Genius Liquids Distillery
Creador is clay-pot mezcal made in Oaxaca by maestro palenquero José Alberto Pablo, and they pour it next to a Texas spirit distilled from desert spoon.1
Why go
Bar Singular is the tasting room at the Bastrop distillery. They call it probably the first agave spirits room of its kind outside Mexico. The hedge is theirs.1 They pour three things. Creador comes from Oaxaca in small batches off Pablo's palenque, made in clay and not copper. They make De Terra here, from agave and varieties of desert spoon, in what the distillery calls extremely small batches. The gin is the steady work: Genius Gin at navy and standard strength, plus Old Highborn.3 The founders run the sessions themselves, which is why the room takes five people and not fifty.1
Order this / avoid
- The Creador flight. Clay-pot, 100 percent agave, from one named producer in Oaxaca.3
- De Terra alongside it, because tasting a Texas desert spirit against Oaxacan mezcal in the same 90 minutes is the reason to drive to Bastrop.3
- Buy a bottle on the way out, up to 3000ml a person a month, which is the TABC limit the distillery works to.1
- Avoid: arriving late. The session ends 30 minutes before the next one starts, whatever time you walk in.1
What locals & experts say
- I haven't found anything published about these spirits. The distillery is the only voice on this page.
- On the aim, in the house's own words:
We believe in making and representing the best products possible with passion guiding each detail.
3
Good to know
- Booking: Saturdays and Sundays by appointment, $60 a head with a $30 deposit, 21 and over, parties up to five. Twenty-four hours' notice to cancel or reschedule.1
- What the session is: a welcome cocktail, then four 0.75oz pours of Oaxacan and Texan agave spirits across 90 minutes, led by the owners.1
- Getting there: 704 Highway 71 W, Suite D-300, Bastrop, about 30 minutes east of Austin.1
Verdict
should-visit — Book it, because five seats a session by appointment is the whole capacity. Ask the owners your questions while they pour, since that is what a five-seat room buys you.