Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/65124
A LONE STAR LIFE Bourbon Beat Goes On The I MOTHER NATURE DOES HER THING AT RANGER CREEK BREWING & DISTILLING was having sort of an existential conversation the other day with Mark McDavid, co-founder of Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling in San Antonio, and we agreed that there could never be a benchmark Texas bourbon. "Geographically speaking, there are too many regional differences," he said. "The climate changes dramatically east to north to west, and all those regional variations are going to drive the differences in the finished product." That makes sense: There are so many options of raw ingre- dients, including water, to chose from; there are competing macro-climates of varying heat and humidity levels that come with the dramatic elevation differences between the southern coastline and the northwestern desert—and all these things factor directly into bourbon's character. We concluded, sort of, that there's just too much state (six and a half Kentuckys fit inside one Texas) and, with only a handful of distillers selling bourbon across the state, it's too early to try distinguishing "Texas bourbon" by regional familiarities, much less by any statewide characteristics. Later, when I tasted Ranger Creek's .36 Texas Bourbon Whiskey ($35, 375 ml.), I was certainly grateful for at least one familiar aspect that actually has been common to all the Texas bourbons I've tasted: deep flavor. The sour mash is 70 percent corn (100 percent from Texas) and has enough rye to add plenty of sweet (cinnamon-sugar) and sizzling (¿mole?) highlights to the broad (brown sugar, toffee) and dark (¡mole!) body. At 96 proof, .36 stays in balance; the moderate heat at the end adds some new San Antonio character to an old-fashioned Old Fashioned. Last year Ranger Creek's released the .36 as part its "Small Caliber Series," and later this year its mesquite-smoked whiskey will debut. These periodic, small-batch releases (all aged in five-, six-, and seven-gallon barrels) are previews and opening acts for Ranger Creek's Straight Bourbon, currently resting in big barrels. ("Possibly next year," McDavid answers my question before I ask it. "Possibly 2014.") Ranger Creek's barrel facility, in northeast San Antonio, is a number of al fresco shipping containers into which ventila- tion was added for air circulation. Other than that simple modification, there are temperature controls, supporting McDavid's case for the local climate playing a part in bour- bon making. "Our philosophy is to let Mother Nature do her thing as much as possible," he told me. And since you can't put a border around Mother Nature, there's not going to be any benchmark for Texas bourbon. Still, in the state of Texas, never before has ordering a "Bourbon and Branch" been so rich with existential satisfaction. 34 / the tasting panel / may 2012 by Anthony Head / photo by Kirk Weddle