February 2024 Monthly Adventure
As you may have seen throughout my blog posts, I occasionally will get a drink when I go out somewhere. One of my go-to drinks is a whiskey Coke because I like whiskey. While Austin is likely known better for its local breweries, there are also some distilleries in the area. This includes Still Austin Whiskey Co. where visitors can schedule tours and tastings throughout the year. If Still Austin sounds familiar to people who have kept up with my blog, it's because that is the place I featured on Instagram last year when I went to drag bingo with my friends!
Background
I've had this Still Austin tour and whiskey tasting on my list of things to do for over a year. Still Austin is located in south Austin, so it isn't an easy drive from where I live or work and limits my opportunities to visit which is primarily weekends when traffic is light. I finally had some extra free time and spent this past Sunday at the distillery for a tour and tasting.
Booking a Still Austin Whiskey Co. Tour
Tours are offered year-round throughout each week. You can either go solo like I did or with a group of friends. For example, there was a bachelor party on my tour. Still Austin also offers different types of tours at different price points. For my tour, I chose to keep it a bit more simple because I was going solo, and chose an afternoon Distillery Tour and Tasting which costs $30 and is approximately one hour in length. Remember that these types of tours are for those who are 21 and up which is also specified on the booking page!
Still Austin Whiskey Co. Tour
Still Austin got its start in 2017 and is very focused on sustainable sourcing of ingredients and working with small farms and family businesses. As a result, the quality of the product is top notch and the distillery is actually much smaller than one may imagine. The experience of the tour and tasting is enhanced by these factors and perfect for anyone looking to just learn more about how something is made, especially if you are a whiskey fan.
A Still Austin tour is unique because you go in reverse order, starting with the finished product and learning how it gets there by working backwards through the distillery. The one hour tour includes a tasting at the end, but you're actually tasting some of what Still Austin has to offer throughout the tour. I got my first taste of bourbon a little ahead of time by using a gift card I won over the summer while playing drag bingo to get a specialty cocktail from the bar called 'Tis the Season to sip on during the tour. What I didn't realize is that we would try a cask bourbon and a cask rye whiskey at the very start of the tour as we learned about ingredients, the aging process, and barrels from our tour guide, Zach! From that point, we learned about the fermentation and distilling process in the other section of the distillery and sampled 180 proof gin after learning about how they make their gin (and the hand sanitizer they made during the pandemic). While there, we also sampled the straight rye whiskey which was good, but there was something about the cask rye that I really enjoyed and couldn't help but continue to think about.
Still Austin Whiskey Co. Tasting
We weren't done yet though! After continuing to learn more about the distilling process, the names they have for the equipement (named after historical figures who were whiskey fans), and the great work of Master Blender, Nancy Fraley, it was time to finish the tour off with a more traditional tasting. We all returned to the the tables in the back of the bar where our tour began and took seats. Our guide, Zach, poured us each a tasting of Still Austin's gin and their best known blend straight bourbon whiskey. Did you know that all bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon? That is explained during the tour! So whether you've never toured a distillery before or have been on too many distillery tours to count, there is an opportunity to learn something new by taking a Still Austin tour where you can get insight on how whiskey is made -- particularly Still Austin whiskey.
Wrap-Up
Of course, when one is drinking alcohol it is important to have food and water. Still Austin has water available for free via self-serve water dispensers. Patrons also have the option to purchase food from Huckleberry -- an on-site food truck serving up fried southern seafood favorites. In my opinion, this is the best place in Austin for fried fish and fries with well-prepared food and large portions. I never go to Still Austin without ordering a Gulf Coast Platter from Huckleberry! Once I was done with the distillery tour, whiskey tasting, and enjoying my seafood lunch, it was time to drive back home. Oh, and in case you were wondering what my favorite drink was, it was the cask rye which was also the general consensus of the rest of the Still Austin tour group. On to the next Monthly Adventure!
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