Ironroot Brandy, Cigar Blend, & Andromeda (Coffee Infused) Bourbons!

You can skip ahead, but you’ll miss a lot of great information along the way!
Shortcuts/Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
4:30 - Brandy Nosing
5:10 - Brandy Tasting
6:05 - Cigar Blend Nosing
6:50 - Cigar Blend Tasting
8:27 - Apotheosis Nosing
9:37 - Apotheosis Tasting
12:09 - Andromeda Nosing
13:37 - Andromeda Tasting
Today I’m very excited to review some new releases from the Ironroot distillery. In full disclosure, I do work at the distillery, but I mostly work on the Saints Alley finishing/blending side of things - found at your local Total Wine. ;-) Ironroot Republic Distillery in in Denison, TX. is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and was the creation of the Likarish brothers (Jonathan and Robert - alongside their parents Marcia and John). We're a grain-to-glass Texas distillery with 95% of their heirloom and non-GMO corns are sourced from within 60 miles of the distillery! The name Ironroot pays tribute to viticulturist and Denison native T.V. Munson’s hardy “iron” roots that helped save the French wine industry from total destruction by phylloxera. Munson’s efforts resulted in Denison and Cognac ultimately becoming sister cities. The distillery opened in 2014, and the Likarish brothers found inspiration in adapting the French distilling techniques, especially the process of elévage, to tame the intense climate of Texas. The Likarishes mash, ferment, distill, barrel-age and bottle on site in Denison. This year we've been on a roll with Marcia being named "Distillery Manager of the Year" at the Icons of Whiskies, Hubris winning "World's Best Corn Whiskey" for the 4th time, & Saints Alley Nobleman winning "Best American Rye" at the 2024 World Whiskies Awards!
Each of these 2024 releases I'm reviewing were blended by Jonathan Likarish. That said, he always welcomes input on his blends from his brother Robert, mother Marcia, father John Likarish, and the Ironroot family of employees. That’s one of the things I truly value at Ironroot/Saints Alley, we’re all considered family, and we know we can’t do it without everyone’s hard work. So, here’s a big THANK YOU to our production, logistics, sales team, and volunteers for helping us create all our amazing releases!
The Ironroot “Sleight of Hand” Brandy (Batch 3) was created by rebarreling our original Sister Cities Blend of Texas brandy and Cognac into 40-year-old Cognac casks for extra aging. After slowly bringing it to bottling strength over the course of six months, Jonathan refined the final blend with an additional touch of 20-year-old Armagnac. The stunning end result has exceptional depth, complexity, and balance. It’s bottled at 98.6 proof and sells for $56 at the Specs stores here in Texas.
The Ironroot Harbinger 115 Cigar Blend is amazing as it’s the FIRST “Cigar Blend” Bourbon that doesn’t contain any finished bourbons (no Armagnac, Cognac, Port, etc… casks). It’s here to celebrate our 10th Anniversary by combining a stogie lover's two favorite things: whiskey and cigars. It's the first of our special 10th Anniversary releases and is designed to pair with your fave puff piece. It contains a blend of 13 curated straight bourbon barrels with a touch of something very special to our hearts: a small amount of two barrels - Danica (#1) and Grainger (#104) - each named for one of Jonathan’s kids. Both the whiskey and little humans grew up under Jonathan’s watchful eye. To no one’s surprise, he did a fabulous job raising all four. It’ll be available in very limited quantities at retail stores here in Texas beginning in late April. Retail pricing is $80 and it was bottled at 115 proof.
Ironroot Apotheosis VI (2024) - This year’s Apotheosis is a “Triple Sherry” finished bourbon! It’s a combination of Ironroot’s grain-to-glass Texas straight bourbons that were finished in either Oloroso, PX or Amontillado sherry casks. Jonathan did a great job wrangling these flavors together without losing the balance. Like all our finished whiskies, we want you to know you’re drinking whiskey first and foremost. You’ll get the complimenting notes of the finishing cask/s, but it won’t be so heavily finished that you might as well drink (in this case) those sherries. It’s bottled at 112.2 proof and retails for $80.
Ironroot Andromeda - Bourbon infused with coffee was the result of five years of collectively tweaking, tasting, and blending our hearts out. Coming in at 109 proof, the whiskey and coffee intertwine nicely, with the coffee enriching the whiskey’s natural flavors. We worked with our friends at Lelo’s Coffee, who selected their very own Ethiopian dark-roast, a nod to the mythological Andromeda’s royal Ethiopian heritage.
Thank You Patrons! You can find all of these (except the Cigar Blend that’s sold out) on our website. If purchased there, you get 6 months to pick them up yourself, or if you know of anyone going by there, they can grab them for you and mule it back themselves. www.ironrootrepublic.com

[@tonyv7109]

These sound delicious!

[@wannadanc3894]

Nice meeting you at Goody Goody! Cheers buddy 🍻

[@LiquorHound]

It was great meeting you as well! The next time I’m in your area, I’ll stop by and bring you a few goodies. Cheers!

[@mamuka1977]

Great review as usual. I have a question, is that Brandy going to be available in Total wine also? Thank you

[@cygmarx]

Pretty sure you gotta go to the distillery to purchase that bad boy.

[@LiquorHound]

I believe we’re presenting it to them later this summer, so hopefully by the end of this year or beginning of the next. Cheers!

[@LiquorHound]

It’s available at the distillery and N. Texas Specs stores. Cheers!

[@elmushaw2367]

👌👍👌👍🍻🥃🤤😎✌️🤤