Western Son Distillery, also known as Western Son Vodka, is a company out of Pilot Point, Texas, in the U.S. Their company website notes that the company was formed by "a small group of guys who were burned out on corporate environments and ready to carve out their own path." This was done in 2011. The website only mentions one of these gentlemen--the distiller Vincent Messina. However other online sources indicated that the co-owner and President is John Straits, and the COO/CFO is Carlos Guillem. I also found an article from 2015 that said that Western Son was one of five brands owned by the JEM Beverage Company, along with Brazos gin, Red River whiskey, South House moonshine, and Southern Son vodka. And that the co-owners of JEM were John Straits and Evan Batt. However, I didn't see this detail on more recent articles, so maybe JEM, and some or all of those other 4 brands are no more, or were sold off or went independent. Although most of Western Son's products are either vodkas, or drinks made with vodka, Western Son does make a bourbon whiskey and a couple of gins. Many of the vodkas have exotic flavors: peach, cucumber, lemon, lime, grapefruit, prickly pear, raspberry, watermelon, and blueberry. Additionally, I learned later that I actually bought their low calorie, diet-style frozen ice pops, as opposed to the regular, full calorie ones. The regular kinds include blue raspberry, ice lemonade, raspberry lemonade, and watermelon cucumber. The low calorie ice pops have between 62-66 calories in their 100 mL packages, while the regular sorts have between 122-137 calories for the same amount. Other than that, Western Son alcohol is made using Midwest and Texas varieties of yellow corn, which is naturally gluten-free. And the factory where their products are made in the site of "The Old Panty Factory." (More accurately, the Russell-Newman Clothing Company, but maybe that business specialized in underwear.)
Western Son SpikedIce, blueberry lemonade: Had a yellow color, and no discernable odor. The alcohol content was 8%, and the number of calories was 62. Had almost no taste, of lemonade, or anything else. Disappointing, to say the least.
Western Son SpikedIce, screwdriver: Also was 62 calories, and 8% alcohol. Had kind of a boozy smell, and once again was yellow. I could pick up a slight screwdriver flavor, but it was still pretty bland overall. Slightly better than the previous one, but still not very good. If the last one was a 2 out of 10, this one was maybe 3 of 10.
Western Son SpikedIce, raspberry: This one was pink, and also had the liquor-ish odor (if that's a word). 8% alcohol, but 66 calories. Had a raspberry-like taste, but it was somehow unpleasant. Overly boozy flavor, kind of acrid. Once again very disappointing, and the worst of the bunch. I guess 1 out of 10.
To sum up, then, I disliked or even hated these. The Cooloo brand is looking even better in comparison. However, these were the low calorie offerings. Let's face it, diet version of regular foods and drinks almost always are strongly inferior. So to be fair I 'll try to acquire the regular Western Son ice pops, and give them a try. They could hardly be much worse.
Writing-wise, I was recently in contact with T.J. Mackay, the owner/editor of In D'tale magazine. Readers with exceptional memories may recall I had articles featured in this publication in December, 2012 ("The Right Title"), April 2014 (The Hilariously Odd World of Guidelines"), and April 2015 ("Rejection"). It looks like I'll have new articles appearing in several upcoming In D'tale issues, starting with the 10th Anniversary issue in June of this year. I'll of course provide more details when I learn them.
No comments:
Post a Comment