by Andrew Chalk
It was a full house last night on the veranda at Haywire as Frey Ranch Farmers+Distillers kicked off their sales campaign to enter the Texas market. Texas is a top 4 market for Bourbon so the rewards could be huge (in the last four years, Balcones of Waco was acquired by the world’s largest spirit company, Diageo, and Pernod-Ricard, world number four, acquired TX Whiskey of Fort Worth).
Frey Ranch has the distinction of being an estate bottled whiskey. Common in the wine world, the phrase “estate bottled” means that the producer owns or controls the raw ingredient of the product. In Frey Ranch’s case that means that their 2,400 acre ranch in Fallon grows all of the four grains that make up their products, a Bourbon and a Rye Whiskey.
Founders, and husband and wife, Colby and Ashley Frey saw the Texas launch that they came into town for several days and hosted the dinner.
An attendee list of fans, distributors, retailers, and media (I was one of the media guests) enjoyed cocktails like Buffala Negra and Adobe Old-fashioned (recipes below) served with Pheasant accompanied by Frey Ranch Non-Malted Corn and Adobo-Braised Short Rib. To finish was an irresistible Buttermilk Pie.
The Frey family has farmed for 165 years. Colby Frey explained to me that, at the distillery and on the Ranch, the family follows rigorous sustainability procedures. “Our aim”, he said, “is to leave the earth a better place than we came into”.
As a consumer I am glad to see this resurgence in artisan Bourbon taking place around us and was particularly impressed with the rich tastes of Frey Ranch. Look for their bottles at all good liquor stores.
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