Texas is home to the fifth-most wineries in the country, and its growing whiskey scene has become a major player over the last decade, with distilleries now situated across the state. But rarely do the two industries converge under one umbrella like they do at Bending Branch Winery.
The Texas Hill Country winery opened in 2009 and is known for making bold wines, including tannat and picpoul blanc. In a nod to the family-owned company’s roots, Bending Branch has expanded its purview to include bourbon and has recently released four bottles under two labels.
“My father and I have been making wine for quite a while, but we’re originally from Kentucky, so we were discussing bourbon and how it would be neat to bring that heritage to Bending Branch,” says Alison Young, the company’s president. Over the past two years, they began acquiring Kentucky bourbons to launch the new facet of their business.
The Bending Branch 1840 label currently offers two products: a high-rye bourbon and a straight four-grain bourbon. Both are sourced from Kentucky, where they’re aged for a minimum of four years in new charred American oak barrels before maturing for a few additional months in the hot Texas climate.
The high-rye bourbon is 54% alcohol by volume and described as having aromas of vanilla, orangesicle and crème brûlée, with caramel and orange cordial on the palate. It’s $75 and available at Bending Branch, and will soon be in Texas retail stores. The four-grain bourbon features a unique mash bill created by Young’s father, Dr. Bob Young, and is a small batch blend of three barrels. It’s bottled at barrel strength, costs $95, and the limited run of 600 bottles is only available on-site at Bending Branch. The company describes it as tasting of decadent vanilla buttercream.
While the 1840 expressions hew traditional, Bending Branch’s second label, ChickenDuck is all about innovation. Named after two of the original chickens and ducks that roamed the vineyard, the bourbons are made via “extraction technology” that is meant to produce a whiskey with more flavor, character and barrel-like qualities in less time. The bourbons are then aged for six months in Texas.
Alison Young explains that ChickenDuck is crafted this way by design. The production method reduces the brand’s environmental impact by reducing the need for time in barrel, storage costs and the natural evaporation loss known as the angel’s share. Ultimately, she says, this creates a more sustainable and replicable product.
The first ChickenDuck releases are a high-rye bourbon and a wheated bourbon. The former is billed as having aromas of brown sugar, baking spices and molasses, with sassafras and cracked pepper on the finish. The wheated bourbon is described with cedar chest and vanilla on the nose, followed by caramelized sugar and buttery toffee notes. Both ChickenDuck bourbons retail for $42 and are available at Bending Branch, and they’re coming to retail stores later this spring.
“It tastes like bourbon that’s been aged four years,” Young says, “so it makes you question what you know. The proof is in the bottle.”
Bending Branch is already working on more products, and they hope to release a 14-year-old whiskey in the coming months. Nicknamed the Traveler, it spent seven years in Indiana and then seven more in Napa before finding its way to Kentucky.
“With the winery and the whiskey, we are constantly doing new things, adding on, and evolving,” says Bending Branch general manager Jennifer Cernosek. She notes the fortuitous position they’re in, with access to both wine and whiskey barrels. “We’ve been doing a double-barrel tannat that we finish in bourbon barrels, and we can very easily do wine-finished bourbons.”
The bourbons are currently available at Bending Branch Winery, 142 Lindner Branch Trail, Comfort, Texas. For more information, visit bendingbranch1840.com and chickenduck.com.