Swamp Sippin'

A favor turned into one of Louisiana's most talked-about distilleries. In Episode 4 of Swamp Sippin', I sit down in New Iberia with Philip Mestayer of Distillerie Acadian — the distillery chosen to represent Louisiana in Lost Lantern's United States of Bourbon, the first-ever blend of straight bourbon from all 50 states. We taste through all three of their new bottled-in-bond expressions — Cajun's...

Texas just got its first cooperage — and the way Greg Standard is building barrels might change how Texas whiskey tastes. This week on Swamp Sippin’, I sat down with Greg Standard, owner of Standard Cooperage in Blanco, Texas — the first cooperage in the state. We get into how a mechanical engineer and custom home builder ended up making barrels, why Texas was buying 60,000–100,000 barrels a year...

Laurie and Bernard Quandt left corporate New York, landed in Llano, Texas, and built a distillery where she runs the still and he runs the road. This is WarTrail Spirits — and their Broken Halo Bourbon is doing something most Texas distilleries won't: 100% Texas grains, four years old, no malted barley on purpose. In this episode we get into the science behind the iStill, why six-to-seven-day ferm...

Two boys with family roots in Southwest Louisiana met in Texas, built a 24-year friendship, and came home through a bottle. Episode 1: The Bourbon Gator sits down with Matt Myres of Acadian Lore Whiskey Co. to talk about what it really costs to build a whiskey brand from scratch — and what he'd drain from the swamp if he could. Pour one and pull up a chair.