Let me preface this with I've become somewhat of a bourbon snob... Let me also start off saying the tour was great and I really enjoyed it. Now, the long version...
As you approach the venue, you'll wonder if you're lost. Driving through a neighborhood... yup, more houses... mmmkay... Then it appears. Parking is basically a free-for-all. You can park anywhere, including close to the picnic tables. There are tons of picnic tables in front of the distillery (and neighboring brewery), and then a stage that's closest to the road. (You'll see what I mean.)
After parking, make your way to the large building with a large wooden sign out front. (The smaller building next door is a brewery.) The sign has a bird silhouette on it and - you guessed it - says Western Son Distillery. Climb the wooden stairs to a small, elevated patio (with a few more picnic tables and an attempt to shade them with undersized, inadequate umbrellas) and through the front door, which sticks and is hard to close - but is old and wooden and cool at the same time.
Inside you'll immediately note a small bar in front of you. To your left is where you buy bottles - a much longer bar - and whoever is working that area will check you in, whether it's via Groupon or whatever, and give you a wristband. The tour starts with a very good video that you watch in a room that's back and to the right from when you first enter.
If you arrive late for the video, the video room (labeled MEETING ROOM if you're late like we were and the door is closed) will be dark and you may have trouble finding a seat if it's crowded.
After the video, you follow your guide around to the actual operations side of things. First impression: this place is HUGE. Apparently it's a former panty factory (ha!). They have rows and rows of barrels, stacked 3-high, full of product - as well as cases of finished bottles on pallets stacked everywhere. Truly, this place is HUGE for a "craft" distillery. On that note, they're clearly very well funded and the entire place is owned by JEM Beverage Co, who started out bottling sourced product (from Indiana, I think?) in Carrollton. I remember because I lived in Carrollton at the time. Based on the tour and the TONS of barrels, I'd say they still have a lot of sourced product aging in there. They only have one still making whiskey, and there are a loooooot of barrels aging in that place. Anyway, my own speculation...
After the tour, which was entertaining and excellent, you get 3 tastes. They have a lot to choose from, so choose carefully. A lot of people are fans of the flavored vodkas (gag me with a spoon), but I stuck to whiskeys. I got their single-barrel bourbon, pinot-noir-finished whiskey, and cognac-finished whiskey. (Finished whiskeys are bourbon finished in pinot or cognac barrels.)
Side note: this place has two "divisions," if you will - Western Son Vodka and Red River Whiskey. So technically I was on the whiskey tour and sampling different Red River Whiskeys. But it's all one place. As a bourbon and whiskey guy who almost always drinks everything neat, the Red River Whiskey webpage is very telling: pouring some Red River Whiskey over a whiskey wedge (huge piece of ice). It's like fancy beer vs piss lite: you want piss lite as cold as possible, right? Anyway, I digress... and a LOT of bourbon drinkers like theirs over ice, so hey...
I was very disappointed in the single-barrel bourbon, which tasted hotter / higher proof than it was and lacked any complexity or depth. The pinot finish was more intriguing, but the pinot was VERY subtle and only appeared on my palette well after the taste... maybe 3 seconds into the finish. Which was at least interesting and added some complexity to an otherwise meh whiskey. The cognac finish was perhaps the most interesting, but I didn't love it. It was... different, and different is good. Good to try different.
So, pros and cons...
Pros: excellent tour (5/5 stars) with engaging tour host and great introductory video, fun and friendly employees (5/5 stars), good Groupon that included some products with the tour (4/5 stars)
Cons: actual whiskey is not very good (I'd say it's worth $20 a bottle, not the $40 it goes for - 2/5 stars) and there is a SERIOUS lack of shade outside (1/5 stars), which puts a damper on what could be a much cooler overall venue experience
I'm glad I did the tour, but I did not leave with any bottles. As someone who loves to support local business and loves bourbon... well, you get the drift. The people side of this operation are great. Now they just need to hone their craft into something I'll pay craft prices for. read more