Ironroot Republic: Finding Their Own Way

Where would you go to find the home to the 2020 Bourbon of the Year?

Louisville?

Bardstown?

Frankfort?

Lawrenceburg?

How about Denison? “Denison?”, you may ask “Where in Kentucky is Denison?”

814 miles from Whiskey Row is Denison, Texas and there you will find Ironroot Republic. Ironroot is the distillery that produced the World Whiskies Award Bourbon of the Year, Ironroot Harbinger. Yes, the Bourbon of the year is from Texas…if only that were the strangest thing to have happened in 2020.

The Roots of Ironroot Republic

It’s Christmas 2011 and the Likarish family has gathered for dinner. What had all appearances to be a typical holiday meal got a jolt of excitement when Robert, who was finishing up his law degree, makes an announcement: “I don’t want to be a lawyer”. Robert’s father, John, jokes “What are you going to do? Open that distillery you and your brother keep talking about?”

As it turns out…that was exactly Robert’s plan. Jonathan, Robert’s older brother, talked his wife into letting him halt his career as an engineer and join Robert in starting the distillery.

The distillery was supposed to be the retirement dream for the Likarish brothers. In a twist of fate, the dream inched towards reality during 2010 - more than a year before Robert’s Christmas announcement. Robert’s apartment had burned down and Marcia, the boys’ mom, decided a vacation to Louisville would help take their minds off things. So, she gathered up her sons and set off on what would be an auspicious road trip. They visited Side Bar in downtown Louisville and enjoyed a few flights of whiskey. This is when Marcia first fell in love with Bourbon. Later that day they found themselves on a tour at Vendome Copper & Brassworks, producer of the vast majority of copper stills used in the world. Whether it was the Bourbon flights talking or vacation euphoria getting the better of them, the Likarish brothers managed to get their name on a list at Vendome to buy a still. A still that, in 2010, was part of a retirement plan that they thought was at least a quarter-century away from realization.

After the Christmas surprise of 2011, Jonathan and Robert knew they had a lot to learn to make this work and sought to take an unconventional path in their distillation education. They traveled the world for two years being trained on the art and science of whiskey making. Part of that training included interning with Dry Fly Whiskey in Washington and with fellow-Texans at Balcones Distilling. The Likarishes also studied under some world-renowned figures such as Nancy Fraley and Hubert Germain-Robin. Fraley is known as “The Nose” and is a master blending consultant to distilleries throughout the globe. Germain-Robin, from Cognac, France, is an author and innovator in brandy distillation.

In 2012, the brothers got a phone call that they weren’t expecting. Vendome was on the line. It seems it was their turn on the waiting list to get their still ordered – a waiting list Jonathan and Robert forgot they were even on. Vendome was ready to start designing and building their still, and as it turned out, they were going to need it! So, Vendome started work on a 1200 gallon, Scottish-style pot still that the boys would name “Jim Bowie” after the Kentuckian who led the volunteer armies during the Texas Revolution.

The name of the still wouldn’t be the only homage to their Texas roots. The name Ironroot Republic itself is honoring their Texas heritage, too. “Republic” is for The Republic of Texas. The “Ironroot” part is not as obvious. In the late 19th century, Denison native and University of Kentucky graduate, T.V. Munson worked to develop species of grapes that could be used by Texas farmers year round for table grapes, preserves and wine. Munson’s strong grape varietals were used by European wineries when their vineyards were destroyed by infestation. The wine industry in Europe was effectively saved by Munson and his work. Because of their heartiness, these grapes Munson developed were said to possess “ironroot”.

The training has been at a frantic pace. The still has been ordered. And the distillery has a distinct and meaningful name. It was decided that Jonathan would be the head distiller and Robert would be in charge of sales and would also handle the corporate and legal matters (the law degree would still comes in handy). Even the boys’ mother, Marcia, is part of the Ironroot Republic team. She manages day-to-day operations and wears whatever hat is necessary. What was supposed to be a retirement dream for Jonathan and Robert has come together as a reality in a few short years as Ironroot Republic started operations in 2014.

Texas Is Not Kentucky

Jonathan and Robert recognize one of their greatest challenges is overcoming the perception of Texas whiskey. However…“Copying what the big boys in Kentucky do isn’t a recipe for success”, Jonathan told me. “You can’t recreate Kentucky Bourbon in Texas”. That is not a slight directed at the legacy Kentucky distillers. They are simply stating a fact, and the path the Likarish brothers have carved for themselves and their distillery has certainly held true to this philosophy around Bourbon making. Robert added: “We were determined that we had to find our own way”.

Ironroot Republic has adopted several unique processes in order to achieve that differentiation Jonathan and Robert have envisioned. At Ironroot, they practice French brandy distilling techniques which they learned from Germain-Robin. They also utilize fermentation periods of up to seven days, which is much longer than the typical 3-5 days used by most whiskey distillers. Ironroot will experiment with barrel sizes, including some as large as 63 gallons. These larger barrels will reduce the angel’s share and are better-suited for longer aging periods. All the barrels are acquired through Independent Stave and are made from virgin European oak (American white oak is typical in Bourbon, but not required). These barrels are ordered with a heavier toast and a number 1 char. Even the barrels are examples of the Likarishes finding their own way to Bourbon success.

Jonathan and Robert have also adopted the concept of elévage in their process. Elévage is a French word meaning to “raise or bring up”. Because of this, aging of whiskey at Ironroot Republic is better described as “maturation”. For example, barrel-entry proof for their whiskey is 125. Once in the barrel, the whiskey is allowed to rest for 3 – 6 months. At that point, the whiskey is tasted and proof is tested. Occasionally, the liquid in some barrels really likes that proof and they’ll leave it alone. Typically at that time, however, they will reduce the proof to 118. As the whiskey continues to mature then it will be tested frequently to ensure that it is being “raised” the right way. If a barrel, for instance, is predetermined to be used for the Harbinger brand, then water will be added throughout the “bringing up” of the whiskey, slowly moving it towards the targeted 115 proof. This elévage process means that any water added to affect proof has an opportunity over time to interact with the whiskey while it is still in the barrel rather than the whiskey simply being watered down after it has been dumped in order to achieve the desired proof level.

While Texas isn’t Kentucky, Denison isn’t typical “Texas” either. Ironroot uses an insulated storage warehouse for their barrels, but they don’t do much with temperature control and only make some occasional adjustments for humidity. The distillery is about 75 miles north of Dallas and very near the Oklahoma border. They may not enjoy the weather extremes of Kentucky, but there is more weather variety in Denison than you might normally associate with Texas. Further, being on the fringe of “Tornado Alley” means this region is prone to dramatic shifts in barometric pressure (which affects the movement of the liquid in barrels). This part of Texas also experiences a weather phenomenon called “Blue Northers” which is a cold front that brings rapid drops in temperature (sometimes as much as 30 degrees in just a few minutes). So, these barrels aren’t just sitting out in the Texas heat as might be expected.

Bourbon of the Year

When Maggie Kimberl, Content Editor for American Whiskey magazine, told me that Ironroot Harbinger had been named Bourbon of the Year, my response was something like “who has been named what?”. Honestly, I was skeptical. Trusting in Maggie’s opinion, however, I found a bottle of Harbinger on the shelf the next week and picked it up. After tasting it, I immediately e-mailed her and told her she was right…this is fantastic. If Ironroot Republic keeps making Bourbon like this then Bourbon awards getting shipped to Texas will no longer be a surprise. It will become a norm.

Harbinger (meaning “a signal of things to come”) was the first Bourbon released by Ironroot Republic in 2016 and was released at barrel strength. The following year the Likarishes established a proof point of 115 which has been the standard for each release since. The mash bill is primarily Yellow Dent Corn which is sourced within 60 miles of the distillery. The three other corn varietals in the recipe (purple corn, bloody butcher corn and Flint corn) are milled on-site and serve almost as flavoring grains to the Bourbon. The final mash bill component is rye.

There are a several other whiskies and spirits sold by Ironroot Republic and you can see those at their website which you can find at this link.

Finding Their Own Way From Here

Marcia with Jim Bowie and the Bourbon of the Year

“You can’t sugar coat the hours of work”, explained Marcia. “But this has been such a positive move for my sons and our family”. Jonathan and Robert agreed that the most rewarding aspect of opening this distillery together is how much closer they are as a family than they would have been otherwise. Rather than the family getting together just for holidays and special events, they get to see each other every day. Robert’s fiancé, Kylee, handles the website and social media for Ironroot. Jonathan’s wife, Jessica, helps out at the distillery, too, and their two kids are being brought up to be familiar with the distillery and are getting hands-on lessons in the importance of hard work being a requirement for success.

The only family member not at the distillery is dad. John continues to work in St. Louis, but is planning to retire soon. He is very proud of his sons and all they have accomplished in such a short time. He calls them every day and is looking forward to joining them soon in growing the family business.

As for the distillery, they plan to continue experimenting (or as Jonathan calls it “playing around”) with corn whiskey, barrel selection and maturation techniques. They are opening a new barrel room soon, which has been the only constraint on production capacity. Ironroot is also aging some stock. Each year a handful of barrels are held back to “play around” with or to be used in special releases some time down the road. They look to approach corn varietals in whiskey the way a winery might approach grape varietals: trying different varietals and different blends to achieve something new, something different, but always something excellent…something their own way.

With the founding and success of Ironroot Republic, Jonathan and Robert have created for their mom and dad the retirement dream job that they had meant for themselves. So what are the Likarish brothers going to do when they actually do retire some day? According to Robert: “Well, I guess we’ll get a real job”.