Laguna Madre

LIMOUSIN OAK-IMMERSED STRAIGHT BOURBON | 101 PROOF

Garrison Brothers Laguna Madre is a limited release, highly sought-after bourbon whiskey. For the lucky few able to get their hands on a bottle, treasure it and enjoy it with the ones you love on the most special occasions. After all, it took us eight years to make–our oldest bourbon to date.

HERE’S TO LIMOUSIN

It is our great pleasure to introduce you to Garrison Brothers Laguna Madre, straight bourbon seasoned in rare Limousin oak casks. These French barrels are true works of art–highly sought-after, allocated, and incredibly expensive to boot. Toasting this majestic oak activates unforgettable flavors of woody vanilla, sweet candy cacao, and thick, white chocolate that you won’t soon forget.

The creamy finish of this bourbon is both sensuous and aromatic, like the endorphin-fueled natural high one feels in one’s soul while spending a beautiful day away from all the daily stresses life has to offer … perhaps under early afternoon sunlight, on the first day of spring, when the Laguna Madre shines forth like an azure band of aquamarine beckoning all to come out and play.

Laguna Madre Tasting Notes

Intense A&W Root Beer meets Dublin Dr. Pepper. Vanilla bean. Hazelnut. Saltwater taffy. Hershey’s Kisses. Frosty white chocolate and “Adults only” Almond Joy candy bar finish. 101 proof.

“This is one an experienced bourbon drinker won’t ever forget.”

- Dan Garrison

…So, what is a Limousin Oak-Immersed Straight Bourbon?

The project got underway again in earnest in 2014. Donnis selected 16 Kelvin Cooperage 25-gallon barrels from our barns that had been originally filled with 114 proof White Dog. The barrel numbers were 5971 through 5986. These sixteen barrels were selected due to hints of white chocolate, vanilla bean, hazelnut, brown sugar, mocha, and–critically important–a unique creamy mouthfeel like almond butter. The barrels were 2 years and 226 days old when they were selected for the project.

On October 26, 2016 the liquid was entered into Limousin oak barrels numbered five through twelve. The eight barrels that were custom-coopered for Operation Cadillac were Radoux 225 Liter French oak barrels with a specific “vanilla” toast, referred to by Radoux as a medium plus toast, with toasted heads. The French oak was a medium grain density. Limousin oak (quercas petraea) from the central forests in France is prized for its vanillin and tylose lignin content. Trees from the forest can only be harvested when they are 120 years of age or older. As such, harvest quantities are limited.

French oak is split to follow the wood’s natural vertical sap channels, called medullary rays. These channels make French oak more resistant to leakage and Angel’s Share but requires that the oak be cut quite more precisely and at an opposite angle from American oak. Whereas as much as 50% of American oak heartwood can be used for casks, French oak maxes out at a meager 20%.

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