Greeting Order Members,
My apologies for the radio silence over the last week. We had a big week with the Blue Corn Bottled in Bond release, Tanager sensory evaluation, andlots of travel. I come to you today with an important update about our most recent Rare Selections Single Barrel! We have selected the top two barrels, and they will be released to Order of Nancy ONLY in January 2026. The thing is.... when voting, the was a third barrel which caught the eyes (noses?) of a few selectors. So, after some discussion with the Still Austin Whiskey Co. leadership team, we have elected to add a third barrel to the mix for this Fall/Winter selection! So, without further ado, after tasting 5 sample blind, the winners are:
Rye & Blue Corn Whiskey
This is a resubmission from the very first pick and it was one of the most popular then too! This is a blend of two mashbills: 70% High-proof rye distillate (70% Rye, 30% White Corn) and 30% of our Blue Corn Bourbon (26% blue corn, 25% white corn, 44% rye, 5% malted barley) that was blended then barreled in a new #3 char American White Oak barrel for just over 6 years. This barrel was slow-water reduced a little over one year ago to help mellow the tannins and extract some softer notes than the previous release, which saw no slow-watering.Staff Tasting Notes –Nose: Wildberries, apple skins, cocoa powder, brambly and sweet.Palate: Milk chocolate, frosted breakfast cereal, marshmallow, acai berries and cream, fruit juices, and royal icing.Finish: Effervescent with hints of honey, fresh mint, golden raisins.
Yellow Corn Straight Bourbon WhiskeyThis barrel is similar to the last Yellow Corn Bourbon with one exception; this barrel has not been double oaked and spent last 6 years in it’s original new #3 charred American White Oak barrel. Made from 100% Reid’s YellowDent corn, these barrels are among our barrel managements staff’s favorite.We already took their double oaked, now we get a crack at the OG! We havea few more of these, should we try to barrel finish some of them? Let us know!
Still Austin Staff Notes –High proof Arnold Palmer,
Nose - leather, vanilla bean, amaretto, sweet citrus, moss
Palate - Black and green tea notes, citrus zest, cake batter, tobacco,
and dried rose hips.
Finish – Sweet tea, lemon rind, leather, shisha, peach rings, bubble gum,
sweet oak.
!!! BONUS BARREL!!!
This barrel was 1 vote shy of tying for second place but we’re releasing it anyway!
Malted Oated Straight Bourbon WhiskeyThis was one of John Schrepel’s more ambitious experiments! John, Emiliano, and crew are always looking to find new Texas-grown grains to experiment with. We have all kinds of unorthodox grain distillates aging right now. This example is finally ready. While some of these barrels may become Distillery Reserve Series or Rare Stock releases later, this barrel was ready right now, so we added it to the blind tasting. A high-malted-oat bourbon, this whiskey is very much unlike anything else available right now.Bold and dense, this one is one of the more off the wall and interesting spirits we have at the rick house, with its unusual bouquet and earthy palate. This whiskey has been aged for 5 years and 8 months in new #3 char American White Oak.
Staff Tasting Notes –Nose: Sichuan pepper, roasted malt, raisin, lemongrass, mocha, rock candy.Palate: Honeysuckle, lemon drop, matcha latte, mint, and mocha chocolate.Finish: Sponge cake, balsamic glaze, molasses, light oak.
We are so excited to have the additional added to this year-end line up. If things go well, we may be able to offer 3 barrels in the next selection as well! These will not be bottled until late December and will go on sale in January 2026. We will post updates as they happen and you have any questions leading up to the release, please contact
jason@stillaustin.com.
Cheers,
Jason Harry
Master of Ceremonies
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