A Texas bourbon mistake cost thousands of bottles—but it also sparked lasting lessons about leadership, accountability, and learning from failure. In this episode of My Favorite Mistake, Mark Graban talks with Dan Garrison and Donnis Todd of Garrison Brothers Distillery about the errors that shaped their business—and the culture that made learning possible.
Listen:
Check out all episodes on the My Favorite Mistake main page.
We have two special guests from Garrison Brothers Distillery joining us for Episode #11 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast. They are Dan Garrison, founder, and CEO of the distillery, and Donnis Todd, their master distiller.
I've known Dan and Donnis since I first had the chance to visit their distillery in Hye, TX, back in 2013 as part of an MIT alumni group visit. I've visited many times, and I've volunteered as a bottler, as I've blogged about. I love the people, the place, and the product — their Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskeys, many of which are award winners.
In the episode, Donnis tells a story about a time when he let some whiskey age one year too long… and what he learned from the mistake (and how Dan handled it). Dan talks about a mistake he made with one of their key national retailer relationships and what he learned from that. They both talk about how they've created a culture of “fessin' up” to mistakes when you make them and why that's so important to their company.
You can listen to the episode below. A transcript also follows lower on this page.
Quotes:
!["Dan [Garrison] has always been willing to give me the time to learn from my mistakes." - Donnis Todd](https://www.markgraban.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Donnis-Todd-Garrison-My-Favorite-MIstake-2.jpg)
Subscribe, Support, Rate, and Review!
Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast — that helps others find this content and you'll be sure to get future episodes as they are released weekly.
Transcript: Donnis Todd and Dan Garrison on a Costly Bourbon Aging Mistake
My Favorite Mistake Podcast – Garrison Brothers Distillery
Transcript Introduction
This transcript captures a conversation between Mark Graban, host of the My Favorite Mistake podcast, and his guests Donnis Todd, Master Distiller at Garrison Brothers Distillery, and Dan Garrison, Founder and CEO. The discussion focuses on mistakes in bourbon production, leadership responses, and how learning from failure shaped company culture.The $2.5 Million Bourbon Aging Mistake at Garrison Brothers
Introduction: Why Mistakes Matter in Craft Bourbon
In an episode of My Favorite Mistake, host Mark Graban speaks with Donnis Todd, Master Distiller at Garrison Brothers Distillery, and Dan Garrison, the company’s founder and CEO. Their conversation centers on costly mistakes in bourbon making—and how leadership response determines whether those mistakes become failures or breakthroughs.
Garrison Brothers, based in Hye, Texas, is known for award-winning bourbons produced under extreme heat conditions. That same heat plays a central role in one of the most expensive mistakes in the company’s history.
Establishing a Culture of Owning Mistakes
Before sharing his “favorite mistake,” Donnis Todd explains a cultural decision he made years earlier: mistakes at Garrison Brothers would be owned openly, not hidden.
Equipment damage, process failures, or human error are discussed openly with the team. Individuals explain what happened, why it happened, and how it will be prevented next time. In some cases, initials are literally carved into damaged equipment as a visible reminder of accountability.
This approach wasn’t designed to punish—it was designed to prevent surprises and improve readiness. The unexpected result was personal and team growth.
Owning mistakes, Todd explains, strengthens character, builds trust, and accelerates learning across the organization.
Donnis Todd’s Favorite Mistake: Aging Bourbon Too Long
Todd’s most painful mistake began in 2012, when he filled 100 barrels of bourbon. By 2015, the barrels—aged about three and a half years—were tasting exceptional. They were ready to be used.
Instead of bottling them, Todd made a decision driven by craftsmanship and ambition: he chose to age them longer, believing more time might make them even better.
The barrels were returned to the aging barns.
Texas Heat and the Compounding Error
What Todd could not control—or fully anticipate—was the weather.
In 2017, Texas experienced one of the hottest summers in its recorded history, with over 100 days above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That heat dramatically accelerated evaporation, commonly called the “angel’s share.”
By the time Todd revisited the barrels, many were nearly empty. Some produced as few as four to seven bottles instead of the expected 50 bottles per barrel.
Out of 100 barrels, the total yield was roughly 1,920 bottles, instead of the anticipated 5,000.
The loss totaled more than 3,000 bottles of bourbon, translating to approximately $2.5 million in lost revenue.
Todd describes the mistake as financially painful and personally humbling.
What the Distillery Learned from the Loss
Despite the cost, the mistake generated several critical insights:
- Barrel construction matters: Certain design elements contributed to accelerated evaporation in extreme heat. The distillery adjusted how barrels were specified going forward.
- Extreme proofing knowledge: Todd learned how prolonged aging in heat affects alcohol concentration, enabling future high-proof releases.
- Texas aging limits: The team gained clarity on how long bourbon can realistically age in Texas conditions before loss outweighs benefit.
- Product innovation: These lessons improved future releases, including Cowboy Bourbon, a limited product that creates a strong halo effect for the brand’s flagship offerings.
The loss became, in effect, expensive tuition.
Leadership Response: Dan Garrison’s Reaction
When Todd informed CEO Dan Garrison of the mistake and its financial impact, the response was measured rather than punitive.
Garrison understood that Texas bourbon was still largely uncharted territory. Pushing boundaries was part of the mission. Mistakes, while costly, were inseparable from learning.
Rather than focusing on blame, Garrison emphasized applying the lessons and continuing to improve the product. He reassured Todd that, over time, the financial loss would fade—but the knowledge would remain.
Dan Garrison’s Favorite Mistake: A Leadership Email Gone Wrong
Garrison then shares his own favorite mistake, unrelated to production but equally instructive.
In 2016, frustrated by inconsistent inventory at Total Wine & More stores across Texas, Garrison sent an emotional email suggesting the retailer might be intentionally harming the brand. He copied a senior executive at Total Wine on the message.
The next day, Garrison received a strongly worded response. The issue turned out to be a technical UPC code error, not malicious intent. Had he waited, the problem would have resolved itself.
Garrison acknowledges that the mistake was sending a heated message without pausing.
Repairing the Relationship—and Strengthening It
Rather than ending the partnership, Garrison worked to repair the damage.
Over time, the relationship with Total Wine & More not only recovered but became stronger than before. Garrison Brothers is now carried in every Total Wine location nationwide and generates millions in annual sales through the retailer.
The mistake reinforced an important leadership lesson: bridges can often be rebuilt—but only with humility, effort, and patience.
Why Mistakes Are Essential to Craft and Leadership
Both Todd and Garrison emphasize that bourbon making is an artisan craft. Like any form of art, it involves risk, experimentation, and exposure to failure.
Mistakes are inevitable when innovating—especially in environments no one has fully mastered before, such as aging bourbon in extreme Texas heat.
What defines success, they argue, is not avoiding mistakes, but responding to them with honesty, learning, and accountability.
Key Lessons from the Garrison Brothers Bourbon Mistake
- Expensive mistakes can generate long-term competitive advantage
- Psychological safety enables faster learning and better decisions
- Leadership response determines whether failure becomes progress
- Craft mastery requires patience, experimentation, and humility
- Transparency builds trust internally and externally
Final Reflection: From Loss to Legacy
The bourbon lost in those 100 barrels can never be recovered. But the knowledge gained reshaped Garrison Brothers’ approach to aging, barrel selection, and product development.
In the end, the mistake helped define not just how the bourbon is made—but how the company leads.