On January 1, 2010, we went in a completely new direction. It began when farmers in north Texas mistakenly shipped us ten thousand pounds of organic Panhandle White Corn. They realized it would be too expensive for us to ship it back, so they told us to keep it. For kicks, we began experimenting with cook procedures, temperatures, starch yields, and sugar content. This experiment is still underway, but so far, we like what we taste.

When your distillery is located in a town named Hye, it’s almost inevitable that at some point you’ll introduce a rye whiskey. Look for this spicy newcomer, Hye Rye, in future releases.

One of the curiosities of working with a legendary antique still is that every so often she produces something unexpected and exceptional. The latest result is the sweetest-tasting white dog you can possibly imagine. Pure ambrosia. The sugar content is exceedingly high, with a taste reminiscent of peppermint-infused sweet tea. For the past few months, we’ve been capturing individual gallons and storing them in glass tanks. Currently, just three barrels of this product are maturing in our barns. We plan to age it longer, at proprietary proofs and fill levels. The working name we’ve adopted for this special bourbon is Texas Opus.

When one samples fine bourbon all day or all night long, one can quickly become accustomed to high-proof distillate, coming out of the barrel at 125 or 135 proof. Granted, high-test bourbon is not for everyone. It’s more popular with serious enthusiasts and connoisseurs—those who drink for flavor and aren’t trying to drown their sorrows. Then again, no one’s ever tasted a high-test bourbon this smooth. We hope to release a barrel-proof bourbon soon.

The Scotch and blended whiskey drinkers out there—who might buy into the marketing propaganda that aging whiskey ten, twenty, or fifty years is a requirement for quality—can take heart. We will be holding back a small percentage of each year’s production for longer aging. As time goes on, we’ll introduce small releases of five-, seven-, and ten-year-old bourbon whiskeys. It’s still too early to tell just how good these bottlings will be, but even in their infancy, they are showing signs of extraordinary promise.