Giant Texas: Prideful Goat Release (Jan ‘24)
Event Offerings: Two new product releases, food discounts, flights, cocktails.
At Giant Texas Distillery, in Houston, TX
Liked
Ease of bottle purchases and pickup
Lacked
Consistent pre-event communication and marketing
Loved
Opportunity to spend time with Randy Sullivan (co-founder of Prideful Goat) and other fans of the brand
Welcome to the Herd
In late 2020, Gulf Coast Distillers (now Giant Texas) announced something different - a Kentucky bourbon to be released under a new label named The Prideful Goat. The initial release was a 15-year bourbon presented unfiltered and at cask strength, coming in at 115 proof against a mash bill of 78.5/13/8.5 corn, rye, and malted barley. A successful distillery-first release launched the product in January 2021, and within a month the first batch was sold out at the distillery and at liquor stores in Houston and Dallas that were lucky enough to get bottles. Batch two officially launched in March 2021, and sold out even more quickly at all available locations. In August 2021 the label expanded to include its first rye sourced from Indiana, and from there the Prideful Goat expanded into multiple offerings that are still branching out today.
Okay, but what the heck is the Prideful Goat?
According to co-founder Randy Sullivan, the Prideful Goat is just a catchy name that the team came up with after a few rounds of brainstorming a divergent set of ideas. Marketing materials spun up around the name and initial logo, and the brand positioned itself as one that is fun and approachable while offering some seriously good whiskey. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Randy to hear some of the history first-hand, but he also goes into more detail on the creation of the name and label in a YouTube video from January 2021 released by his Bourbon Real Talk company (we recommend giving it a watch).
If you haven’t yet discovered Bourbon Real Talk, Randy began planning the company in 2018 as a podcast devoted not just to whiskey but to creating a community focused on the ways that whiskey can bring people together. Randy, based near Dallas, happened to be at Houston’s Gulf Coast Distillery for an event in December 2019 where he was introduced to Carlos de Aldecoa (the owner of the distillery, among other things). After a private tour, a few drinks, and a misunderstanding between barrels and totes of bourbon, Randy found himself with the opportunity of a lifetime - to create a new brand under which to release sourced spirits in partnership with Carlos and others.
Randy shared some great stories with us, both on and off the record, and we encourage you to catch his podcasts and to connect with him if you ever get the chance. Suffice to say we feel an even deeper affinity for the Prideful Goat after spending some time with him. The Prideful Goat 15-year bourbon batch four release is what first brought us to Giant Texas back in 2022, so it was only fitting that we returned for the new rye releases on January 20th to kick off a new year of visiting Texas distilleries.
The Event
We showed up at Giant Texas around 11:10am and found the main parking lot almost full. The distillery opens at 11am, so the fact that people were already packing in spoke to the hype for another Prideful Goat release.
This event was focused on two new offerings. First, batch two of an 8-year rye that is the older version of their 6-year “Baby Goat” that can be found in select liquor stores today. This is an unfiltered cask strength coming in at 122.1 proof, aged in new American oak with a #3.5 char. The second bottle is a 6-year finished in Caribbean rum barrels in Texas for around 11 additional months, coming in at 115.8 proof. Both ryes are distilled in Indiana with a mash bill of 95/5 rye and malted barley. Both were also something we tried at SETX Whiskey Fest earlier in the month and so we knew that we needed to add them to our collection.
The Giant Texas tasting room (named Ben’s Den) is upstairs overlooking part of the distillery itself, and there were a few dozen patrons waiting to purchase bottles, ordering at the bar, or sitting at tables enjoying their drinks when we entered. Bottle sales were happening off to the right at the merchandise area, where a few employees were having people provide their information to track sales (per Texas law) and pay for their items. Edgar was busy bagging the Prideful Goat bottles and checking receipts at the next table that was covered with a few cases and some additional merchandise like hats, shirts, and Glencairn glasses. Around half of the crowd was purchasing bottles and leaving, but the other half was sticking around for drinks and conversations. Giant Texas serves beer and coffee in addition to their wide range of spirits, and some people were taking advantage of the lighter offerings while reading over the labels on their newly acquired bottles.
We headed out to the back porch to take a handful of photos, and within the few minutes we were gone the crowd had grown by another 10-20 people. We decided to grab a table next to the bar and begin compiling notes and photos for this post (look at us go!), and by the time we finished eating lunch it was almost 2pm and the initial crowd had left.
This is when we had the opportunity to meet Randy and ask him a few questions to fill in gaps in our understanding of the Prideful Goat brand. Randy had been there since opening, taking photos and sharing words with supporters of his brands along with his wife Lindsey. He spent almost an hour talking about the origins of the Prideful Goat and sharing some off the record stories that bring a new level of appreciation for what goes into creating and growing a brand like this. By the time the Texans game began around 3:30pm the crowd had almost completely turned over, but the distillery remained packed across the reserved and unreserved tables as people settled in for the game. We ordered a few drinks and enjoyed our time before heading out for the evening.
Parting Thoughts
Giant Texas once again provided us with a memorable experience that combined a variety of quality spirits with lively conversations that make those spirits worth sharing. This won’t be our last release event for the Prideful Goat, but it will always be one of our favorites. Check out Bourbon Real Talk, and look for the Prideful Goat and Giant Texas brands in stores near you.
Note: the new 8-year rye and 6-year rum finished rye will be distributed to 10 states and Canada, but these are extremely limited releases. Grab them while you can!
