Treaty Oak Ghost Hill Texas Bourbon

Treaty Oak Distilling Ghost Hill Texas Bourbon Single Barrel 47.5% abv 57% Texas Corn, 32% Texas Wheat, 11% American Barley Nose: dense vanilla, corn, sweet bread, tea leaves, strawberry poundcake, bright cherry, vanilla frosting, signature Texas Oak earthy and funky, cinnamon pecan twirl, Palate: smoooooth and sweet on entry, slightly oily and creamy, tea and honey with some fruity character then an explosion of barrel and proof spiciness. Drinks a little hotter than the 95 proof mark and that’s not a bad thing. Vanilla extract, caramel & brown sugar, berries, cinnamon. The mid palate is brief before the peppery barrel notes envelope your mouth from back to front and you get a nice dose of oak. Finish: vanilla cream, leather, sour oak, and a hint of mint cream swirls around. - [ ] It’s classic Texas... and it’s not. That funky Texas Oak is there but it’s not dominant. It adds just the right amount of oak to keep this interesting. The mid palate is really brief and there’s not a lot of complexity. It’s simple and forward. Oak dominates the back half and it gets a little sour on the finish. Puts me in the mind of Larceny Bourbon went for a horseback ride through Texas and came out like you would expect... dusty, sunburnt, and with a little attitude 😉.

I’m officiating my cousin’s wedding this weekend here in Dripping Springs, so when the opportunity arose to sample a very local, grain-to-glass bourbon...I’m not saying no to that. The first thing that is obvious on the nose is the age, or lack thereof, of the spirit. That hard to describe, but recognizable scent mildly reminiscent of shoe polish is all over this dram. It’s not unpleasant per se, but it screams that the bourbon needs more time to mature into its true self. There’s a pronounced cinnamon and nutmeg spice beyond that, cherry cola, and vanilla custard. The palate matches the nose - very young, but at least fairly smooth with minimal burn. The flavors are spice-forward, Red Hot candies and crema Catalana dusted with nutmeg washed down with a sip of cherry cola. Overall, this is a promising start. I think the base spirit is high quality stuff, but it needs more time in the barrel to live into its potential. With some more time and care to develop those flavors and build up some more complex layers, this could become a truly excellent bourbon. As is, it’s a perfectly fine, if a bit unexciting, drink for a rehearsal dinner.

Nose is straight up sweet sticky Christmas fruit cake. The kind actually made with love with plenty of dark fruit. Also plenty of oak. Palate off the bat makes me think rich fig Newton and a rather strong black pepper. Then I get the sweet dusty corn and oak. The pepper spice lingers. Very different from any other bourbon. A Texas profile that would never be mistaken for anything from Kentucky or Tennessee. I see a lot of keyboard “master distillers” saying Treaty Oak needs to age this longer. From my understanding the benefit of making whiskey in Texas is it ages fast and the downside of making whiskey in Texas is it ages fast. Age it too long and it becomes over oaked and undrinkable.

Quick hit in this. Luckily for the Mrs and I, the Treaty Oak distillery is only 30 minutes right outside of Austin and on a big ranch property to help maintain appropriate distance from other folks. This bottle is their grain to glass bourbon, and it definitely noses and tastes like a Texas bourbon. Very woody and tannic on the nose, with a palate to match. My big gripe about Texas bourbon is that the subtle grain flavors gets obliterated by the oak all too often and the whiskey becomes a little one note. This shows promise, but like most craft whiskey, a little more cask management would go a long way.

Pleasant whiskey. Falls apart with water, but is drinkable neat. The general impression is creamy corn, and caramel. There is a dark sweet fruity character as well, almost fig like, but trending toward brown sugar. The wood is very apparent, and hasn't yet integrated well. It reminds me of oaking homebrew with woodchips. The tannin can be quite astringent when fresh, and has a very woody flavor. I don't dislike jt, but it is notable. The mouthfeel is full, oily, and quite pleasant. Offsets the astringent tannins nicely. No nosing notes for this one.

Nose: Some peach and a European smell I can't place right now. Maybe like a well-aged balsamic vinegar, slightly sweet yet woody. Taste: strong leather and some wood flavors. Not very fruity. Some spice. "Ghost Hill is a “wheated” Texas bourbon at 2 years of age using 53% Texas No. 1 corn, 36% Texas wheat, and 11% American barley all milled at nearby Barton Springs Mill. "