Summer of Bourbon Road Trip: Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic Single Cask
We are gearing up for the release of the Lost Lantern Summer of Bourbon Collection on July 26th! This special collection shows that great bourbon comes from all across the United States. To kick things off, we’re launching a virtual road trip feature to introduce you to each of the distilleries in the Collection and help get you in the mood for their whiskies. Next up: Ironroot Republic Distillery in Denison, Texas. Today’s post will focus on the distillery through the lens of the Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic single cask, our third release from the distillery.
Ironroot Republic Distillery Overview
Lost Lantern hand-selected this cask from Ironroot Republic Distillery on the North Texas plains, an hour north of Dallas and just a few miles south of the Oklahoma border. The family-owned distillery’s use of European distillation techniques and its experiments with rare heirloom strains of corn push the boundaries of what straight bourbon can be. Beyond that, the Likarish family have quickly established themselves as one of the most important (and most welcoming and generous) voices in Texas whiskey.
One of the most awarded small distilleries in the country, Ironroot Republic was one of our very first partners, and for a long time were the youngest distillery we had ever worked with. Many distilleries take a few years to find their footing. Ironroot found theirs right away, and has been producing wonderful whiskies since their very first release.
We are truly delighted to have Ironroot Republic as a returning partner.
Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic Single Cask Details
This is our third cask, and second bourbon, from Ironroot Republic, which has consistently been one of our most requested and sought-after partners.
Aged for 3 years in a 65-gallon barrel, this was made from 65% yellow dent corn, 30% bloody butcher red corn, and 5% Floriani corn, a rare Italian heirloom red flint corn. It has warm oak spice and hints of pomegranate and cherry on the nose, with notes of marzipan, rich oak, sweet vanilla cream, and fresh cornbread on the palate.
Note the size of that cask: 65 gallons! That’s quite unusual, but Ironroot Republic has become one of the leading distilleries experimenting with larger-than-normal casks in a warm climate. Barrels larger than the standard 53 gallons have a very different ratio of interior surface area to volume, allowing for reduced oak interaction in the cask–very important in climates like Texas where oak extraction and evaporation can happen quite quickly. The use of larger casks allows whiskies to age for longer without becoming completely dominated by oak. It’s part of what allows Ironroot Republic to make whiskies that truly showcase the flavor of corn, even while they also have substantial oak influence as well.
Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic Cocktail Recipe: Act Naturally
For our single cask bourbons this summer I wanted to explore the original cocktail. What we now know as the old fashioned used to just be called “An {insert spirit here} cocktail.” Spirit, sugar, bitters. That’s it. Some time in the 1870’s people started to order more complicated cocktails and sooner or later someone got fed up with the extra stuff and said, “Give me a cocktail, you know, the old-fashioned kind.” All we have to do is tweak one of those basic ingredients and we’ve got a whole new old fashioned to explore.
If you have never experienced a bourbon from Ironroot Republic, please first just savor it a bit. Take in the sweet aroma of freshly shucked corn. Taste the sunshine. This is summer distilled in a glass. These folks have gone to some serious lengths to preserve heirloom corn varietals. For this Old Fashioned I couldn’t help but grab a bottle of Nixta Licor de Elote, a favorite liqueur from a distillery in Mexico that also honors the lasting legacy of corn, which first appeared in meso-America. If you don’t have Nixta in your state yet, don’t worry. This is a great chance to ask the clerks at your dram shop or bartender at your favorite spot which savory liqueurs or modifiers they are most stoked about at the moment. It may be a celery seed liqueur inspired by the deli counter or a rhubarb hued elixir celebrating the summer solstice.
Ironroot Republic Cocktail Instructions: Act Naturally
1.5 oz Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic Single Cask
.5 oz Nixta Licor de Elote
3 dashes Molé bitters (Angostura will be fine as a substitute)
Pinch of salt
- Combine all ingredients together with ice in a mixing glass and stir.
- Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with an ear of roasted summer corn.
-California State Manager Drew Record
Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic Food Pairing
HONEY BOURBON BUTTER OVER CORNBREAD
It’s hard to have cornbread without butter, we just decided to take it up a small notch and add our Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey and a smidge of honey for a saucy variety. From the first sip of this delicious Texas single cask I picked up on cornbread and sweet vanilla cream and knew immediately that sweet cornbread was the perfect pairing. I’ve used a shortcut but if you have a favorite cornbread recipe by all means use that. The butter can be made in advance and if you’re anything like me, you’ll find plenty more things to slather it on!
HONEY BOURBON BUTTER OVER CORNBREAD
Yield: 6-8 slices cornbread
Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
1 – 8.5 ounce box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
⅓ cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ear fresh corn – kernels removed from cob
1 stick salted butter – room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a small cast iron skillet with butter.
- Into a medium bowl add corn muffin mix, egg, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Fold in corn kernels. Pour mixture into skillet and set aside until oven is preheated.
- Into a separate medium bowl mix together: butter, honey and bourbon until creamy. Set aside.
- Bake for 16-18 OR until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool slightly before slicing, top each slice with a small amount of honey bourbon butter.
-Marketing and Brand Manager Paula Jones
Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic Music Pairing
What road trip, virtual or otherwise, would be complete without a playlist? California state manager Drew Record has curated a unique listening experience for your next trip to Ironroot Republic… whether that’s north from Dallas or the other large Texas cities, south across Oklahoma, east from the Great Plains, or just through a glass of whiskey in the comfort of your own home. Enjoy!
Lost Lantern Ironroot Republic Virtual Road Trip Playlist [Spotify]
Ironroot Republic Area Recommendations
For each of the distilleries in the virtual road trip, we solicited tips from the distillery team for what you should do if you decide to make your road trip not virtual and visit in person. Denison, Texas, about an hour north of Dallas, and easy to add on to a trip to Texas’s largest inland city. Besides for, of course, visiting the distillery, here are some tips for a trip to Ironroot Republic, straight from Jonathan Likarish:
“Things to do around Denison:
Lake Texoma – Attracting approximately 6 million visitors a year, this almost 75,000 acre lake with 550 miles of shoreline is a destination for fishing and boating.
Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge – featuring 11,000 acres of recreation opportunities ,Hagerman NWR is an excellent destination for Birding and Wildlife viewing as well as hiking and fossil hunting.
Choctaw Casino – One of the largest casinos in the United States is located just 20 minutes North of the distillery. It boasts 7,400 slot machines, 100 tables games, and over 1,700 hotel rooms.”