![]() ![]() While everyone has their own way of judging whiskey, I like to focus heavily on the hue along with the aforementioned criteria. There are several components that you’ve probably seen in other Uproxx whiskey or spirits pieces - the nose, palate, complexity, and finish - that we all were asked to rank individually. Now you might be wondering, “What goes into blind judging?” Here’s us, tasting and debating whiskey: Jake Clements Festival attendees will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite distillery to decide on the people’s choice winner.Īs for the official judging, this year’s panel of judges included yours truly, alongside Marianne Eaves, Kentucky’s first female master distiller, curator of Eaves Blind, and founder of Eaves, LLC Whisk(e)y and Spirits Consulting and Tom Koerner the former GM and spirit guide of Seven Grand Whiskey Bar and Las Perlas Mezcaleria and current brand ambassador for Mezcal Unión. Each year the Texas Whiskey Festival hosts a competition to determine who has the best Texas bourbon, rye, and malt whiskey. There will be 29 Texas-based brands represented with over 60 whiskeys available to try. The fourth annual festival is taking place next weekend, April 16th and 17th, at Star Hill Ranch near Bee Cave, Texas (right outside of Austin). He spreads its gospel at every opportunity, especially through this event. Jake Clements, co-founder, whiskey sommelier, creative director, and planner of the festival, is extremely passionate about Texas whiskey. But now that we have those logistics out of the way, let’s get into my work this year as a judge for the Texas Whiskey Festival (featuring a lineup of whiskeys that all followed those aforementioned parameters). ![]() Furthermore, Texas whiskey needs to be compliant with the Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) designations of whiskey in class and type before it’s independently verified by an officer of the Texas Whiskey Association compliance team. To qualify as an authentic Texas whiskey, the spirit must be produced at a licensed distillery within the state, produced from cereal grains and Texas-sourced water from mash to fermentation to distillation to barreling, plus matured and bottled within the state. Since people like to capitalize off of Texas this and Texas that in their marketing, the Texas Whiskey Association launched the Certified Texas Whiskey Program to help people identify the whiskies that are actually produced here. So what does make a Texas whiskey “Texas?” There’s no one flavor profile or mash bill that defines the state’s output. As a result of our climate and geographical diversity, you can get a wide array of delicious whiskeys from the Lone Star State. Then there’s the bigness of Texas to consider. These extreme climate changes cause the expansion and contraction of the wood grains along the staves used in whiskey barrels. ![]() Depending on the weather pattern, we sometimes get four seasons in a single day. Though the Texas whiskey industry is younger than those of Kentucky or Tennessee, don’t you dare call it inferior.Īs this past winter proved, Texas can experience four seasons in one week. I raved about Texas bourbons for a solid 2000 words last year and would have happily gone on longer. As a proud native Texan, I could wax poetic all day about why our state’s whiskey is worthy of the world’s attention. ![]()
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