Here’s a whiskey blend of five facts for a view of Fierce Whiskers Distillery, that up-and-coming spirits company at 5333 Fleming, just a shot glass’ throw away from Meanwhile Brewing Co. in Southeast Austin.
Fact No. 1: Fierce Whiskers was founded by Houston natives Tri Vo and Tim Penney. “We’ve known each other since we were in high school and have always done plenty of stuff together,” says Vo. “One day we decided, it may perhaps be a good idea to start a whiskey distillery.”
The company’s name comes via Rutherford B. Hayes in 1849: “Austin is an inconsiderable village with large expectations … full of fierce whiskers, gaming, and drinking very abounding in all quarters.”
So, this fledgling company, with its five-story rickhouse and elegantly appointed tasting room and tree-studded vista, it’s not the result of a lifelong obsession with, ah, sublime alcoholic spirits created from elements of nature’s bounty?
“I went to school here at UT,” says Vo, “so I’d say I enjoyed whiskey as much as any normal person, any college student? I’d go to Sixth Street and do the thing. But, really, Tim and I are more about building companies and really good products, instead of any inherent love of whiskey.”
Fact No. 2: Fierce Whiskers’ bright array of equipment is anchored by a copper pot still from Vendome Copper and Brass Works out of Louisville, Kentucky. But that, we’re told, isn’t the main reason their whiskey is so good.
“We do a lot of research and figure out the best way to do things,” says Vo. “We’re not stuck in ‘how things have always been done.'”
Fact No. 3: Sept. 24 of this year was the first time the company ever sold a bottle.
“Currently, our business has no sales,” says Vo. “About a year ago we started inviting the public in to taste our whiskey where it is, but our stuff is still aging. The oldest is about to reach two years of age, so it almost qualifies as straight bourbon. So, for our first birthday celebration, we’re releasing just one barrel of whiskey out of the over 2,000 we’ve produced to date. There won’t be another release in 2022.”
Fact No. 4: Fierce Whiskers is often promoted as an Asian-owned business. Why is that important?
“My whole life, my whole career, I’ve just been me,” says Vo. “Just a dude doing his thing, right? I was born in Houston, Texas, my friends are my friends, you know? But what made me more excited to be specifically an Asian American in the industry was when the Asian hate stuff started happening. I started to feel badly that I wasn’t really using my voice to show people who we are and what we can do, to show people what it’s like to be an Asian American. I used to be like, ‘Huh, that’s what you think?’ and it’d kind of bounce right off of me. But now the world is changing to where I do want to make a difference and speak up, to use what voice is given to me – to hopefully help people understand each other better.”
Fact No. 5: The company’s name is from a comment about our fair city by Rutherford B. Hayes in 1849: “Austin is an inconsiderable village with large expectations … full of discharged ‘Rangers’ … costumes of every variety … fierce whiskers, gaming, and drinking very abounding in all quarters.” Niiiiice, right? We reckon that, by the time Fierce Whiskers’ first batch of straight bourbon is ready, there’ll be some mighty fine drinking abounding in all quarters of our increasingly considerable village.
This article appears in The Drinks Issue (2022).