The results of the experiment, meaning distinctive flavor profiles across the individual plots convinced Arnold to implement terroir in his whiskey program. The project involved growing three corn varietals in three Texas locations, each with unique climates and soil types. Arnold teamed up with Texas A&M food science master’s student Ale Ochoa and Hillsborough-based farmer John Sawyer to prove the concept to himself. Arnold’s vision was to capture the essence of Texas in the bottle by embracing Texan-derived flavors in every step of production, from distilling local grains to maturating in the hot Texan climate.Īrnold wanted to approach whiskey the way vintners approach winemaking by embracing terroir, and that was done by taking a closer look into how environment and grain varieties impact flavor. While the company’s founders were focused on the business side of distilling, designing the actual whiskey program was left to former Master Distiller Rob Arnold. The first drops of whiskey came off the still, in 2018. It didn’t take long before whiskey orders outpaced its production capabilities, and in 2016 they purchased what is now TX Whiskey’s “Whiskey Ranch” Distillery. From there, the partners built a modest distillery in Fort Worth with five1,000-gallon fermenters feeding a pair of 500-gallon pot stills, yielding about three barrels on a good day. Robertson and Firestone’s first product, a sourced American blended whiskey, hit shelves in 2012. After meeting up for an allegedly long and spirited lunch, Firestone & Robertson Distilling was born and later became Whiskey Ranch when TX Whiskey was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2019. The entrepreneurs were independently exploring the idea of launching a distillery when a fellow whiskey entrepreneur introduced them. TX Whiskey, originally known as Firestone & Robertson Distillery, was founded in 2010 by Fort Worth residents Troy Robertson and Leonard Firestone.

Texas whiskey festival 2021