There are a handful of days each year that make this old bourbon maker grin from ear to ear.

One of them is Laguna Madre Day.

Every August, I get to watch people pull into our little corner of Hye before the sun comes up. Some have driven across Texas. Others have flown halfway across the country. They their dogs, stories, old friends, and enough excitement to remind all of us why we do what we do.

They’re not just coming to buy a bottle.

They’re coming to celebrate.

It’s funny. We named this bourbon after a stretch of water along the Texas coast that most folks have never seen. If you’ve been there, you understand. If you haven’t, you ought to.

The Laguna Madre isn’t loud. It doesn’t demand your attention. It rewards patience. The wind slows down. The water seems to go on forever. You learn pretty quickly that nature doesn’t work on your schedule. It works on its own.

That’s how we make bourbon.

Around here, we’re surrounded by people telling us how to make things faster. Age it less. Cut corners. Find a shortcut.

We’ve never been interested in shortcuts.

Laguna Madre begins like every Garrison Brothers bourbon, spending four long years inside new American white oak barrels beneath the relentless Texas sun. Then we move it into extraordinarily rare French Limousin oak casks for another four years. Those casks, prized for generations by French coopers and winemakers, bring a character all their own, but only after time has worked its magic.

Then we wait.

Four more years.

Eight years total.

That’s a long time to trust your instincts.

Every year I walk into our barrel barn, I wonder if this might be the year those barrels have finally become what we imagined when we filled them so many years ago.

Thankfully, Donnis Todd has a better palate than I do.

He’ll pull a sample, take one sip, smile that little smile of his, and say, “It’s ready.”

Those are good days.

One of the things I admire most about Donnis is that his appreciation for the outdoors runs just as deep as his appreciation for great bourbon. He and his son, Calvin, have spent time on the Laguna Madre with Capt. Chuck Naiser, learning why those shallow bays and seagrass flats are unlike anywhere else in Texas. Calvin volunteers with FlatsWorthy because he believes those waters are worth protecting, and that passion has become part of this bourbon’s story. The folks at FlatsWorthy dedicate countless hours to restoring habitat, educating anglers, and preserving one of Texas’ greatest natural treasures. We’re proud that Laguna Madre helps shine a light on their mission because good bourbon can do more than fill a glass—it can help protect the places that inspire it.

Laguna Madre has never been about making more bourbon. It has always been about making better bourbon.

The yield is small.

The barrels are expensive.

The process makes absolutely no financial sense. It’s crazy. 

But then again, neither did building a bourbon distillery in Texas twenty years ago.

Sometimes the craziest ideas become the ones you’re proudest of.

This year’s release is especially exciting because, for the first time, we’re offering a very limited Cask Strength Single Barrel Laguna Madre. Bottled straight from the barrel at 135.4 proof, it’s as close as you can get to standing beside Donnis in the barrel barn with a whiskey thief in your hand. We only made a handful, and I have a feeling they won’t be around for very long.

Altogether, only 3,000 bottles of the 2026 Laguna Madre exist.

The first 1,000 bottles will be available exclusively at Garrison Brothers Distillery on Saturday, August 8, when we open our gates at 8:00 a.m. The remaining bottles will find their way to a limited number of retailers around the country and to our online store beginning August 14. Like every year, once they’re gone, they’re gone.

When you pour a glass of Laguna Madre, I hope you notice more than the vanilla bean, hazelnut, saltwater taffy, milk chocolate, and that long, creamy finish. I hope you taste eight years of patience. Eight years of faith. Eight years of refusing to compromise.

I also hope you think about the place that inspired its name.

Texas is full of remarkable landscapes. The Hill Country is home for us, but the Laguna Madre is one of those places that reminds you just how extraordinary this state really is. It’s worth visiting. It’s worth protecting. And it’s worth raising a glass to.

If you’ll be joining us in Hye on August 8, thank you. Come early. Shake a few hands. Enjoy some breakfast. Spend the day with us. We’d be honored to share this special release with you.

It took eight years to make.

I hope you take your time drinking it.

Salud!

— Dan Garrison