Donnis Todd
“Cannon Barrels to Whiskey Barrels”
On Donnis Todd’s first day at Garrison Brothers Distillery, he didn’t come as a distiller, a quality analyst, or even a consultant. He simply arrived with military discipline, skilled trades he’d learned along the way, and a desire to accomplish something lasting. That raw ambition, combined with an obsessive respect for detail, would turn Todd into one of the most accomplished and decorated bourbon-makers in Texas.
Todd had grown up in Ohio and graduated from High School in Marblehead, on the shores of Lake Erie. As a kid, he idolized his grandfather, an amateur whiskey-maker. After high school, Todd joined the US Air Force, serving for six years in active duty, first in Korea and Japan. Serendipitously, Todd ended up finishing out his service in Texas. There, he quietly observed the people, the climate, the culture, and the landscape. He liked how Texans were proud of their state. He missed his family, but not the cold lakefront winters. Texas began to feel like it could be home.
Getting discharged during the 2008 financial crisis, Donnis was also looking for a recession-proof occupation. He heard about Garrison Brothers Distillery, then a small startup operation founded by Dan Garrison, who was trying mightily to take advantage of new laws that allowed him to make the first legal bourbon ever distilled in Texas. At the time, Garrison’s young whiskey was aging, the distillery was still under construction, money was super-tight, and the team was small enough that every pair of hands counted. Todd inquired, offering to help with anything that Dan needed. Garrison agreed, on one condition: “You’ll start at the bottom. Grunt work first. If you want to earn a place in whiskey, you’ll build it.” Todd accepted the challenge without hesitation. His first duties were sweeping floors, repairing buildings, welding equipment, and clearing brush from the property. He helped build rickhouses, ran electrical wiring, installed grain systems, and maintained boilers. But while he was hammering nails and sealing joints, he was also studying every part of the whiskey-making process, closely watching grain selection, fermentation temperatures, and distillation cuts.
Within a year, his interest in the distillation process was noticed, and the hard-working veteran began training directly under Dan Garrison on distilling and barrel management. He learned to run Garrison’s 100% copper Vendome pot stills, design custom fermentation regimens, and catalogue barrels by season and location to understand how heat and humidity shaped maturation. Texas weather, intense, sometimes squally and aggressive and ever-changing, often forced Todd to rethink traditional bourbon aging routines. He first embraced it, then excelled at it. And by 2011, Garrison Brothers released Texas Straight Bourbon just as Dan had wished—the first legally distilled bourbon in Texas history, and much of the production had Donnis Todd’s fingerprint all over it. Two years later, Todd was officially named Master Distiller at Garrison Brothers. He was now responsible for the quality and taste of every drop of Garrison Brothers whiskey the distillery produced.
Within a year, his interest in the distillation process was noticed, and the hard-working veteran began training directly under Dan Garrison on distilling and barrel management. He learned to run Garrison’s 100% copper Vendome pot stills, design custom fermentation regimens, and catalogue barrels by season and location to understand how heat and humidity shaped maturation. Texas weather, intense, sometimes squally and aggressive and ever-changing, often forced Todd to rethink traditional bourbon aging routines. He first embraced it, then excelled at it. And by 2011, Garrison Brothers released Texas Straight Bourbon just as Dan had wished—the first legally distilled bourbon in Texas history, and much of the production had Donnis Todd’s fingerprint all over it. Two years later, Todd was officially named Master Distiller at Garrison Brothers. He was now responsible for the quality and taste of every drop of Garrison Brothers whiskey the distillery produced.
As Master Distiller, Todd refined Garrison Brothers’ signature approach: long fermentation, low-and-slow distillation, and intense heat aging in custom-built white oak barrels. Instead of fleeing from the Texas sun, which often reaches 115°F inside the barns, Todd leaned into it, letting the whiskey expand deep into the oak and withdraw quickly as temperatures fluctuated. The result: fast extraction, dark color, and explosive flavor. Todd soon became known not only for consistency but for pushing boundaries with special releases. During the next few years, Todd helped develop Balmorhea Double-Barreled Bourbon, which was aged in new American oak, then re-barreled into another fresh oak cask. Balmorhea won Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2021. Next, Todd concocted Laguna Madre, an eight-year bourbon finished in Limousin oak casks from France, and released as one of the oldest and most expensive Texas bourbons ever bottled. Despite commanding $349 for a 750-ml bottle, the spirit sold out promptly. In 2025, Todd then released Guadalupe, a port-finished bourbon aged in Tawny Port casks from Portugal. Only 1,000 bottles of Guadalupe were released at a distillery-only event, at proofs ranging from 123.9 to 129.8. All 1,000 bottles again vanished rapidly. These releases soon established Donnis Todd and Garrison Brothers as one of the most awarded craft distiller/distillery combos in America. Despite national attention, Todd still worked onsite daily, often in boots and sweat, rolling barrels by hand.
Donnis Todd’s whiskey journey from airman to laborer to Master Distiller represents a modern American whiskey dream built not on inheritance but on grit, service, and craft. He did not inherit a still; he built one. He did not grow up in bourbon country; he helped create one in Texas, and his determination and talent are in every bottle of Garrison Brothers whiskey that rolls past his callused hands.
Sources
Garrison Brothers Distillery Website/Our Team, www.garrisonbros.com
San Antonio Magazine, “Meet… Master Distiller Donnis Todd”, www.sanantoniomag.com
Texas Monthly, “How Garrison Brothers Built Texas Bourbon”, www.texasmonthly.com
Distillery Trail (blog), “Garrison Brothers…Interview”, www.distillerytrail.com/blog
PUNCH Magazine – “Heat, Wood, and Patience: The Texas Bourbon Method”,
www.punchdrink.com
Contributed by Tracy McLemore, Fairview, Tennessee
