Although the vast majority of bourbon comes from Kentucky, it doesn’t have to. Bourbon can be made anywhere in the United States and still be called bourbon. Sadly, relatively few non-Kentucky bourbons are available to buy in the UK, which is why I frequently ask friends who are travelling State-side to bring me back a local whiskey if they can find one!
Bet you didn’t know Japan had a national roller derby team.
Last December I was able to do my own dirty work. The occasion was the Roller Derby World Cup, which was being held in Dallas, Texas. The event itself was exciting enough – not least because the city was flooded with people from all over Europe, many of whom I already knew through roller derby – but naturally my eye was squarely on another ripe opportunity; to try and buy as much American whiskey as I could.
This endeavour began the very day we arrived in town, as we stopped by City Tavern for some BBQ snacks and a taste of the local ales. I’d already been given a tip-off about one particular Texas whiskey,
eponymously named “TX”. Deep auburn in colour, something about this whiskey felt like a great welcome to the US, evoking everything we Brits think of when we think ‘America’. It was full-bodies, very sweet and loud in it’s flavour. Like a liquid toffee apple! I must admit I drank it while eating buffalo chicken and stuffed chillis, so possibly not the most cleansed of palates…
Another memorable stop was Truck Yard; a southern-style micro-shanty with run-down Airstream trailer and juggernauts converted into food vans. Aside from being an extraordinary thing to behold, the southern hospitality was everything you’ve ever been told it is, and several Texas bourbons were on offer. 
The first one I picked was Red River, which had an interesting dry yet spicy quality too it which I usually associate with Canadian whiskeys. (Interestingly, the Red River distillers do also offer a ‘Canadian Style’ whiskey!)
Next into my glass was Herman Marshall, a small batch bourbon which, like the TX, was syrupy and sweet, with lots of brown sugar and cinnamon notes. It sat very well alongside my formidably cheesesteak sandwich for which Truck Yard has earned itself quite a name.
Being in the USA did of course open my eyes to the huge difference in bourbon availability compared to the UK. A bourbon which I’d consider ‘hard to find’ at home, is not only right there on the shelf in America, but it’s on the shelf in 0.75L, 1L or 1.75L bottle sizes! And at the time of my being there, there were two bourbons in particular that wasn’t at all available in the UK which I was specifically on the look-out for; namely the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked and the Jefferson’s Ocean Aged. Both of these I’ve mentioned elsewhere…and both of them typically were available on TWE by the time I got back home, but I certainly saved a lot of money buying them out there!
I also wanted to take home a Texas bourbon, and was attracted to the square-bottled Witherspoons Texas Straight Bourbon. Immediately secreted into my luggage, this one didn’t get tasted until I was back on English soil, but it was a fitting tribute to my experiences State-side, once again with bags of caramel notes, dark berries, maple syrup and a little cigar-box must. Slightly more refined and crisp than the ‘TX’, but not as sweet.
USA vs Australia in the Semi-finals – photo credit to the Southsea Wanderer
In case you’re interested by the way, England actually came second in the world cup, losing to the USA in the final with a score of 219 points to 105; the narrowest differential the US team have every won by. A great result that was the cherry on top for our Texas trip.
I’ve mentioned them elsewhere, but I couldn’t talk about Texas without also mentioning the Balcones family of Texas whiskeys. The Balcones Brimstone, their smoked corn whiskey, is one which every whiskey lover ought to try once – it even has an expression which is basically the result of an incident where the mixture was burned at the bottom of the mash tun. It proved very popular!
At the time of writing I’ve had whiskeys from 16 different US States – some good, some not so good – but I can say with confidence that the extra-sweet, thick flavours of Texas whiskey have made an impression on me! That’s all y’all.
All this American tackiness makes me grumpy.