This week on The Whiskey Trip Podcast, Big Chief takes you on a ride to North Texas and introduces you to Ironroot Republic Distillery. He chats with Robert and Jonathan Likarish and also gets a surprise visit from the Mother of Texas Whiskey, Marcia Likarish. This family tells us their story of how a family reunion and a visit to a distillery got their gears rolling.

The brothers traveled the country, visiting other distilleries, learning how to distill their own whiskey. With being a distiller in Denison, Texas which is the sister city to Cognac, France, they wanted to use the French technique of elevage when making whiskey. The brothers give praise to their mother, saying she’s the glue that keeps the distillery together.

The Likarish Family and Big Chief start the show with Promethean. It uses a Floriani Red Flint corn in the mash which gives it a cayenne spice. They then move to Ironroot Harbinger 115, one of the Big Chief’s favorite whiskies of all time. The brothers call it their brunch whiskey. They end the first half with a winter tribarrel blend which is a 5-, 6- and 7-year-old whiskies.

In the second half they start with a Saint’s Alley, an MGP blended with their whiskey. This is a collaboration with the Liquor Hound. The next expression is the Saint’s Alley The Nobleman Rye. They finish the show with Ironroot Apotheosis V which is a bourbon finish in a PX Sherry and Amburana cask. It’s cinnamon rolls drizzled in caramel coffee. Delicious!

This ride on The Whiskey Trip shows that there are still new ways to finish and make whiskey that are exciting and will expose your palate to notes you have yet to experience.

Cheers!