
• Purchase Price: $44.99
• Still Austin Website
  
  About The Distillery: “Creating whiskey is as much ingenuity as it is exactitude. That’s why we insisted on building our distillery inside the city limits of Austin—a metropolis famed for blending art and science. But how, we asked, do we build a community around whiskey? We began working with Texas farmers, helping them turn crops; we gave back feed to cows; we built our distillery to conserve energy. We did this because it’s the right thing to do.”

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When we received our review bottle from our friend Aaron, we were admittedly a little lost. The 2+ year age statement from a distillery we’d never heard of didn’t inspire the greatest level of confidence. However, we popped the cork, poured a dram, and dove in. We are pleased to report our suspicions as unfounded.

Still Austin is a new kid on the block. They were founded in 2017 with a vision of a true, locally sourced, grain-to-glass whiskey. The Musician is the culmination of that vision, one that is as rich in a glass as it was in their dreams.

• Distiller: Barrell Craft Spirits
• Spirit: Whiskey Finished in Rum, Port, & Dunn Vineyards Barrels
• Aged: Unstated
• Proof: 124.34
• Purchase Price: $89.99
  
  About The Distillery: Barrell Craft Spirits was started by owner Joe Beatrice in 2013. Joe questioned the premise that starting a full-blown distillery was the only way to go about entering the whiskey game. He built the distillery on the premise of sniffing out great releases from established producers and creating unique and tasty blends to share with the whiskey world.

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Blends. Where to begin?

Blends are one of those things that people are either morally for or against. Some people are purists and believe that whiskey is made to be distilled and bottled in its native form. I’ve even run across people that scoff at the idea of anything other than a small batch or single barrel, seeing it as a cop-out for having to create something that can stand on its own.

Me? I love ’em!

Blends are just an extension of the unlimited possibilities that whiskey brings us, and can unlock unique and interesting flavors that wouldn’t have been present in either iteration. I actually mess around with blending myself at my home bar.

It’s pretty awesome that companies are beginning to treat blending as a science and art, creating unique flavors and combinations for us to enjoy!

• Distiller: Prohibition Craft Spirits
• Spirit: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Aged: 4+ Years
• Proof: 115.4
• Purchase Price: $54.99
  
  About The Distillery: “There’s something special about rolling up your sleeves and getting “Back-to-Basics.” At PCS Distilling Company’s facility, we do just that; combining the finest ingredients in our recipes with hands-on, devoted attention to every step of the distilling process.”

About Keith

It was great meeting Keith, the owner of Prohibition Craft Sprits and the current mastermind behind the NULU branding decisions. He and his master distiller, Harrison Hayden have a passion for bourbon.

Both have long histories with our favorite spirit, and both surround themselves with it. As a matter of fact, while we were there, they were breaking down old barrels and turning it into furniture when they were done bottling their product.

Harrison had his own blends and concoctions he was aging in small barrels to constantly tweak recipes and seek new flavors. Keith told us he was looking to put PCS on the map as a must-visit destination. With all the stuff they are doing, we think that is a very real possibility.

About Nulu

The distillery itself is multi-dimensional.

There is a bar side hosting a great list of different pours. However, when you enter the distillery side, there is a whole other world full of whiskey and the NULU brand history. A large bar claims one side of the large room, a maze of “story walls” tell the tales and display artifacts of multiple historical events for bourbon, Kentucky, and NULU.

There is a private party area on one side of the maze, with a stage and DJ booth in the shape of a giant whiskey barrel included for good measure. There is also a lounge that overlooks the rest of the room.

Overall, it seems like NULU is positioning itself to be quite the hangout. And that is before they positioned themselves by partnering with MGP to produce their NULU bourbon.